Each March, Calgary’s dining scene gets a welcome excuse to lean into curiosity. The YYC Food & Drink Experience, now a staple on the city’s culinary calendar, invites restaurants across the city to showcase special menus designed for exploration rather than routine. For diners, it is a chance to try somewhere new or revisit a favourite with a little more intention. For restaurants, it is an opportunity to present a thoughtful snapshot of what they do best. At Fortuna’s Row, the approach this year is brunch.

Set inside the historic Bookers Building, Fortuna’s Row has quickly developed a reputation as one of the more interesting places to spend a late morning brunch in Calgary. The room itself helps set the tone. Towering ceilings, large windows overlooking the River Pathway, and a sense of heritage that feels genuine rather than staged create an environment where brunch becomes less of a quick meal and more of a small event. During the YYC Food & Drink Experience, the restaurant is offering a three-course brunch menu that reflects the playful, globally influenced cooking the kitchen has become known for.

The meal begins with a choice that quietly signals the direction of the kitchen. Guests can opt for a breakfast taco layered with fried egg, pico de gallo, and pachikai on a warm flour tortilla, or a granola bowl with yogurt, fresh fruit, and housemade granola. One leans savoury and lively, the other bright and restorative. Both serve their purpose well at the start of the day.

The second course moves into heartier territory, where the menu begins to stretch its culinary passport. A frittata arrives with entomatada, sautéed mushrooms, cotija, and corn chips, offering something deeply comforting but still lively with acidity and texture. For those in the mood for something richer, the torta ahogada brings chicken tinga, guajillo salsa, pickled onions, and a fried egg together in a sandwich that feels both messy and deliberate in the best way. The third option, a plate of tacu tacu—Peruvian fried rice and beans topped with poached eggs, chorizo ragù, and llajua—might be the quiet standout, bringing bold flavours that are rarely seen on Calgary brunch menus.

Dessert finishes the experience on a lighter note. Guests can choose between a concha topped with masa craquelin and housemade fruit compote, or churros dusted in canela sugar and paired with salted coconut caramel. Neither option feels overly heavy, which is perhaps the most polite thing a dessert can do at brunch.

At $30 per person, the menu offers an easy way to explore Fortuna’s Row without committing to a full afternoon. And that, in many ways, is the point of the YYC Food & Drink Experience. It encourages a bit of wandering, a bit of curiosity, and the occasional reminder that Calgary’s restaurant scene continues to surprise in small, delicious ways. Fortuna’s Row simply provides a particularly pleasant place to start.