Deliciously Spoiled: Visa Infinite Dinner at Rouge

Dan    Calgary & Area, Restaurants     calgary, eating out, Jonathan Gushue, Michael Dekker, Paul Rogalski, Rouge

Sometimes, I wonder if I was slapped in the face, repeatedly, with the lucky branch when I was younger. That’s the only reasonable explanation I give myself for being invited to certain events. The dinner I had at Rouge this past week was one of those experiences.

Visa Infinite hosts various dining events throughout the year in Calgary. Restaurants and themes always vary (i.e. Top Chef Canada dinner at Charcut, Model Milk’s executive chef, Justin Laboe and Vancouver chef Lee Cooper of Vancouver’s L’Abattoir, etc…), but the quality is always top notch.

On this particular evening, Rouge hosted a collaborative dinner between executive chef Michael Dekker and Jonathan Gushue (executive chef of Langdon Hall in Cambridge, Ontario). With nine course total (if you count the palate cleanser), I knew I was in for a hell of a ride.

Rouge owner, Paul Rogalski, served as the host for the evening, making his way to each table, introducing himself and chatting a bit about the food we were about to experience. The vagueness of the printed menu in front of me left room for curiosity to grow.

Instead of printing the menu with full descriptions like (my imaginative example) ‘Poached Virgin Quail Breast with Blackberry Reindeer Foam and Essence of Gold’, each course was simply listed as it’s main ingredient (i.e. scallops, foie gras, beef, etc…).

When Paul came around to our table, he explained that with each course we’d get to put out our best guess as to what we were eating. So, kind of like a competition, but you get to keep on eating the prize. Needless to say, I was totally down for this.

Now, I won’t list off every single course to you, which even included a cheddar cheese tasting in-between our main dish and dessert (sometimes ‘all you need is cheese‘ before dessert right?), but here are some of the highlights of what we enjoyed during the collaborative dinner at Rouge…

Arctic Char with sea buckthorn berries in nori broth…The nori broth was a safe bet, but my guess fell flat when I thought the char was poached…and, as for the sea buckthorn berries, well now I know what they are!

Foie Gras and Pear Terrine with bee pollen and foie profiterole. I guessed ‘apple’ was the sweetness layered in-between the foie in the terrine. Damn, so close…

Sweetbreads Bratwurst on top of homemade sauerkraut, double smoked bacon and pesto…I guessed ‘kielbasa’! Damn, so close!

Crab Apple beverage with accompanying sorbet…Quite contrary to my guess of ‘Roasted lamb shank consume and pigeon blood sorbet’. Well, you can’t win ‘em all folks!

Finally, the dessert…A white chocolate brownie topped with chocolate and homemade marshmallow, which had a neopolitan kind of layering to it. I think I saw a few people at the table licking the glasses clean, but let’s keep that on the down low.

After the dinner service had concluded, both Chef Dekker and Gushue came by each table to hear any guesses and fill all the attendees in on what they had tasted throughout the evening. Although most of my guesses were not exactly on the mark, I really loved the opportunity to try and utilize my palate to identify each bite instead of having our food, for lack of a better word, spelled out for us on our menu. It also reminded me that, in this massive culinary world, I still have a lot to learn!

In honour of having this amazing dining experience, I want to pay it forward, and spoil a couple people too, by giving away a pair of tickets to Winefest next Saturday, February 25th (worth a total of $150). The Winefest will feature 236 wines from over 57 different wineries! Sounds like a blast, right? I thought so.

To enter to win the pair of tickets, either leave a comment on this post about my dinner at Rouge or share the link to this piece on Twitter, mentioning both Rouge (@rougecal) and Winefest (@winefest). On Monday, February 20th, I’ll randomly choose the winner from all entries!

*Note: You must be of legal drinking age (hopefully that’s obvious), the two tickets are only valid for attendance at Winefest on Saturday, February 25th, from 2 p.m. – 5 p.m. and are non-transferable. The winner must pick up their tickets from will-call at the Winefest event location.

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!

Charcut’s New Concept ‘CHARPOP’ set to have its premiere pop in the new year.

Dan    Calgary & Area, Restaurants, Thoughts     Aviv Fried, awesome, calgary, CHARCUT, Charpop, Connie Desousa, Grant van Gameren, John Jackson

You know what they say…out with the ‘cut‘ and in with the ‘pop‘. This week, the owners of top Calgary restaurant, Charcut, announced their new culinary endeavor entitled ‘Charpop‘.

This three day dining experience is a collaborative effort between Toronto chef Grant van Gameren (pictured below, I stole his twitter avatar, formerly of Toronto’s The Black Hoof), everyone’s favourite baker Aviv Fried, and, of course John Jackson and Connie Desousa.

This pop-up concept is new to Calgary and I’m happy it’s finally here! As written in their press release, ‘Culinary pop culture gives new meaning to short ordercooking. A truly exclusive, limited-window dining experience is in the works.’
so I’m sure in the coming months we will some more places following in their footsteps and…well…popping up too!

Although the location is still to be determinded, you can safely mark down these dates in your calendar: January 15th, 16th and 17th. The ‘restaurant’ will open at 7PM with a set menu (I believe, but don’t quote me on that) and tickets will be available on a first come, first serve basis.

Hey, who knows, you might even catch me moonlighting as a host on one of the evenings…we’ll just have to wait and see…

Thinking of all the individual successes/accomplishments of partners involved, and if the whole is, in fact, greater than the sum of its parts, then folks, we’re in for one hell of a meal!

Follow Charcut or Charpop (@YYC_CHARPOP) for updates, as well as check out www.charpop.com for more information and tickets (when they become available, though, is anyone’s guess. How mysterious!)

My Brunch is Cooler Than Your Brunch: Eating at Diner Deluxe (and a new Food Network Canada series is coming to town!)

Dan    Calgary & Area, Restaurants     awesome, brunch, calgary, Diner Deluxe, Food Network Canada, You Gotta Eat Here

Sorry, that sounded aggressive, but I can defend the title statement…

Just a couple months ago, Calgary was lucky enough to have ‘Eat St.’ pop by to film some of our great food trucks. Well, now it’s the non-moblies turn.

A brand new Food Network Canada show entitled ‘You Gotta Eat Here’ is set to premiere in Spring 2012. Hosted by comedian John Catucci, the program is currently traveling across the country filming segments at different establishments that boast one-of-a-kind dishes.

The production company contacted me this past summer to provide them with some recommendations of restaurants that would be interesting to feature on the show. I thought long and hard and short listed it to five: Diner Deluxe, Tubby Dog, Pfanntastic Pannenkoek Haus (can’t go wrong with Dutch pancakes!), Silver Inn (allegedgly the birthplace of ginger beef) and Jelly Modern (arguably a ‘trend’, i.e. the new ‘cupcake’, but still interesting). All of which (I believe?) will be featured on ’You Gotta Eat Here’ in its inaugural season.

Now, for the best part…Today and tomorrow they’ll be filming at Diner Deluxe, which is, in my opinion, one of Calgary’s best brunch spots.

The last time a friend and I went to the diner for some food, I had their Yukon Gold Potato Pancake dish for the first time. The potato pancake itself was about 1″ thick and as big as my head (mild exaggeration). It was topped with some cilantro sour cream and came with some tasty pork sausages.

Now, I’m not talking gross, out of a package, skinny, little breakfast sausages, but the kind of sausage that you eat and say: ‘Yeah! That’s a real sausage!’ You know what I mean!

My friend had the pulled pork hash with caramelized apples, grainy dijon mustard and poached eggs. Kind of like the rough and tumble cousin of an eggs benedict. I’ve had this one before and it makes for a pretty stellar breakfast.

The mini cast iron skillet also doubles as a handy weapon if an alien invasion were to occur. Always be prepared…

Lastly, and luckily for you (and me!), tomorrow between 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. the restaurant is letting friends, regulars and any other Diner Deluxe lovers have an opportunity to be a part of the You Gotta Eat Here filming!

If you’re free, just send an email to info@dinerdeluxe.com to see if they can squeeze you in! Come on and join in the fun. I know you want to.

Simply Italian: Dinner at Borgo Trattoria

Dan    Calgary & Area, Restaurants     Borgo Trattoria, calgary, Capo, eating out, italian, Restaurants

It seems like we’ve been getting a lot of new restaurants popping up in Calgary this past little while, and that is a good thing! Similar to my excitement for Ox And Angela, the massive sign for Borgo Trattoria caught my eye repeatedly for weeks prior to it’s opening in early September.

My friends and I popped into Borgo on a very busy Friday night. The interior of the space is amazing. Really fantastic light fixtures (On a side note, I’m so sick of those ‘vintage’ light bulbs lounges/restaurants are overusing these days…(*cough* Local 510/522 *cough*), great bench seating in the back half of the restaurant by their open kitchen, with a central bar area.

Borgo has quite extensive hours of operation. They are open from 8 a.m. until ‘whenever the chef is done’ which, the few times I’ve eaten here, has been around 11 p.m.

They start the day off as an espresso bar, serving the standard drinks (illy espresso of course, pictured), as well as home-made pastries. Turning into a lunch spot at 11:30 a.m., afternoon snack spot from 3-5, and a full-service dinner destination from 5 p.m. on. Wow, that was a lot to say…

The menu here has a lot of options. Small bites, Pastas (both half and full orders are offered), as well as different cuts of meats. Since there was four if us, we decided to order every item from the evening’s Cicheti (small bites) section. Some items were available by the piece, while others were a set price per plate. The Cicheti offerings change frequently, so you might not be able to enjoy the exact same dishes we did on this particular night.

Here were some of the highlights from the small plates that we ordered…

The veal and pork meatballs (ordered by the piece) were nice and tender. There was a very simple marinara sauce on top and just a sprinkling on parmesan cheese.

On this board, sat some crispy little crostini, proscuitto, and a melt-in-your-mouth mozzarella. Topped with some micro-basil as a finishing touch. Classic pairing here, I love a mild mozzarella, this did not disappoint.

We were all fighting over the last few bites of this mushroom dish. Sauteed wild mushrooms in a rich sauce, topped with parsley and some bread on the side to soak up all of the sauce. Which we did.

Saving the best for last, these beauties would be Borgo’s eggplant ‘fritta’ with a little pail (cute, hey?) of fennel yogurt dip. Eggplant can get mushy easily, so it was fantastic to enjoy the vegetable in crispy ‘french fry’ shape. I will always order this dish every time I’m in the restaurant. Even an eggplant hater would succumb to the tastiness of this dish. No joke!

After digesting the entire small bites menu, we were still a tad hungry, so decided to order some gnocchi to share, as well as some swordfish (fish option changes daily), followed by their dessert platter which featured four Italian desserts including a chocolate-dipped cannoli and a heavenly sweet panna cotta.

As far as drinks go here, Borgo offers a solid selection of wines and cocktails, but what I found most interesting is that the restaurant has three Italian beers that are imported directly from Italy (like the Birra Moretti, pictured) and are exclusive to the restaurant, well, in Calgary anyway.

Lastly, I just want to mention that the price point of the menu here is absolutely amazing. The most expensive dish we ordered was the gnocchi, which was only $16. Small bites ranged from $2-$8. If the IKEA ‘Start the car!’ commercial pops into your head when you get the bill, that’s ok…it happened to me too!

The Ox Rocks: Supper At Ox And Angela

Dan    Calgary & Area, Restaurants     awesome, calgary, delicious, eating out, Latin-inspired, Ox And Angela, yyc

Myself along with probably (at least) a few thousand other Calgarians have been eagerly anticipating the opening of Ox And Angela.

Prior to it’s opening in mid-August I had been walking by, perhaps too often, to check on the progress. When renos appeared to be nearing completition my friends and I were, essentially, clawing at the door. Mild exaggeration, but, needless to say, we were excited.

Located about one block south of it’s sister restaurant, the 17th Ave hot spot, Una, the establishment took up residence in the old Bungalow building once it (finally) closed it doors in the spring.

Ox exudes a sort of sexy Latin American kind of feel. The white exterior is bright and inviting. Once you walk through the doors you’ll have a sort of ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ decision on your hands (except neither choice will end badly, I promise). To your left, there’s ‘Angela‘, the dining room, and to your right, the lounge, ‘Ox‘, is waiting for you. You can actually take a seat with Ox if you wish, who takes shape as a metal sculture in the front corner of the lounge. He won’t bite. Wait, do bulls bite? I digress…

As I sat in the lounge, waiting for my friends to arrive, I tried out one of their signature cocktails, of which they have many. As it was my first time here, ‘The Ox’ cocktail seemed like a good option. It was a combination of Guatamelan rum, white grapes, bitters infused sugar, garnished with some green apple slices.

The majority of the drink menu consists of pre-prohibition style cocktails, all of which pack an appropriate punch. Who likes a watered down drink anyway, right?

Their play on masculine/feminine is also seen within this menu which splits the drinks to ‘Ox’ on the left page and ‘Angela’ on the right. Gentleman, don’t feel insecure about ordering from the latter, as their Ox and Angela Collins is fantastic. (pictured below)

Once my friends arrived, we decided to move over to the dining room. Only small plates are offered in the lounge and seeing as it was dinner time, we were in the mood to have a nice sit-down meal. The warm atmosphere of the restaurant definitely encourages sharing food amoung the table, so we decided to order an array of appetizers and mains to go around.

It’s kind of a shame we couldn’t order/eat everything. I rarely say this about a restaurant, but almost every singe offering sounded absolutely delicious. Our table actually debated for about fifteen minutes about which dishes we would opt for. At some points, it came down to a vote. Seriously. Oh well, that just means we’ll have to go back again, and again.

The first few dishes that came to the table were Proveleta (fried provolone with fresh oregano and pickled tomatoes), Taco (citrus poached monkfish soft tacos), and Pulpo (spice-rubbed octopus with grilled watermelon and shaved radish).

The fried provolone was nice and crisp on the outside, not too oily, and the pickled tomatoes added a nice zing to the dish. It was my friend Mealan’s favourite appetizer. We probably should of ordered two…

The monkfish tacos had some great flavour to them. The tomatillo salsa had some heat to it, which I welcomed. The flour tortillas were grilled prior to filling and had a nice char on them. The poached lobster sat on top of curtido, a sort of cabbage ‘relish’, which was made in-house. We had dug into the cheese and octopus dishes prior to the tacos, leaving them a bit soggy, so if you’re going to order them with other appetizers, I’d say eat these little guys first.

The spice-rubbed octopus was my personal favourite out of this round. I love octopus, but hate when it’s over-cooked and chewy. Here it was cooked perfectly, nice and meaty. The grilled watermelon was added a nice, fresh and slightly sweet compliment to the seafood. The spice rub could of been a bit more pronounced, but overall, I loved the dish. It just embodied summer to me.

Moving on to our main dishes, the table decided on Camarones (giant prawns, serrano ham, mango salsa), Chorizo (house made, stewed peppers) and Bistec (20 oz ribeye with chimichurri). For sides, we went for their Patatas Fritas (smashed lemon rosemary baby potatoes), Masa (citrus buttered grilled corn) and Polenta (corn, oregano, pickled tomato).

These were easily the largest shrimp I have seen thus far in my life. Wrapped in serrano ham, the two giants sat on top a bed of sweet mango salsa.

The chorizo, made in-house, had a nice texture, but was lacking the kick I’ve come to love in this type of sausage. Luckily, the stewed peppers added an extra level of flavour.

I’m hopelessly devoted to a solid chimichurri sauce and this particular one rocked. Needless to say, this 20 oz ‘cowboy’ steak was huge and cooked to a nice medium-rare. Definitely the table favourite out of the mains.

We were all surprised by how good the grilled corn was. I know most people enjoy corn on the cob, but it is rarely a stand-out at a dinner, let alone a restaurant. The citrus butter definitely elevated it to a delicious level. We fought over the last piece.

The polenta was nice and tender. Polenta seems to be a love it or hate it kind of a dish, so if you enjoy it, then go for it.

Then came the desserts…We samplied their creme brulee, house-made churros (which always make me think of going to Disneyland as a kid), and the dulche de leche (crisp pastries with a sweet milk sauce, similar to caramel, dusted with icing sugar, pictured).

To go along with the trio of sweets, we also ordered a few dessert cocktails. Above is a vanilla espresso martini. We were instructed to sip the martini, then move onto the shooter of simple syrup, followed by the shortbread cookie. Sip, sip, bite. I could get used to that.

Burnt cognac with fruit skewers also graced the table. Similar concept to the martini above. Sip, bite, sip bite. The warm cognac was so aromatic, I felt like a true gentleman sipping it in our corner table. Now, where’s my cigar?

Ox And Angela opens daily at 5 p.m. ‘Angela‘ is happy to serve you the full menu on the restaurant side until 11 p.m. (as well as takes reservations!) while ‘Ox‘ dishes out small plates and drinks until the wee hours of the night, 2 a.m. to be exact. Also good to note, the romantic Latin-inspired atmosphere inside makes this establishment an ideal date destination (call me). If our experience was any indication, I’d say co-owners Jayme MacFayden, Kelly Black and Stephen Smee (also the executive chef) have got another hit on their hands.