Jacek Chocolate Couture -104st Opening!

If you know me or have been following my blog, you know that I love all things sweet (like macarons). So, you can imagine that I was beyond excited when I learned that Jacek Chocolate Couture was opening a downtown 104st location. 

Opening day was the first day of August! At the opening, there was a live mannequin wearing chocolate jewellery! She did an amazing job staying in the various poses for a period of time.

Upon our arrival into the store my friend and I were greeted with trays of beautifully created champagne truffles. They almost looked too pretty to eat (don't worry, we made sure we tasted them all!)

The 104st store is well stocked with chocolate bars as well as all of their seasonal and petite bar truffle collections. 

We couldn't say no to the gin and tonic truffle either! 

Here is Jacqueline Jacek, the owner, busy talking to customers amidst the hustle and bustle in the store. 

More chocolate truffles to sample. 

All the gorgeous truffles waiting for you to purchase!

After much deciding, I came home with a custom designed box of chocolates. 

Most of the chocolates I selected came from Jacek's Summer 2014 collection with the exception of two from the Petite Bar Collection.

 Top to Bottom: Periwinkle (Cassis coulis covered with a smooth blonde ganache), Chartreuse (Pistachio Gianduja & milk chocolate ganache covered in dark chocolate - yum!), Turquoise (Blueberry jasmine tea steeped in milk chocolate and enrobed in dark chocolate - light jasmine tea flavour as you inhale with a finish of dark chocolate) and Magenta (Market beet reduction with red velvet ganache).

The Magenta was super unique given that Jacek uses fresh beets from the market and reduces it in order to create the chocolate. The red velvet ganache worked very well with this chocolate. I would definitely recommend getting the Magenta while it is still available. 

The inside of the Periwinkle pictured on the Right. This one was very tasty as the slight tartness of the cassis coulis was offset by the smooth blonde ganache surrounding it.  

Petite Frank and Petite Stella from the Petite Bar Collection on the Left side. 

You can find these tasty chocolates at either one of the store locations in Sherwood Park or on 104th st. in Edmonton. Jacek chocolates can also be found at many locations near you; all you have to do is check their page to find a location.

Jacek Chocolate Couture

10140 104th St.

Edmonton, AB

(780) 705-9927

Closed Sundays

http://jacekchocolate.com/

Twitter: Jacek104th

Sage Restaurant - Signature Series of a Taste of Europe

Last Thursday, I attended the Media Dinner at the Sage Restaurant (located in the Casino River Cree) for Chef Chartrand's Sage Signature Series. The media dinner was a peek at the upcoming Taste of Europe menu which is a 6 course tasting menu available at Sage from August 26 until August 31 for $49 (drink pairings are an additional cost). 

When each beautiful dish arrived at the table, Chef Chartrand explained the inspiration behind each dish and that each dish paid homage to one of his favourite European chefs. Each dish was essentially Chef Chartrand's interpretation of the dish.

Each drink pairing was explained in detail and how it would pair with the particular dish that we were going to enjoy. 

We started with Spain for the first course with a dish inspired by Chef Jose Andres of a clams and chorizo sausage al ajillo and crispy ensalada. The egg yolk in this dish was perfectly creamy, the clams fresh and the flavours balanced well with the chorizo sausage. 

This dish was paired very nicely with a Cava Baron De Valls Brut from Catlyuna. Cava means double fermented and as such resembles a sparkling wine like champagne and this was a great drink to start the meal. 

The second course took us to Germany with a dish inspired by Sven Elderfeld of a beef goulash, braised cabbage, potato-gherkin cream and spelt bread. 

The wine paired with this dish was a Andreas Bender Pinot Noir 2011 from Pfalz. I must say the beef goulash paired very smoothly with the Pinot Noir. The wine was not too spicy on the palate, as the cream and goulash provided a smoothness that you don't often taste with a Pinot Noir. 

The third course brought us to Italy with a dish inspired by Massimo Bottura consisting of beautiful springy tagliatelle with veal osso bucco, roasted romaine and balsamic foie. A Nero Di Troia from Pugia was paired with this dish. This wine is a single varietal with no sulphites and is made in a stainless steel barrel. Needless to say, it paired very well with the veal osso bucco.

A 1448 Premium Whisky Ale from Perthshire arrived next to be paired with the fourth course of the night. This whisky ale is very unique as it is made in previously used oak barrels. It is naturally light and has a slight flavour of orange peel. 

Our fourth course of the Sage Signature Series was inspired by Marc Pierre White of England with Chef Chartrand's creation of a deconstructed cottage pie. Crispy kale and pecorino sat on top of mashed potatoes, finely diced carrots and lamb.  

Our fifth course of the night took us to France with a dish inspired by Alain Ducasse. Chef Chartrand also explained that this dish's portion size was a little smaller given our previous plates. The coq au vin was amazingly soft with the burgundy emulsion and a gruyère gougères. I loved the gruyère gougères (think golden cheesy puff!) as it was super soft with a nice hint of gruyère.

For our last course of the night, we had a Kirsch Based Cocktail rimmed with spicy cinnamon and brown sugar.

The last course of the night was also a feat in itself as the culinary team managed to bake 50 soufflés and serve them at the same time. This swiss chocolate soufflé was inspired by Chef Peter Goossens of Switzerland and was paired with a Crème anglaise. The decadence of this dessert went very well with the dessert cocktail. 

Chef Chartrand and his team did an amazing job on the Sage Signature Series. It was a great opportunity to visit Sage and to partake in such a great dinner. You can certainly see Chef Chartrand's creativity in the plating and interpretation of classic dishes but his creativity is also evident in the flavours that he puts together. If you have the chance to try this time's Sage Signature Series, go book a table as the Taste of Europe Signature Series is only available this week.

Sage Restaurant

300 E Lapotac Blvd.

Enoch, AB

twitter: @SageRiverCree

Feasting on Seafood at Sabor

Last week, I had the amazing opportunity to be invited to Sabor Restaurant's (previously known as Sabor Divino) second annual seafood fest. I had been looking forward to trying out the seafood at Sabor since since Sabor's Pork Fest when I realized we had just missed the seafood festival. 

Co-owner Christian Mena started off this year's seafood festival by thanking everyone for attending and inviting everyone to enjoy dinner "family style" as we were all part of the family! We were all seated in long family style communal tables which added to the atmosphere and feeling of us all being part of one family!

We started off with some warm and cold tapas of Bacalhau (salt cod cakes), Sardine Pate Crostinis, Piri Piri Prawns and a bite of Wild Artic Char Tartar with avocado and pimento aioli. These first four tapas were all quite tasty, however, I really enjoyed the flavour in the piri piri prawns while Dan enjoyed the artic char. The presentation of the artic char tartar was unique as it was designed to be eaten in one bite so all the flavours would come together inside your mouth.

The olives! The olives at Sabor are very unique. Certainly olives are not for everyone but I must admit that over the years my palate has changed towards enjoying certain types of olives. Pictured above are a selection of olives that Sabor serves at the start of their meals (in previous dining experiences you can request them at the beginning of your meal). The bright green olive was surprisingly my favourite out of all of them as it had a light mellow flavour and mouth feel and was not as heavy on the palate compared to the darker Calamata olive.

The next family style dish that we had was the Bay Scallops with a Cauliflower Puree. Oh my! These scallops were amazing. Each scallop had a gorgeous soft texture and was perfectly grilled. The cauliflower puree was also very well done and flavourful.

The Grilled Calamari with lemon and spicy tomato arrived shortly after with a small heap of micro greens on top. If you love calamari, then this dish would be for you! The tomato sauce wasn't as spicy as you would initially think as it was balanced nicely with the lemon. Each calamari ring was soft and not too chewy.

Dan really loved the Octopus Salad as it had generous chunks of tender (non-rubbery) grilled octopus amidst the greens, red onions and peppers.

Midway through the meal, Chef Lino Oliveira (also known as the Rebel Chef) came out to talk to all the guests and go into a bit more detail about the reasons behind the seafood fest and menu. Both Chef Oliveira & Christian Mena then announced that Sabor is now officially 100% Oceanwise certified!

With that news in mind, we all thoroughly enjoyed the next three seafood dishes of the Lobster Risotto, the Pan-Roasted Sablefish with cucumber green onion salsa and a very well packed Seafood Paella filled with mussels, scallops, clams and shrimp!

In between courses there were number of photo outtakes of our food, each other and of course photos of photos (Thank Brit for being our model for this one!)

In all honestly, everyone had an amazing time at Sabor's second annual seafood fest enjoying each other's company, the food and the tasty Vina Chocalan Chardonnay and Vina Chocalan Carmenere that continually flowed from the bottles to our wine glasses.

Sabor even made their dessert easy to take home as it was a Cherry Port Cheesecake in a cute mason jar!

If you want to taste any of the above delicious plates please go dine during Sabor's Seafood Fest that is running until September 14, 2014 in Edmonton! They are now 100% Oceanwise certified so that is even better. 

Sabor Restaurant

10220-103 St. 

Edmonton, AB

Hours: 

Lunch Mon-Fri (11:30am-2pm)

Dinner Mon-Sat (5pm-10pm)

Sunday (5-9pm)

(780)757-1114

http://www.sabordivino.com/

Twitter: @Sabor_yeg

Instagram: @sabor_yeg

Dining out in Calgary - Black Pig Bistro

Last week, Dan and I celebrated our 3rd year anniversary. Unfortunately, on the actual day of the anniversary, I ended up being super sick. So in an effort to recover the anniversary we ended up making plans to celebrate in Calgary and have a mini-vacation. One restaurant in particular caught our attention - Black Pig Bistro especially after our friend Carmen talked about about each of the great dishes and having recently met Chef John Michael MacNeil in June. 

Upon entering their restaurant you are greeted by the friendly front of house and given a moment to enjoy the beautiful open space. Of course, one of their key features the Iberico leg is on display for your viewing pleasure.

Shortly after we ordered, we were treated to some molecular gastronomy of encapsulated (or spherified) olives! According to chef John this was heavily inspired by the tapas Barcelona restaurant, Tickets. When you pop these into your mouth, the jelly casing gives away to a burst of olives! Granted, you must love olives to enjoy this particular presentation, but I think olives are starting to grow on me (more about olives in the next post).

For our salad, we ordered the special salad of the night which was comprised of slices of their namesake Iberico ham, B.C peaches, fior de latte, topped with a handful of arugala and a light fig spread. This dish was the perfect start to our meal as it was light and refreshing. The Iberico ham was true to its description of being creamy, rich and almost melted in our mouths.

The next dish that we shared was the Salted Cod Tortellini resting on a piquillo pepper puree and topped with crispy kale chips. The saltiness of the cod balanced well with the piquillo pepper puree and the added crunch from the kale was perfect.

As a side note, this dish is also one of the most photographed dishes at the Black Pig Bistro!

The third plate that we shared was a different sort of plate. When C & D as well as others recommended that we had to get the Pork Dogs we were intrigued since that is not a usual dish to have. These Pork Dogs were delicious and I am so glad we ordered them as they are made from house made pork sausages and nestled in their own housemade bun! The roasted garlic aioli and salsa verde added some bright flavours and the shaving of manchego (which looked sort of like sauerkraut at first glance) on top made for a perfect third course.

By the time we finished the pork dogs, we wondered if we needed to order more food. However, once this beautiful beef cheek risotto made it to our table we knew dessert would have to be up next. This risotto was amazing! Rich, but not in that heavy way. If you are wondering about the beef cheeks, there are some good size portions nestled inside the risotto. Topped with saffron, grape tomatoes and mixed with mascarpone, this risotto was the perfect main course.

To end the night we ordered the passion fruit panna cotta topped with pistachio crumb, toasted coconut, coconut brioche and some little bits of candied fennel. I couldn't get a nice photo for this dish as the sun had gone done by that time and we didn't want to use the camera's flash. So, just trust me when I say that it was a great light ending to a meal such as the one we had! Imagine pops of passion fruit between creamy panna cotta, nutty pistachios and a nice crunch from the candied fennel on each bite.

All in all, we loved every minute of our anniversary dinner. All the dishes were well prepared, balanced well and looked absolutely amazing. If you have a chance to visit Black Pig Bistro in Calgary you should definitely do it! Chef Alison Bieber and Chef John Michael MacNeil were fantastic and they certainly have a good thing going at Black Pig Bistro. They also mentioned that their menu will be changing in September, so it will be exciting to see what else they have in mind.

Black Pig Bistro
825-1st Ave NE
Calgary, AB
www.blackpigbistro.com
Twitter: @blackpigbistro
Instagram: @blackpigbistro 
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