New Calgary jazz bar will transport you back to 1930s New York City

Is visiting places that transport you to another time one of your favourite things to do? How about the heydays of the 1930s and ’40s in New York City, to be specific? If so, you’ll be pretty excited to hear that Alvin’s Jazz Club in Southeast Calgary is now open.

Everything from the new venue’s state-of-the-art stage, to the menu from a NYC-trained chef, to the make-your-own-martini bar feels like it’s straight out of The Great Gatsby.

And apart from feeling like Leo is going to cheers you at any moment, the spot is the only live music venue in Southeast Calgary to focus exclusively on jazz. Jazz lovers can experience live sets seven days a week, and the entertainment changes nightly. Consider this added to our date night bucket list.

Interior/Alvin’s Jazz Club

Chef Chris Chabot says the new menu is inspired by food from New York City in the 1930s and ’40s. Chabot has drawn inspiration from his time spent in New York during culinary school, as well as menu archives at the New York Public Library. “I spent a lot of time in classic places like Delmonico’s, The Waldorf Astoria — those are places that are near and dear to my heart.”

Dining room/Alvin’s Jazz Club

Some of the dishes that Chef Chabot takes his own spin on include a slow-cooked short rib ravioli (based on the classic beef stroganoff), a mouth-watering modern twist on a beef Wellington, and a reinvented chicken Kiev.

Dining room/Alvin’s Jazz Club

Speaking to the chicken Kiev, Chef Chabot says, “We wrap the whole thing in the chicken skin, and then we sous vide it for two and a half hours. And when we get that finished product we crisp it up in a pan so you get crispy skin instead of heavy breading, and then we serve it with broccoli mashed potatoes and coffee-roasted carrots.”

The restaurant also serves up a jazzy brunch on Sunday mornings, featuring dishes like buttermilk-fried cauliflower and waffles and New York cheesecake pancakes.

Booth/Alvin’s Jazz Club

The new spot in the southeast community of Mahogany not only has a killer food menu, but the drinks are a hit, too.

While the wine list is extensive, what really steals the show are the cocktails. And we haven’t even gotten to the build-your-own-martini station yet. Classic, dirty, shaken, stirred? The world is your martini glass!

Ready to put on your flapper dress, don your suit, and throwback to dirty ’30s? Check out Alvin’s website for more details.

Alvin’s Jazz Club

Address: 176 Mahogany Centre SE, Calgary
Phone: (403) 313-1051

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