Top Chef Canada: Season Two Premiere and Exciting Announcement!

Dan    Thoughts, Top Chef Canada: Taking The Challenge Home     Connie Desousa, cooking, Food Network Canada, Muse, Top Chef, Top Chef Canada, Xavier Lacaze

Finally, in seven days (March 12th, 10 p.m. ET/PT) the second season of Top Chef Canada will return to Food Network Canada. I’ve been filling my Top Chef void with ‘Chopped’ and ‘Pitchin’ In’. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I love both of those shows…’Chopped’ stressed me out (oh, the pressure!) and Chef Lynn Crawford on ‘Pitchin’ In’ always makes me laugh, but nothing quite gets me going (no, not like that) like watching a brand new episode of Top Chef Canada!

Last year, I spent every Monday night at Charcut, a restaurant owned by one of season one’s finalists, Connie Desousa. The excitement in the restaurant week after week was amazing. It was like watching a football game, but actually interesting!

This year, with a new line-up of sixteen competitors, there is only one chef from Calgary. Xavier Lacaze, executive chef at Muse Restaurant. It’s too early to place any bets, but judging from Xavier’s work at his restaurant, I think he’ll be a contender for the top title.

Naturally, I am biased, but you’ve got to root for your own city’s representative, right? Go Xavier!

I’m really excited to be attending the season two premiere at Muse next week. If it’s anything like the show opener at Charcut last year, it’s going to be a very memorable evening.

The show will air every Monday night for thirteen consecutive weeks which, leads me to my announcement…

I am pleased as spiked punch to announce that I have signed on to produce thirteen online, interactive pieces for this new season of Top Chef Canada.

So…what exactly does that mean? It means that I’m going to have to cook…a lot. Not high pressure, ‘pack your knives and go’ kind of cooking, but, rather, I will be recreating some of the series’ favourite dishes week after week.

Each Monday night, Top Chef Canada fans will vote (via Facebook, Twitter and FoodNetwork.ca) for their favourite dish from the episode. Once the voting has concluded, I will be assigned the viewers’  favourite dish to recreate at home, in my own kitchen. Fun? Yes. Scary? More so. Following each episode, we’ll share my cooking experience (successes and failures) on the Top Chef Canada site, along with a recipe so that you too, being the avid home cooks that I know you are, can cook up a Top Chef Canada quality dish at home. Can we all be ‘top chefs’ at home? Well, I am going to try and find out!

So, feel free to let any Top Chef Canada fans that you have in your life know that they can partake in this dish recreation adventure with me by voting for their favourite dish each week!

Anyway, saying that I am excited for this Top Chef Canada engagement is an understatement. I’m beyond elated to take on this fantastic culinary experience. Having the opportunity to recreate delicious dishes from some our country’s top chefs is definitely an honour and I will do my best not to let you down!

Scout’s honour!

For more information on the second season of Top Chef Canada, the competitors, judges and their brand new (drop dead gorgeous) host, check out the website here.

My Steak is Better Than Yours Part Two: Charcut, Rouge and Raw Bar (and a very full stomach)

Dan    Calgary & Area, Restaurants, Thoughts     calgary, CHARCUT, Connie Desousa, eating out, raw bar, Rouge, steak

After having a string of steak-related dreams, I woke up in a bit of a panic. The first evening of my steak adventure had been nothing short of amazing (and filling), but today our group would be stopping by three different restaurants…all in one night.

The panic finally subsided when I came to terms with the fact that the evening’s trio of steak offerings would most likely be delicious. I’ve come to learn that ‘deliciousness’ is the cure for most things, especially panic attacks.

My heart beat slowed down just in time to enter Charcut in a composed, suave manner. I had been here before, many times…perhaps even weekly for Top Chef Canada screenings in the summer of 2011 (note: ‘perhaps’ = I was there every week). Instead of starting off the night by enjoying a cocktail or two (or three) in the restaurant, we were ushered upstairs into their prep kitchen and before we knew it, we were experiencing a blood sausage tutorial.

Now, I do not enjoy blood sausage at the best of times, so this ‘how-to’ experience was a bit hard to swallow for me. After copious amounts of blood were mixed with bread and spices and then put into casing, we watched Connie Desousa trim and portion some bison heart steaks. I had tried beef heart at their pop-up restaurant, CharPOP, in January, so was eager to taste the bison.

The heart steak arrived, medium rare, topped with crispy matchsticks and Charcut’s signature chimmichurri sauce drizzled on top. To make sure the table would leave nice and full, there were sides of duck fat poutine for all! Eating heart is basically like eating a fine grain steak. Once it’s trimmed, marinated and grilled, it’s amazingly delicious. The heart is on Charcut’s current menu, so I highly recommend swinging by for taste. I’ll even foot the bill if you’re not impressed!

Then, out came the blood sausage (picture at end of post). Flavour-wise, it was fantastic, but, this is a personal thing, I can not get over the texture of blood sausage. Though, like a true foodie trooper, I had three whole bites without fainting!

After politely declining the offer to pack up my blood sausage to eat later as a midnight snack, we headed over to Rouge for four beefy courses…Ugh, I am getting full again just recounting this…

Here, executive chef Michael Dekker offered us some non-traditional dishes like thinly sliced beef in elk broth, a take on ‘shabu shabu’, lamb sirloin with a foie gras and bone marrow spring roll and a beef tartar, amoung other things.

Our table was hosted by Rouge owner and chef, Paul Rogalski, who is always so enigmatic. He introduced each of the courses to us with descriptions just as appetizing as what was on the plate in front of me. We finished up our steak tasting here with a sweet honeycomb macaroon, then left for our final destination of the evening, Raw Bar in Hotel Arts.

Upon entering the hotel, we were warmly greeted by Shelley Long (no photo evidence, but not joking) before heading into Raw Bar. Sadly, she did not join us for dinner. Here we started with one of the bar’s signature cocktails, an Apple Cart Daisy which sounds like it’s just for ladies, but it packed an apple-y punch.

Now, I don’t want to say that this steak tour had saved the best for last, but Raw Bar’s chef, Duncan Ly, prepared us one (thankfully just one!) amazing plate of food. A very tender beef tenderloin with topped with pulled short rib and an herb crust.

An accompaniment of snow peas and coconut sweet potato puree graced the plate as well. The potatoes were sweet and smooth. Definitely my favourite potato side of our entire two day adventure.

Isn’t she lovely?

And that folks, is how you enjoy copious amounts of meat in only two days. I may have not eaten for a couple days after the fact, but was very thankful for the experience. As with anything, when you live somewhere, you always take for granted the things that make your city great.Yes, Calgary may be a ‘meat and potatoes’ kind of a city, but, when you have restaurants serving up food this, I have no problem stamping ‘I’m a meat and potatoes kinda guy’ on my forehead!

Here’s a few more photos from the evening…

Blood sausage with a fried egg from Charcut.

Myself almost fainting during our blood sausage session.

Tartar starter at Rouge.

‘Shabu Shabu’-esque dish with elk broth at Rouge.

My Steak is Better Than Yours, Part One: Anju and Ox and Angela

Dan    Ask Dan, Restaurants, Thoughts     Anju, calgary, Calgary Tourism, eating out, New Take On Steak, Ox And Angela, steak

I’ll admit it. When I first moved to Calgary six years ago, I thought this city was simply a meat and potatoes, oil and gas kind of a city. So, now, here we are. It’s 2012, Calgary is the cultural capital of Canada, the stampede is celebrating its 100th anniversary and I’ve turned into a cowboy. Ok, maybe one of those things aren’t true, but I definitely have come to appreciate my steak (and potatoes).

Actually, I love a good steak. Hell, I’d probably date a steak if it was legal (one day…), so you can imagine my excitement when Tourism Calgary invited myself and a few other Albertan food enthusiasts to experience some delicious steak-centric offerings around the city. To be more specific, five restaurants would dish out their ‘new take on steak’ to us over the course of two evenings. I’m not good at math, but I knew these two nights of eating would definitely equal one full stomach.

Attention Vegetarians: If you haven’t noticed yet, there will be many, many mentions of meat in this dining recollection. I apologize in advance and recommend that you close your eyes.

The beginning of this ‘New Take On Steak’ adventure started at Ox and Angela. Sister restaurant to Una Pizza, this establishment prides itself on a menu focusing on Latin American flavours.

Things started off with a simple bite of their feature pinxtos, a ‘CLT’, which was a skewer of house-made chorizo, cherry tomato and greens.

Steak? No.

Delicious? Yes.

Inbetween the one bite starter and our servings of steak, we sampled some of their cocktails. Now, I don’t want to label myself as a lush, but I may of already been fairly familiar with their booze-related offerings.

My go-to here is definitely ‘The Ox’, a mix of rum, bitters-infused sugar and white grapes. Well, colour me thirst quenched!

Now, isn’t that a handsome drink?

It wasn’t long before we were presented with their grilled flat iron steak, which was served with a piquillo pepper confit and grilled lemons. On the side, there was a simple aioli for dipping as well as a mojo verde that had a predominant presence of cumin.

In regards to the verde, and somewhat similar to a five year old, I repeatedly asked ‘Is there cumin in this?’ until one of my table mates finally said ‘Yes.’. Also known as ‘Dan, please just eat your god damn dinner!’.

The steak also came with an array of sides like Ox and Angela’s signature ‘patatas bravas’ and ‘braised kale’, which were all delicious, but our dessert stole the show.

Around the table, it was unanimous that the restaurant’s home made churros had to be the final sweet bite at Ox.

Served with a warm chocolate sauce for dipping, these little guys always remind me of being in Disney World as a child, eating a churro chasing after Snow White for a hug. Those were the days…

Once we were done fighting over the last bite of churro, we were whisked away to our second destination of the night. I was on my way to being full, but still had room for what Anju had prepared for us.

Anju is somewhat hidden in the downtown corner of 5th avenue and 10th street SW. Their Korean-fusion tapas offerings are unique and delicious. We had a few starter plates prior to the steak which included oysters with kimchi mignonette and ox tail tortellini, but the show starter/stopper was definitely the crispy tofu.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, this is one of the best applications of tofu that I have ever experienced. Even tofu nay-sayers will reluctantly agree. This tofu dish strikes the perfect balance between soft, crisp, sweet and savoury. Seriously, this is a tofu dish for meat-lovers. Which reminds me, why are we still talking about tofu? Back to the steak!

Chef and owner, Roy Oh, served the table a Korean marinated steak with asparagus and fingerling potatoes. Sesame and ginger seemed to be soaked into the medium-rare rib eye.

We washed the bold flavours back with soju, a Korean liquor that everyone should taste at least once in their lives.

And, thus, ends the first night of my tasty Tourism Calgary ‘New Take On Steak’ experience. This Friday, I’ll be sharing my second evening of steak adventures featuring bison heart, beef tartar and short rib crusted tenderloin. Stay hungry folks.

In the meantime, here are a few more pictures from dining at Ox And Angela and Anju to drool enjoy looking at…

Patatas Bravas at Ox and Angela. Starchy goodness with just the right touch of lemon.

Ox and Angela’s grilled scallions with romesco sauce.

Ox tail tortellini topped with truffle oil at Anju.

Anju’s fresh oysters with a kimchi mignonette.

Who the hell stole my camera?

I have an excellent suggestion: Swing by the 2nd annual Calgary Food Blogger Bake Sale this weekend!

Dan    Thoughts    

I bake about, oh, let’s say four times a year. Three of those times, I make biscuits. The fourth time that I bake it is for the Calgary Food Blogger Bake Sale and, well, I get a little stressed out. Naturally, I’m being a tad melodramatic, but let me elaborate…

Organized by local food blogger/writer, Vincci Tsui, this second annual bake sale has partnered with Casel Marche, the building that boasts everyone’s favourite new French restaurant, Cassis Bistro, and  Market 17 to sell some delicious baked wares in the name of a good cause!

The inaugural food blogger bake sale raised over $1200 for Calgary’s Meals on Wheels. How rad is that?

Well, what would even be more ‘rad’ would be to see the bake sale this coming weekend raise more than $1200 for another deserving local charity. This year, Vincci has decided to donate all proceeds from the weekend to Brown Bagging For Calgary’s Kids, an amazing Calgary initiative that provides daily lunches to less fortunate children and youth. Which, brings me back to my first point; I don’t bake very often, but I’ll bake for an excellent cause like this!

Now, here is where the fear sets in…With about 25 food bloggers, give or take, taking part in this charity bake sale, there’s bound to be some impressive endeavours. So, let’s get intimidated, shall we?

Stephanie of Global Dish is sure make something chalk full of chocolate-y goodness or a tart-shaped fruit-filled piece of perfection.

Jacinthe (Food With Presence and my Start From Scratch partner) whips up Cherry Cardamom Vanilla Loaf like it’s a piece of cake, and, yes, I do realise that loaf is not cake.

And, then there’s Gwendolyn. Calgary Herald food writer by day. Dessert extraordinaire by night (as seen on her popular blog Patent and The Pantry). Rarely does a photo Panna Cotta leave me shaking in my boots, but I just put on my baking boots and, well, I’m shaking.

What I’m getting at here is that although my baking soda, white vinegar and vegetable shortening cookie sandwiches (ok, not actually making anything like that…) may pale in comparison to some of the delicious offerings that will be up for sale this weekend; it’s important to remember that all of the baking efforts that are going into these two days are for a great cause. Now, I want you to remember something while you’re chewing my under-cooked (or slightly burnt depending on the day) cookies that cost three dollars: It’s for a good cause.

If you want to swing by Casel Marche (again, the building on 17th Ave SW and 24th St SW that houses Cassis Bistro and Market 17), to purchase some great baking with all proceeds going towards Brown Bagging For Calgary’s Kids, we’ll be peddling our wares from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. this coming Saturday and Sunday (February 11th and 12th). I will be manning the pop-up baked goods market on the Sunday, so feel free to come by andtry a sample of my baking soda/vegetable shortening cookies. I keep hearing that they’re a huge hit with the local racoons.

So are you wondering what I am actually going to make? I’ll let you in on a little secret…I’ll decide on Friday night (and, no it will not involve baking soda, vinegar and shortening).

For more details on the 2nd annual Calgary Food Blogger Bake Sale check out the Facebook event listing here.

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!

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.