A Night at the Juniper in Banff

We have been encouraged to be boisterous.

And how can we not be, now that we’ve finished our cocktails and mingled outside, casting looks over the jagged Rockies and Vermilion Lakes from The Juniper Hotel’s perch just off the road up to Mount Norquay, and then be led in to sit at two long tables stretching the width of the Bistro dining room in anticipation of a five-course dinner featuring one of Vancouver’s top chefs?

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A view from my room over to the The Juniper Bistro and beyond.

This is the third collaboration dinner in the Juniper Bistro’s dining series and the restaurant’s manager, Chris Irving, and his staff are sharing the kitchen with Angus An, a Vancouver-based chef well known for his restaurants Longtail Kitchen (which made my list of best eats last year) and Maenam, among others.

(For more about the dining series, upcoming chefs and why Irving started it, I’ve got the scoop on The YYScene.)

There is one focal point for the dinner.

“Life is short, prawns are seasonal,” An announced at the beginning to cheers and laughs.

Spot prawns, the coveted shellfish, has a short, six-week season of availability so they remain a sustainable fishery. They are considered Oceanwise because of this and the opening of spot prawn season on Canada’s West Coast is greeted with a lot of joy.

Fifty pounds of them were brought in fresh and turned into a series of dishes that played to An’s strengths, featuring the Thai flavours he is known for. Maenam serves up modern Thai dining, while Longtail Kitchen has a more street-food focus.

Bold flavours – sweet and sour, salty, spicy – were showcased throughout the night. Punches of heat from chili jam, citrus notes from galangal and even smoky notes, for a Tom Yum soup, that came from grilling the prawns.

The mood was jovial as we nestled in our seats, next to friends and strangers. Since the appetizers –kaffir and lemongrass roasted cashews, pad thai spring rolls and Thai green curry fish cakes – were set out family style, it was a good way to break the ice.

We were able to nibble and chat while occasionally peeking into the open kitchen to see the flurry of cooking happening there.

The first plates to come out were of a spot prawn ceviche, aromatically spiked with lime leaves, lemongrass and some crisp spot prawn crackers to add crunch. Conversations lulled as we took the first bites and then roared back up again as people talked about the dish.

Spot Prawn Ceviche from the Maenam-Juniper collaboration dinner at The Juniper in Banff.
Spot Prawn Ceviche

An, Irving and the rest of the kitchen staff spent the day making every course from scratch, weaving a culinary journey around Thailand. Between courses, An would explain some of the techniques and ingredients used in the dishes. Like that the deep earthy flavour that underpinned that soup came from using every part of the prawn, including the head and innards in the stock.

The soup, poured tableside, was aromatic and deeply flavoured.

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Tom Yum Goong with galangal-infused broth

But it was the seafood curry with roasted sablefish, mussels and spot prawns, coloured and perfumed with turmeric, that made me wish for a second helping. The fish was perfectly cooked, the curry warming and full-bodied.

It’s likely to make my list for the best things I ate in 2017.

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Turmeric Seafood Curry

We lingered over dessert. Irving’s goal of creating these dinners in part to serve as a catalyst for conversation and potentially to spark new friendships succeeded as those of us sitting at one end of the table exchanged phone numbers with suggestions we connect again soon.

And after it all, I was able to tumble into the king-size bed in my hotel room, only a few steps from the Bistro. The perfect commute.

In fact, I was a few minutes late to the cocktail portion of the dinner as I couldn’t stop myself from throwing open the outside door of my room to look out at the view over the Banff townsite and sharp-tipped slope of Mount Rundle.

Set outside the main town of Banff, across the Trans-Canada Highway, The Juniper enjoys a totally different perspective on the area (especially for a non-skier like me who hasn’t been up to Norquay).

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A room…

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…with a view

In the morning, I am loathe to leave, lying in bed with the curtains open to enjoy the view for as long as I can.

When it comes time to check out, I load up my car but find I’m still not ready to abandon the calm beauty of Banff for Calgary’s bustle, so I head into town to grab a pastry and tea from Wild Flour Bakery on Bear Street and then drove along the road that winds next to the Vermilion Lakes, stopping by one of the docks that juts out from the shore. Tea warming my hands, I sat on the dock, bobbing in the slight waves kicked up from the strong winds.

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Thank you to Chris Irving for inviting me to come to the Maenam collaboration dinner and The Juniper for hosting me.

Future dining series events include a night with Chef Ned Bell in October and Top Chef Canada alum Todd Perrin in November. Dates to be determined. Find more information about upcoming events and book your own night at The Juniper at thejuniper.com.

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Fried Chicken Dine-Around

I don’t remember how the idea even first formed, what the precipitating discussion had been, only that at some point the idea was arrived upon that a group of us should have a night eating fried chicken from a variety of spots around Calgary.

A fried chicken tour – or dine-around as we later called it – seemed like one of those ridiculous ideas that is so decadent that you kind of can’t not do it.

So we did.

Saying yes was a no brainer. After all, fried chicken is one of those dishes that inspire made cravings. That juicy meat, crackle-crisp breading, spices and herbs, all check the boxes for a dish worth yearning for.

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A selection from Chicken On the Way

The harder task was trying to narrow down the field from all the restaurants dishing up their versions of fried chicken around the city. Especially since – out of fear of heartburn or coronaries – we limited ourselves to four spots. Even that is not really for the faint of heart.

Chicken on the Way was a given, since it’s a Calgary institution and, well, the fritters are deadly good.
Cluck n’ Cleaver was added to the list as the newest on the scene.

And to cover off a variety of price points, we also wanted to include some sit-down restaurants, which meant Model Milk – which has been serving up fried chicken in some combination or another since it opened, including numerous iterations of southern classic combination chicken and waffles – and Anju which, while known maybe more for its yearn-worthy wings and sliders does offer large-format plates of fried chicken.

The original plan also included Olive Chicken, though I also love Ogam Chicken, which is down on Macleod Trail across from Chinook Centre.

In the end, we put those on the list for the inevitable round two of the Fried Chicken Tour.

I’ve dabbled in making fried chicken for a couple of dinner parties – where someone else was responsible for the waffles – and had a lot of success with recipes by Tyler Florence and J. Kenji Lopez-Alt – whose version I heartily endorse, as do my fellow dinner party diners.

Fried chicken looking so fine. Thanks @kenjilopezalt for the recipe! Not pictured: the waffles alongside.

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Dinner! Homemade chicken and waffles with bourbon syrup. Eff yes.

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I was mostly willing to tackle it because, well, I do love fried chicken and because the party hosts have one of those deep-fat fryers that’s all enclosed and maintains temperature and means no one is carefully watching a pot of boiling oil on a stove and dealing with splatter. Also, they cleaned up, so….

Because, as much as I love eating fried foods, I kind of hate cooking them. Though that may also be due to lack of experience (a chicken-and-egg situation, to be sure) and never quite getting the knack of keeping the temperature steady and so on.

Eating someone else’s fried chicken is so much easier.

With a date picked and an order selected, we set forth.

It started with Chicken on the Way.

After all, one should start at the beginning.

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A few people questioned why we would include this spot, but for me there was no doubt it had to be part of the tour. They’ve been frying up chicken and fritters and fries for nearly 60 years; they’re a Calgary institution.

Although the goal was to not fill up on side dishes, we couldn’t resist the corn fritters which are satisfyingly crusty on the outside with soft, corn-studded interiors.

The chicken itself has a rather thin coating when compared to Korean fried chicken or even the robust crust on Cluck n’ Cleaver. But it’s nice and crisp and the chicken underneath is juicy enough.

This is straightforward, know-what-you’re-going-to-get fried chicken – which is likely why it has remained a part of Calgary’s dining scene for so long. (And has expanded to other Calgary locations and other communities, like Airdrie, Brooks and Edmonton.)

The tour was off to a good start.

A straight shot south on 14th Street lands you at the front door of Cluck n’ Cleaver, the fried and rotisserie chicken spot opened by Nicole Gomes, of Nicole Gourmet Catering (who is currently competing on Food Network Canada’s Top Chef Canada: All Stars) and her sister Francine.

Like Chicken on the Way, you can stop and enjoy your food in the space, but mostly it’s to-go orders. (And, perhaps dangerously, they do delivery.)

The “avoid ordering sides” decision went straight out the window here, as we tried three salads (coleslaw, black bean and corn, and a stick-to-your-ribs potato salad) along with biscuits and gravy. And a milkshake. Because why not?

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The camera eats first. At Cluck n’ Cleaver.

Where Chicken on the Way has a thin coating, Cluck’s is all thick and craggy with plenty of seasoning. Hiding beneath, deeply juicy chicken that counterbalances that crispy coating.

It’s excellent on its own but I wouldn’t stand in the way of anyone considering dipping some of that chicken into the gravy served on the side, which is also fantastic on the biscuits.

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For an entirely different take on fried chicken – at least in terms of seasonings and spices – we then headed down 17th Avenue to Anju, home of some of the city’s most crave-able hot wings.

While a go-to order for me when stopping in, we forewent the gochujang wings for chef Roy Oh’s latest fried chicken creation, which he frequently changes to keep things interesting. There were only a few days left for the version then still on the menu, which was a spicy chicken topped with airy light honey-butter that melted into the crooks and crannies of the crispy skin. Alongside, a playful take on macaroni and cheese, but instead of pasta, Oh used rice stick.

Since the menu change was imminent, Oh also served up the newest iteration that is now on the menu: sriracha-brined fried chicken served with a black sesame-dressed salad. The cooling salad was a nice counterpoint to the hot chicken that, while spicy, didn’t blow out my tastebuds. (I’m, admittedly, a total spice wimp.)

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No lie. We had to pause here for a bit before continuing.

Also no lie? I wasn’t sad because it meant time for one more Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels – one of my favourite cocktails in the city. Into a smoked glass with a massive ice cube is a mixture of bourbon (yay!), ginger liqueur, sugar and bitters. So, it’s kind of like a super jazzed up Old-fashioned. (Also yay!)

I may enjoy trying all sorts of menu items while at Anju, but when it comes to the cocktail list, it’s Lock, Stock every time.

From Anju, it was a quick (much-needed) walk down to the other end of the block to hit up Model Milk.

Fried chicken has been on their menu almost since the beginning, but how it’s prepared and what it’s served with is constantly evolving. First, it came with grits, then waffles entered the picture. At one point, those waffles were deep-fried to be, essentially, donuts. (This was my favourite iteration of them all.)

The latest edition comes with fluffy, flaky biscuits, a wedge of iceberg salad and dill pickle coins whose acidic tang play nicely against the chicken.

This chicken had some kick, to be sure. The salad was soothing, though and I couldn’t get enough of those light biscuits.
Sorry. Not the best photo. Trust me, it looks so much better than this.

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And so, some five hours later, the chicken dine-around came to a close. Amazingly – frighteningly – we were already discussing the next one as the plates were cleared.

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