Overall rating: 4.5 out of 5. FOOD: 5 / 5. VALUE: 4 / 5. AMBIANCE: 4.5 / 5
The food at Rouge is, in a word: stunning. The dishes lived up to my high expectations of the place bestowed by S. Pellegrino as one of the world’s best 100 restaurants in 2010. The setting: the historic Cross House in Inglewood just minutes from downtown.
This was my last Lunch Rush column for Metro Calgary before I moved to London, so I decided to splash out. Funnily enough, it was actually cheaper than lesser restaurants I’ve dined at. Why didn’t I eat here every week?
I started with the seasonal soup creation, a roasted cauliflower and yellow zucchini with scallion oil ($10). The soup was comforting and gourmet. At $10 bucks a pop, it’d better be good, and believe me (cheap-ass that I am), it was well worth the price.
Pureed soup at a nice restaurant is one of my favourite things in the world.
Jason had the couscous salad with almonds and cranberries, with a side salad of shaved fennel and orange vinaigrette ($10). The light citrus flavour lent a refreshing tone. I particularly enjoyed the crunchy toasted almonds and the fennel salad accompaniment. Read More
Hard to believe that January is almost over as it seems to have flown by this year! Have you kept any of your resolutions? I’ve stopped making any, except for the generic, enjoyable and achievable one of eating at as many new restaurants as possible.
Trend forecasting is a difficult thing to do, but I asked some of Calgary’s top chefs–SAIT’s Michael Allemeier, Justin Leboe, Rouge’s Paul Rogalski, Brava Bistro’s Kevin Turner–to do exactly that. Here are a few things that Calgarians can look forward to in 2011:
- smaller more casual restaurants (look for Justin Leboe’s Model Milk to open soon, as well as casual Italian restos, including one in the space previously occupied by Nectar);
- secondary cuts of meat like osso bucco;
- charcuterie and smoking (bacons, hams, terrines);
- braised dishes (but goodbye to braised pork belly);
- ancient grains like millet, amaranth, quinoa;
Find out more new trends in the Jan/Feb issue of City Palate, Calgary’s most comprehensive food magazine. My story The Future of Food is on page 34. The Jan/Feb issue is also my favourite because it’s all about Cheap Eats. Austerity after the holiday season is always a necessary measure. So I might eat out less often, but I’ll be choosier about where I go. It’s all good!
Happy eating,
- Anh Chu
