About Malwina Gudowska
Well-versed in all sartorial matters, Calgary City Editor Malwina Gudowska is forever fighting the good fight in abolishing that awful moniker (starts with cow and ends with town) that has undeservingly been bestowed on her city. With timely tips, insider info and the latest scoops, she’ll take you into the heart of the cool new West.
It’s fitting that my first assignment as the new SweetLife Calgary Editor was to cover the revamp of a restaurant that means so much to me as a Calgarian. You see, Joey Eau Claire (a.k.a. Joey Tomato’s for all you old school fans) was my first workplace in this city. But a lot has changed since my drink-slinging days in Joey's lounge.
The huge hanging tomatoes are long gone, as are the red-and-white checkered tablecloths and the bad uniforms. The space is now stripped to a bare minimum, but in a good way like when you rip down drywall and discover beautiful brick underneath, or lift up the linoleum and see old hardwood.
Twenty salvaged Douglas fir beams hang above the new dining room bar, fallen tree trunks-turned taster-table stumps (say that five times) greet customers near the entryway, and salvaged warehouse bricks make up the wall around “the forno,” as we used to call it.
Back to the tomato, it doesn’t matter how you say it, the family-friendly, fruit-loving (a tomato is after all…) moniker has been replaced by just Joey Eau Claire: as close as you can get to sounding cool while still having Joey and Eau Claire in the name.
As a young grasshopper (19 years old to be exact), I moved to the big city from Saskatoon to attend the University of Calgary but really, just to get a change of scenery. I got a serving job at Joey’s the first week I was in town and my life changed forever.
During server training (yes, there’s some serious prep time involved before you can start serving real customers), I bonded over sneakers with a striking blonde who would later become my roommate and dear friend for life. During the downtime, I chatted up the adorable and friendly hostess who I now call one of my best friends and am going to visit in Vancouver next week. I even fell in lust (it really wasn’t love) with one of the forno chefs who would later break my heart (oh to be young again). Joey Tomato's, or at least all the people I met there, had everything to do with Calgary becoming home back then.
Like Joey Eau Claire restaurant, I’ve changed a lot over the past 12 years, as has Calgary. I hope you’ll join me in exploring the city and seeing it evolve and change some more because as we all know, nothing ever stays the same.
But this summer, at least you can count on one sure thing: On a hot afternoon, you'll find me sitting on Joey Eau Claire's patio, under the new retractable cover I should add, eating sushi cones and sipping a classic Bellini.
