Phil & Sebastian Local Heroes series delves deeper than the bottom line

On a recent Thursday evening, the Phil & Sebastian corner of the Simmons building in the East Village was buzzing with people who came to sip coffee and listen to Graham Sherman tell the story of Tool Shed Brewery.

It was the first in a casual speaking series called 'Local Heroes,' helping celebrate people in the community who are doing interesting things, and allowing Calgarians to meet them in person, taste and ask questions.

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On this evening, guests sampled a new batch of Night Owl Stout, a collaboration between Tool Shed, Big Rock and P&S in 2014. (Fun fact: it also happened to be the last batch brewed in Graham and partner Jeff Orr's actual backyard tool shed).

They're now bringing the beer back permanently to Phil & Sebastian's Mission and Simmons Building locations.

The story of P&S

Together, Phil & Sebastian are two of the most familiar names in Calgary.

Their story started in a digital circuits class at University of Calgary in 1996 where they were paired as lab partners, starting them on a trajectory that, after fulfilling their educational goals and becoming engineers, resulted in a small coffee kiosk in the original Calgary Farmers' Market in 2007.

It evolved into a roastery in 2009, and eventually grew to caffeinating Calgarians at five cafe locations.

(There is a sixth in the works on Stephen Avenue, on the northwest corner of Centre Street in the Hudson Block.)

The friends were among the first of a new breed of food entrepreneurs to focus on building community — and are glad to have more time these days to dedicate to the people who inspire them.

"In the beginning, we were so focused on making a great product, and how we were going to provide great service and run a cafe operation that frankly, we had less energy to give back to the community," Phil said.

Back then, Phil spent eight months sleeping on a friend's couch in Vancouver to research the industry by working in coffee shops. Sebastian and his wife, Emily, were starting a family in Calgary and looking for affordable space.

"It's finally realizing this part of our vision that has always been there, but has been simmering on the back burner — we finally have the time and energy at this stage to do this."

Branching into food

Having mastered coffee, they're also paying more attention to food, and hired chefs to create a more substantial, affordable breakfast and lunch menu built on seasonal and local ingredients. In Mission, they're launching a pilot evening menu featuring simple, tasty small plates.

"I think there's a niche for simple, affordable food based on really great ingredients, like at Sidewalk Citizen," said Phil.

"We're sourcing the best ingredients, in line with what we're doing with coffee, but by keeping it simple and having counter service, we can keep the prices affordable."

(The only P&S location that doesn't have a cafe component is in the Simmons Building, because of Sidewalk Citizen next door.)

'Less focus on the bottom line'

For Local Heroes series, they'll bring in someone new each month. Although the speakers won't be limited to the food industry, they'll likely skew that way.

The events are free and attendees need to sign up online to reserve a seat. Once there, you can order a drink and take a seat, and if the theme is food, expect samples.

"These events give people a chance to learn the behind-the-scenes stories," Phil said as attendees chatted and asked questions about the artifacts like the one Graham brought from his brewery. The "brew log,"  is a 2x4 marked with each batch they brewed between February 2012 and their last backyard batch in 2014, which Graham cut from his tool shed an hour before.

"We like to bring to the forefront people who are successfully doing creative things, people for whom building community is a consideration, not just making money," Phil said.

"It's a switch people have to make in their minds — less focus on the bottom line, more focus on the people."