Working at CharPOP, Calgary’s Premiere Pop-up Restaurant

Dan    Calgary & Area, Restaurants, Thoughts     Aviv Fried, calgary, CHARCUT, Charpop, Connie Desousa, eating out, Grant van Gameren

If you haven’t heard of CharPOP yet, I’m going to assume you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple months.

Here are the Coles notes: John Jackson and Connie Desousa, household names in Calgary’s food community, decided to partner up with Toronto-based chef Grant van Gameren and baker extraordinaire Aviv Fried to create a three day opportunity that would make anyone fight for a bite over.

Creating a temporary world where culinary ideas collide and create a one-of-a-kind dining experience is something that foodies would fight tooth and nail over, Street Fighter-style if you will, for the chance to be a part of.

Last week, I spent some time lending a hand with CharPOP, what would be Calgary’s first pop-up restaurant experience.

The idea behind a ‘pop-up’ is quite simple; different chefs from different culinary backgrounds opening up a temporary dining experience in an unusual location. The chance to let creativity flow outside the typicality of their home restaurants’ menus.

The life of a pop-up is up for debate; some last a week, others a few days and sometimes ones only last for a few hours. I like the sound of this. Well, not only do I like the sound of this, but it also makes me hungry.

The days leading up to the premiere evening of CharPOP were very secretive, even well I was helping prepare components of various dishes the day before their first service, the entire menu was kept ‘hush, hush’. We had to take a vow of silence. Like monks, but ones that could still talk about anything besides the menu.

Arriving at CharPOP’s top-secret dining location (now, obviously, outed as Aviv’s bakery in south east Calgary), it was hard to imagine how the space would transform into a fully functional dining room. Fast forward to five hours later, magically, tables were set, candles were lit, and Charpop was ready for its first seating of the evening.

I (loosely) lent a hand expediting with John while Connie and Grant worked on the line. I liked the fact that the pop-up didn’t have any P.O.S. server systems or computers, just pen-to-paper orders. Handwritten. Just like the olden days, right?

As the orders came rushing in, I was surprised how smoothly the flow of the kitchen was. In such a small space, Connie and Grant, along with a kitchen team of three popped out dishes like this ‘restaurant’ had been open for months.

John let me put some finishing touches on a few of the plates, like skewering pickles for the ‘The Original Tongue’, which, visually, mimicked a Reuben sandwich stuck between two thick slices of brioche. Naturally, I may of ate a pickle or two.

Quality control.

I was also in charge of grating fresh nutmeg on top of Grant’s ‘Cabbage and Bone Marrow Soup’, which may of resulted in me dropping an entire piece of nutmeg into a bowl of soup. Hence, reminding me that I am not a chef. And…yes, for the record, I did spoon the chunk of nutmeg out of the soup.

While watching dishes flow out of the small cooking space with ease, I had my eye on one in particular…John and Connie’s beef cheek dish.

A very home-y dish comprised of slowly braised beef cheek, root vegetables and accompanied by one of Aviv’s never-fail savoury biscuits.

The only way to describe it, really, would to be as a ‘home cooked meal that your mother could never make’. Sorry mom. (On a side note, the picture absolutely does not do the dish justice. Not in the least.)

Aside from one starter dish, a beautiful croissant with lamb and mint (pictured left, it was so god damn delicious), Aviv’s major contributions came in the form of dessert.

In particular, one of CharPOP‘s two sweet dishes, his ‘Cinnamon Bun’, served in hot cast iron pans, were the perfect finish to this unique dining experience.

This is not the last you’ve seen of CharPOP. In the coming months, you may find it, well, ‘popping’ up in some new locations, with new exciting partnerships…and I’m not just talking about Calgary. They may, just may, be taking this venture on the road. Just saying…but, I digress…

Are you hungry yet? I am.

To stay up-to-date with CharPOP and their future events, head to their website, www.charpop.com, or follow them on twitter, @YYC_CHARPOP.

Ok, fine. Here’s a few more photos from the CharPOP experience…

Order up!

Chef van Gameren’s sweetbreads dish

Crispy Pig Ear Salad by Connie and John, topped with a sous vide egg.

Everyone’s favourite baker, Aviv Fried, serious and at work!

Grant’s blood sausage and foie gras dish, drizzled with bourbon gastrique.

Local food writer/cookbook author, Pierre Lamielle, being put to work slicing some brioche in the CharPOP kitchen.

Connie and John’s octopus dish. Easily one of my favourites on the menu. I love octopus!

Pierre and I proudly wearing out CharPOP work shirts, ready for service!

Scalloped potatoes made with pork jowl. Wait, what?

Pre-service meeting with the CharPOP kitchen crew.

Beef heart steak because, well, why not? Surprisingly delicious.

Aviv Fried’s cinnamon buns. Should this photo set end any other way? I think not!

Orange Chocolate Walnut Biscuits

Dan    Appetizers & Co., Something Sweet     baking, biscuits, chocolate, dessert, quick and easy, recipes

What you’ll need…

2 cups flour

1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup walnuts (loosely chopped)

1 TBSP orange zest

2 TSP cinnamon

3 TSP baking powder

1 TSP salt

1/2 cup butter (chilled, 1/2″ cubed)

1 cup milk

2 TSP vanilla

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 egg (for egg wash, optional)

I’m not much of a baker. So, when I ‘bake’, I make biscuits. They’re simple and consistently delicious no matter what you decide to fold into them. Since I’m not much of a baker, I don’t often excel in the dessert category of awesomeness. These orange biscuits are just sweet enough and can pass as a delicious dessert if you slice them in half, add a dollop of whipped cream and some orange slices (from the orange you zested for the recipe, peel to pulp cooking, right?). One day I’ll learn to make a one-of-a-kind cake or something…I promise…Until then, enjoy this biscuit-y goodness I guess?

So, this recipe will be easier to make than your bed. Unless you have a really complicated linens system…Start by preheating your oven to 425 degrees. Place the first 7 ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Whisk to combine. Add the chunks of butter and loosely mix in with your hands.

Next, mix the milk, vanilla and sugar together in a separate bowl, stir until sugar dissolves. Pour the mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix together with a spoon, or by hand, until a dough forms. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and form into a circle-esque shape, 2″ thick. Slice into 12 pieces and place onto a prepared baking sheet. Brush the top of each piece of dough with the egg wash and let bake in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the biscuits start to brown.

Let cool slightly before eating, however hard that may be…

As previously mentioned, slice in half, add a spoonful of whipped cream, some orange slices, and you have yourself a simple, ‘rustic’ if you will, dessert. Happy eating!

Yields 12 biscuits

Total cook time…20 min

Top Secret Smokey Tomato And Chorizo Soup

Dan    Appetizers & Co., Recipes     calgary, chorizo, comfort food, delicious, recipes, soup, winter

What you’ll need…

1/2 pound chorizo sausage

1 yellow onion (finely chopped)

2 cloves garlic (minced)

2 cups crushed tomatoes

3 cups chicken broth

1 russet potato (1/2″ cubed, approximately 1 1/2 cups)

1 TBSP lapsang souchong tea (ground or crushed with a mortor and pestle)

1 TSP chili powder

1 TSP paprika

1 TSP cayenne pepper

1 meyer lemon (zest and juice)

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup harvarti cheese (grated)

2 cups fresh spinach

salt and pepper

olive oil

As I’m typing this, inside my house, away from the -30 degree (celsius for any Americans reading this!) weather, I’m fairly happy to be back home in Calgary. Shortly after Christmas, I departed from Canada for a three week adventure in the United Kingdom and Denmark. On this adventure I encountered delicious food, more pubs than you could shake a stick at and, of course, Hogwarts…but I digress, these are all stories for another day.

Today it is cold. Really, really damn cold. When it’s cold, all I want to do is wear my sweatpants, my TMNT bunnyhug and sip some soup. So, I did just that. I had some lapsang souchong tea kicking around the house and since I hadn’t used tea in a recipe since the summer, I thought its smokey flavour fit the bill perfectly for a tomato and chorizo style soup. I know it must sound weird reading through the ingredient listings…tea, lemon, cream, but, trust me, it all works! If you don’t trust me, then I dare you to make a liar out of me.

Time to cook! Place the sausage in a large pot, drizzle with some olive oil and cook on medium-high heat until it is completely cooked through, about 5 minutes. Spoon out the cooked meat and cooking oil, leaving just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pot. Now, toss in the onions, minced garlic and let cook until the onions soften, another 5 minutes or so. Next, add the following seven ingredients to the pot as well as the juice of the meyer lemon. Once the mixture starts to bubble, reduce to low heat and let simmer for 20 minutes.

On a side note, take a big whiff of your soup after stirring in those ingredients. Doesn’t the lapsang souchong tea make it smell amazing? Smokey deliciousness here we come!

(In the meantime…tidy up your living room! I know it’s messy…)

 After that time, the chunks of potato should be, at the very least, fork tender. If that’s the case, let the lemon zest, cream, shredded cheese and spinach join the soup party. You can now return the cooked sausage to the pot as well. Give the pot a good stir until the cheese melts away into nothingness and you’re left with a thick, rich-tasting soup. Let the soup cook for another 10 minutes. Finally, take a sip, season with salt and pepper to taste and you’re done! Bam!

Serves 4-5

Total cook time…40 min

Attention all: My apologies for my lack of recent posting!

Dan    Thoughts     2012, happy new year, thoughts, traveling

I know there hasn’t been much action on here in the past few weeks, but I swear to you, I have a great reason for it! I’ve spent the last eighteen days enjoying myself in England and Denmark (pictured, my good friend (Annie) whom I stopped by to visit in Copenhagen and, of course, myself).

Coupled the the hectic holiday season, prior to my leaving on this adventure, I didn’t have much time to build up content before my plane took off.

That being said, I am flying home to Calgary tomorrow, feeling recharged, revitalized and ready to share all my stories (and some new recipes ‘A OK’-ed by the lovely European folks I’ve spent time with over here.

So, a very much belated ‘Happy New Year’ to you all. I look forward to another year chalk full of great experiences and tasty, tasty food.