What do you get when the owners of two highly successful local beverage establishments join forces? Donna Mac, of course.
Located in the Beltline neighbourhood of Calgary, this brainchild of a restaurant was founded by Proof owner Jeff Jamieson and Vine Arts owner Jesse Willis back in November 2015 as a way to combine their love of wine and cocktails with delicious dishes made from fresh ingredients.
The namesake of this restaurant belongs to their former business partner’s grandmother, whose nickname was Donna Mac.
“She was described as a woman who was always feeding the immediate community around her and her dinner table was a place of lively discussion and joy”, says Jamieson. “We wanted to convey the feeling of comfortable foods and dining creating community and culture and [the nod to this] woman who did that every day was appropriate.”
Other names rooted in Italian or French were considered for the concept, however, Jamieson explains they felt it would create the assumption "that we served only 'Italian food' or 'French food', so we steered away from them and landed on Donna Mac."
Donna Mac is open Tuesday to Sunday from 4 - 8 p.m. and will reopen for dine-in services on Feb. 8.
