A Delicious Summer Dinner at Thomson’s

Dan    Calgary & Area, Restaurants     calgary, dining out, sourcing local, Thomsons

Recently, I was invited to attend a dinner at Thomsons Restaurant in the Hyatt Regency Hotel downtown. Now, to be honest, I don’t generally gravitate towards dining at restaurants that are inside hotels. Ok, I realize that Charcut is attached to the St. Germaine hotel, but you know what I mean! I think a lot of hotel restaurants have the stigma of having mediocre food. This was certainly not the case at Thomsons.

In a humorous twist to a typical menu tasting, Executive Chef David Flegel set-up a table for us right inside Thomsons kitchen area so we could watch all the offerings being created throughout the evening. I like out-of-the-box thinking! Two thumbs up!

Before the dishes started coming to the table Chef Flegel provided us with a brief overview of the kind of food we’d be served tonight. Thomsons has put an emphasis on sourcing local for their new summer menu. Using many great Alberta producers like Fairwinds Farm, Noble Farms and more.

After his short introduction, it was time to eat! My favourite part, obviously…Things kicked off with a Highwood Crossing Organic Grain Risotto.

The risotto was nice and creamy, accented by Sylvan Star cumin gouda and a nice chunk of boar bacon. I’m a sucker for bacon and I really liked the variety of grains in the risotto, a nice twist on the typical arborio rice.

The next course was a light Fairwinds Farm Goat Cheese Mousse and Local Greens salad. It was finished with a honey vinegar and cold pressed canola oil vinaigrette. It was fresh and simple.

Next, we were served a Bow Island Bean Bisque with Noble Farms Duck Rilletes. The soup was rich and had a surprising depth. The duck rilletes added a nice hearty element to it as well. This was, most definitely, my favourite dish of the evening! Damn, I’ve never had a bowl of bean soup that tasty!

A dinner at a restaurant is Calgary is rarely complete without some beef, so we were served a Roasted Diamond 7 Beef Tenderloin accompanied by duck fat glazed baby vegetables, beets and a beef demi-glace. The tenderloin was indeed tender and the vegetables tasted like they had just been picked out of my grandma’s garden!

Saving the sexy for last, this is the Thomsons Restaurant take on a Saskatoon Berry Tart. Served with a pleasantly sweet Chinook Honey ice cream, an ice wine macaron and edible gold. It was almost too pretty to eat. Of course, everyone at the table ate it anyway!

All-in-all, it was an absolutely delicious dinner. One last quick note, all of the courses were paired with Canadian wines, including a very interesting Mead and Honey Wine from a producer in Okotoks! Rad!

Check out the full menu for Thomsons Restaurant here!

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