This story started, as far back as I can look, in Haarlem, a Dutch city I would discover is just a twenty minute train ride from Amsterdam Centraal Station. At a quiet intersection on a Sunday morning in December of 2024, I would photograph what had been my great-grandfather and great-grandmother's house during World War II. They had a radio they would listen to at night, hearing news from England across the Channel. When the war ended, they sold their butcher shop - they lived in the top two floors and operated out of the main floor, and made the brave move to Alberta. After photographing this house, I would go to an all Dutch language church service at the Goedeherder - Good Shepherd in English. I didn't understand much, even though the words here in Dutch (Centraal, Goede) look so close to their English counterparts. 

 

I can't tell the story of this restaurant without mentioning my love of my grandfather's croquettes. He came to Canada with his parents and sisters in the 1950s, and worked at Canada Packers (think of the big chimney off Fort Road in northside Edmonton) among other places. His dad, "Opa" Kalf, bought a quarter on Brookville Road with the intention of subdividing a bit for each of his kids. That is where my dad grew up with his cousins, taking the bus into Ardrossan for school. 

While my dad has memories of milking cows and other rural activities, I grew up in Beverly, on the eastern edge of the big capital city. I attended the Calvinist school there, where we learned about God's love and the usual subjects, mathematics, English, social studies. I thought of being a newspaper reporter, or an accountant. But I was drawn to starting a cafe with a dream: what if I could popularize the Old World's beer companion in Alberta, and achieve something that would make my Old World butcher ancestors proud. What started, as far back as I can look, in the beautiful Dutch city of Haarlem, will be continued in a cafe in Vegreville, Alberta, although hopefully we will be able to add locations as time progresses.

Whether you rely upon our home-style cooking for an all-day breakfast, or want something like our meaty croquettes with a local brew, at Hippies and Cowboys you know you will be greeted like family and depart with warmest memories. Thanks for supporting my business as we stretch out to see what is possible - on a small business level, at a small town level, but most importantly with a big heart in all we do.