EXPLORE Head across the Red River to St. Boniface, the heart of the city’s French community. At Café Postal, grab a latte or a homemade pickle-brine soda (“It’s a great hangover cure,” says co-owner Louis Lévesque-Côté) before perusing French bookstore Librairie À la Page and popping into the kitschy Dwarf no Cachette Cafe & Gift Shop, where the decor MO is thoroughly garden gnome.
TOUR Yes, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and the underwater polar-bear-viewing tunnel at Assiniboine Park Zoo are good options, but make time to join a more unexpected outing too. Architectural historian Frank Albo’s Hermetic Code tour of the Manitoba Legislature offers up the tale of the 1920s building’s hidden hieroglyphic inscriptions, Egyptian sphinxes, famous Golden Boy topper and more. For a patriotic snack, take along a Manitoba-shaped hazelnut chocolate bar from local chocolatier Constance Popp.
DRINK & DINE Be sure to make a reservation at Enoteca, the city’s buzziest new resto. Chef Scott Bagshaw’s latest outpost offers up savoury share plates, like braised beef short ribs with oyster sauce and roasted cauliflower with citrus and capers. The small curated wine list includes $5 tasting sizes, making it easy to switch things up with every shared course.