ABOUT ROAD TRIP STOPS OFF THE BEATEN PATH WITH ATB x LINDORK
This blog post is the first of five in an Explore Alberta – Road Trip Stops Off The Beaten Path with ATB x LINDORK series to be posted Aug 17-21, 2020. The intent of the blog series is to highlight local Alberta businesses (who also bank with ATB!) that you may not have heard of, who could use your support during the pandemic, as part of ATB Financial’s #ATBGoodnessGrows initiative. These businesses are located in lovely towns and cities “off the beaten path” between Edmonton and Calgary. Supporting local and exploring Alberta are two of my passions, and are topics I’m proud to partner with ATB Financial to highlight during the pandemic. You’ll also get an opportunity to enter for a chance to win an Ultimate Alberta Road Trip Prize Package! Learn more about this sponsored series and read some marketing tips I’ve shared with ATB.
Explore Leduc and Nisku, Alberta
Part One of Five in Explore Alberta: Road Trip Stops Off The Beaten Path with ATB x LINDORK
A new blog post in this series will be shared each day from August 17-21, 2020.
Sometimes I feel like I can be a little bit of a broken record when I say (and say again and again) that there’s so much of Alberta to see, that I still haven’t seen. We live in an amazing province and when travelling sort of came to a halt with the pandemic, I knew I could still satisfy that travel bug by exploring Alberta.
And it’s not even that you’d need to go long distances to discover something new!
Located just a half an hour drive south of Edmonton you’ll come upon the City of Leduc, and the hamlet of Nisku, Alberta. There are some amazing, Alberta-owned small businesses located in both spots. I go into more detail about exploring Leduc overall in this Leduc-Travel Guide, but for this post, I want to tell you about the Prestigio Bakery in Leduc, and Rig Hand Distillery in Nisku, and why you should visit!
Prestigio Bakery—a little bit of Portugal in Leduc, Alberta
The Prestigio Bakery & Bistro located at 5210 50 Avenue in Leduc, Alberta, focuses on European style bread and traditional Portuguese pastries.
Owners Elizabeth and Antonio opened their lovely little bakery in 2018, and at the time, became Leduc’s first local bakery. The couple wanted to bring a bit of Europe to Leduc. They met in Portugal and wanted to replicate that European cafe style atmosphere they had come to love in Europe, here in Canada. Elizabeth also loves pastries (relatable lol), so starting the bakery just made a whole lot of sense! Since 2018, Prestigio has quickly become a must-visit in Leduc.
Prestigio Bakery makes everything in-house. Their specialties include Portuguese custard tarts (more on how you get some FREE TARTS below!!), bread and donuts. They also make cinnamon buns, scones, muffins, pies, sandwiches, and daily soups (get the cabbage roll soup, it’s their most popular!) They also sell some select, imported Portuguese condiments and canned goods too.
Inside the bakery, you’ll find a few tables often taken by regulars, sipping coffee and catching up. There’s indoor murals that depict famous Portuguese scenes and recognizable objects, landmarks, a Portugese guitar, and a famous Portugese Fado style singer. Outside there’s also some patio seating.
We loved Prestigio’s famous Portuguese custard tarts—also known as Pasteis de Nata. With an utterly rich and creamy middle and a perfectly crispy and flakey outer layer crust, these tarts also have bruleed tops (lightly torched on top for caramelization). Buttery. Delicious. Trust me when I say you’ll want more than one. More than two. Maybe get four just to be safe!!
The pandemic forced Prestigio—like many Alberta businesses—to change how they do business. They started delivering and offering curbside pick-up. With reduced foot traffic, they shifted what they bake to ensure things didn’t go to waste. They’re still such a new business and Elizabeth tells me they didn’t know if they were going to make it even before the pandemic hit, but now they’re doing much better and are so grateful for the local, community support they’ve received.
Let’s have that community support extend out a bit further!
Leduc is not far from Edmonton at all. Literally it takes a half hour to drive to certain areas of Edmonton anyway, so please! Plan a visit down to Leduc to eat, explore, and support local businesses. If you do visit, ATB has some incentives for you!
Visit Prestigio Bakery and get two FREE Portuguese custard tarts with purchase!
Thanks to ATB Financial, Prestigio Bakery in Leduc will be giving visitors two free Portuguese custard tarts with every purchase if you mention code LINDORKATB during your visit! This offer is valid from August 17 to September 7, 2020. So, these two free tarts will be on top of the like, dozen that you also just order yourself because they’re that good, lol.
Enter to win an Ultimate Alberta Road Trip Prize Pack ($1,100 value)!
As part of this Road Trip Stops Off The Beaten Path blog series I’m doing with ATB, I’m also highlighting other Alberta businesses off Highway 2 between Edmonton and Calgary, and giving you a chance to replicate my trip!
Enter to win an Ultimate Off The Beaten Path Alberta Road Trip Prize Pack valued at $1,100 on Linda’s Off The Beaten Path Alberta Road Trip blog, Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook posts shared between Aug. 17 to Aug. 23, with winner randomly chosen out of all entries received and announced on Aug. 24.
** GIVEAWAY CLOSED **
Congratulations to Megan W. from Facebook—the winner of the Ultimate Alberta Road Trip Prize Pack!
WHAT YOU’LL WIN:
- $100 gift card to spend at five featured Alberta businesses (valued at $500 total)
- A 1-night night hotel stay (valued at $200)
- Car rental for your road trip (valued at $200)
- A $200 Visa gift card for extra road trip spending!
HOW TO ENTER:
You can do one, some, or all of these entry methods on one, some, or all of my ATB Alberta Road Trip posts shared between Aug. 17-23 for more chances to win!
- Blog Entry: Leave a comment on any of my ATB Off The Beaten Path Road Trip blog posts saying who you’d take on your Alberta Off The Beaten Path road trip and what you’d most like to do. (note: blog comments are moderated so your comment may not appear right away!)
- Facebook Entry: “Like” (be a Page Fan) of Lindork – Linda Hoang and ATB Financial, and leave a comment on any ATB Off The Beaten Path post tagging a friend you’d go on this road trip with. Include what you’d most like to do on the road trip.
- Instagram Entry: Follow @lindork + @atbfinancial, and leave a comment on any ATB Off The Beaten Path post tagging a friend you’d go on this road trip with. Include what you’d most like to do on the road trip.
- Twitter Entry: Follow @lindork + @atbfinancial and quote any of Linda’s ATB Off the Beaten Path road trip tweets (retweet with comment) saying what you’d most like to do on the road trip and tag a friend you’d go with.
Check back throughout the week as new blog and social posts are shared, giving you more chances to enter and win!!
AND WIN BONUS PRIZES BY DOING YOUR OWN ALBERTA ROAD TRIP OFF THE BEATEN PATH + SHARING ABOUT IT!
If you go on your own Alberta Off The Beaten Path day trip / road trips from Aug 17 – Sept 7, 2020, there are various incentives you’ll get at different businesses featured in this series PLUS if you share about your visits on social media, ATB will be randomly surprising road trippers with Visa gift cards! Share about your trip on social media using #ATBGoodnessGrows and tagging @ATBFinancial + @lindork for a chance to win!
While you’re in the area, don’t forget to visit Rig Hand Distillery in Nisku!
There’s a lot of great sights and stops to make just south of Edmonton. Near Leduc, in Nisku, you’ve got to stop at Rig Hand Distillery, an award-winning grain to glass distillery that first opened in 2014, becoming the first craft distillery in the Edmonton area.
This family business makes a wide range of vodka, rum, whiskey, gin, moonshine, and coffee cream liqueur and supports a lot of other local businesses in the process. Rig Hand uses grains from local farmers, flowers from local gardens and greenhouses. Even potatoes for their potato vodka come from The Little Potato Company in Edmonton.
On our visit, we got to have a comprehensive tour by General Manager and Distiller Mike Beile.
Each still at Rig Hand Distillery (the apparatus used to distill the liquor), has a name (Mighty Morley, Jelly Bean and Schatzi), because there’s a superstition among distilleries that you must name your still before you use it or else you won’t produce good liquor. On our tour, we learned that gin is just flavoured vodka! You need to add berries and botanicals to turn the vodka into a gin—and it *must* include juniper berries. If there aren’t juniper berries in your gin, it’s not a gin. We also learned, like how champagne is only *actually* (by law) called champagne if made in the Champagne province of France, whiskey can only *actually* be called Scotch if it was made in Scotland.
At Rig Hand, your free tour also includes free tastings and a complimentary cocktail!
They of course hope you’ll want to purchase one of their products too—their Double Double Coffee Cream Liquor is their best-selling rum (an Alberta twist on coffee and baileys, and one that goes down *very* easy!). Their Garlic Vodka is maybe surprisingly their next best-selling, but then less surprising when you learn that it’s perfect for your Caesars (Albertans—they love their Caesars!) Rig Hand’s bottles are also very distinctive, modelled after the iconic Leduc No. 1. oil derrick. And if you’re lucky, you’ll also run into Charlie, the sweet dog of Owner and Distiller Geoff Stewart, who hangs out in the lobby of the building. Give her extra scritches for me! Be sure to call or email ahead to book a time for your tour and tasting to avoid other folks!
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Those are just two of many Alberta businesses worth a visit this summer. As you plan your day trips and road trips, see if some of my other Alberta Travel Guides might help you round out your trip. Be sure to check out my Leduc Travel Guide: Lots to Do in Lovely Leduc – Where to Eat, Shop, and Play, for even more suggestions on things to do specifically in Leduc!
And follow along for the rest of this blog series with ATB!
See all stops on ATB + LINDORK’s Road Trip Stops Off The Beaten Path:
- Explore Leduc & Nisku, Alberta (Prestigio Bakery + Rig Hand Distillery)
- Explore Millet, Alberta (The Butterfly Boutique + Altar Yourself)
- Explore Lacombe & Red Deer, Alberta (Eastside Eatery + Red Hart Brewing)
- Explore Didsbury & Torrington, Alberta (Cowtown Brewing Co. + Gopher Hole Museum)
- Explore Crossfield, Alberta (The Diner at Shorty’s + Enjoy Garden Restaurant)
Check my blog and social media every day from Aug. 17-21, 2020 as I release daily travel guides + Alberta business features and ideas to help you plan your Alberta road trip while supporting local businesses!! You’ll also get more opportunities to enter for a chance to win the Ultimate Alberta Road Trip Prize Pack each day.
- Learn more about this sponsored blog series
(and read small business advice I shared with ATB) - Read “Five rural Alberta entrepreneurs share COVID-19 small business lessons”
- Learn more about #ATBGoodnessGrows
Linda
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Disclaimer: This blog post is part of a sponsored blog series partnership with ATB Financial. This does not impact opinions stated in this post. As I’ve shared repeatedly, I love supporting local businesses and exploring my province. After doing different, smaller, support local initiatives in Edmonton over the last few months of the pandemic, this travel / support local partnership felt like such a perfect pairing! Thank you ATB for working with me to highlight some amazing Alberta business owners and great Alberta towns and cities outside of Edmonton and Calgary.
23 Comments
I would hands down take my sister Samantha on this road trip – ever since we moved here from Ontario we’ve been dying to do an “Alberta Eats” road trip to try all of the incredible food our province has to offer!
Thanks for the road trip suggestions Linda! Can’t wait to scratch the travel bug with a drive out to so many nearby-ish places that I haven’t been before. Also of course would do this with my best pals so that we can eat all the things!
I want to go eat these Portuguese tarts! One of my favourites. I road trip with my partner (especially during covid), and this is now on the list!
I’ve always thought I need to stop in at Rig Hand. I did not know that about Gin. I’m going to look at taking my friend Allison for a drive and checking it out.
I would love to go get some Portuguese custard tarts with my family!
Your road trip tips are amazing for me to take my 9 months old baby to tour around not far away from Edmonton!
What an amazing idea!! I live in Cochrane, AB and we have SO many fantastic local businesses!! Our local farmer’s market changed locations to accommodate social distancing and so many amazing local producers!! We drove to Edmonton one day just to get cheesecake! I would definitely road trip with my wife, Pat, as we have done so many and love exploring Alberta! 🧡
I’m from Leduc. Thanks for featuring these great local businesses. Can’t wait to read about your other road trips.
I’d love to sample as much food as a I can and visit the mountains with my family!
My sister has been looking for an authentic Portuguese tart since she came back from Portugal a few years ago we have to road trip to Leduc now!
Those custard tarts look delicious, definitely need to try those on a trip back up to Edmonton with Scott!
I would take my boyfriend and we would try tons of different food and make sure to get outside for walks!
I’d take my sister for a food tour!
I would take my daughter. We like to try food from different restaurants and check out local attractions. I love that you include suggestions that would appeal to different age groups.
Leduc has a lot of things to offer. It’s really coming into its own. I love that bakery 🥐
I’d love to take my hubby, 3 years old daughter and our baby boy on a mini trip to Waterton! We have never been there.
I would go with my husband. We typically take a just US holiday. Unfortunately like many, we had to cancel our plans this year. I would love to check out some of the central Alberta craft breweries.
That bakery sounds awesome, and I love to hear about more locally produced Scotch options. Thanks for the info!
What a great guide to some off the beaten track places to visit! I’d take my husband Dave! Thanks for the ideas Linda and ATB.
My boyfriend is a huge fan of Portuguese tarts and I love anything and all things dessert ! We are going on a road trip to Calgary with friends early September so its perfect to now know several places to stop at and make the drive more fun! Food is always the best incentive ~
My husband is Portuguese, I’ll have to take him to try these!
Love this!! I totally Want to do this on Monday with my friend Jacquie… maybe have to split it into day trips though!! I need those Portuguese tarts and that store in my life!!
I would go with my fiancee and we would eat, eat and eat. But I also like to sight see and take pictures of beautiful landscapes.