Bread and Circus

Following the success of the grab-and-go UNA Takeaway counter, UNA Pizza + Wine owners Kelly Black and Jayme MacFayden decided it was time to add a little something extra to their takeaway space – a Roman concept trattoria called Bread & Circus.

A traditional trattoria is a restaurant located within a takeaway, which made the back of UNA Takeaway the perfect home for the new venture. “This used to be a part of our UNA Takeaway and we decided to change the space into something that was more usable,” explains Bread & Circus operator Adam Gill. "Jayme and Kelly went to Italy to look at more of the Northern Italian style of dining and focus more in on Rome, which is more focused on the idea of pastas as your main course instead of pasta as a side to your protein.”

On Sep. 13, 2017, Bread & Circus opened up as Calgary’s culinary circus of interactive dining, hand-made traditional Roman pasta dishes and an expertly-curated wine list courtesy of Jayme MacFayden. The name “Bread & Circus” is a nod to an ancient Roman ideology based around distracting people with indulgences to divert their attention away from government and politics. “They found this out that if you were to feed people and entertain them they wouldn’t rebel,” Adam explains. “We took it a step further and made it into dinner and a show.”