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CHARCUT and charbar competed in 2015’s Celebrity Hors d’Oeuvres, winning the Picture Perfect Award. We interviewed their Executive Chefs to find out a little more about their restaurants and their passion for food. Meet Executive Chefs Mike Batke and John Jackson. Congratulations on receiving the Picture Perfect award at Celebrity Hors d’Oeuvres in April! What was your inspiration for your winning appetizer? MIKE: Cookies and milk! It’s very nostalgic, not just for us, but for everyone. Everyone remembers having a plate full of warm chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven, and tall glass of cold milk to dip them in. You know the cookies are so warm they melt in your hands and the milk is so cold that it has the condensation beads of water dripping down the side. So, we decided to roll that memory up in a one-bite truffle. Did you and your celebrity team discuss tactics before the event, or did you improvise on the spot? JOHN: Yes, we discussed it with the entire team. It was a group effort and we were extremely happy with the results. We couldn’t stop eating them. What is the philosophy of CHAR|CUT? CHARCUT's style of food is best described as local chef-driven cuisine, with Italian and Country French accents. In creating menus, our goal is to continue to evolve simple ingredients. Ingredients are sourced from small, local artisan farmers and ranchers, with herbs harvested daily from our own garden. We like to know the first names of the people whose products we serve. What is the biggest disaster/challenge you’ve faced in a kitchen? JOHN: To be honest everyday poses a new challenge, but we work together as a team to overcome these challenges. I’ve been pretty good at avoiding disasters in the kitchen, but if you want a good story where we avoided a huge disaster, this is a good one. While working at the St. Regis in San Francisco, there were over 100 residents that occupied the top portion of the building, with the hotel occupying the bottom half of the building. Al Gore was one of the residents and he asked us to do a small catering event for him. He wanted us close, but not in his residence, so we had to make a mobile kitchen inside the elevator landing which was about 30 feet from his front door. We had so much kitchen equipment to work with in such a small space that required electricity and we had only one tiny outlet to plug into; we had multiple induction burners, and a mini deep fryer. Half through cooking his second course we blew the power, because the induction took too much juice. We knew we were in trouble, but we also knew we had to be very quick on our feet, and so we had one of the cooks run down to the basement to reset the power, and grab an extension cord. We ended up extending our power usage to the next outlet down the hall. We had to alternate our power usage the entire night in order to keep cooking and not blow another breaker. We finished the dinner on time, and everyone was super happy. It was a close one and could have been a huge disaster. What’s your guilty pleasure food? JOHN: Duck Fat fried poutine at CHARCUT. I can eat it everyday! MIKE: Soft-serve ice cream Meet Executive Chefs Connie DeSousa and Jessica Pelland! Congratulations on opening charbar! What was the motivation behind opening a second restaurant? CONNIE: We are a team, and we are always looking at ways to inspire each other and grow. At the same time, as we continue to grow, we are constantly building relationships with our vendors, partners and friends in the community. For us it was important for our next project to be collaborative and represent all of the things that we value in our community and to make Calgary a better place. When the Simmons space became available we knew it was the perfect space for us, and so we created our idea with our partners, Phil & Sebastian and Sidewalk Citizen, and threw our concept into the hat with hopes that the CMLC would share our vision. They did! The concept for charbar came much later, when Jessica had the opportunity to travel to Argentina and stage in different Argentinian restaurants. She absolutely fell in love with the culture and traditional influences of the Asado style BBQ, and how the Argentinian parilla brings food and family together in a very special way. We knew at that point that we wanted to bring some Argentinian influences to life in Calgary at charbar. What is your passion in food? JESSICA: I am inspired by whole animal butchery, wild game, and all types of BBQ. But most of all, my passion is eating the food. I love gathering friends and family together to eat lots of food, enjoy each other’s company and share stories. What differences will we see at charbar? charbar menu offers a wide-range options from the ocean, prairies and local gardens that are inspired by the culinary traditions of Argentina, with a dash of Spain and Italy. The Argentine wood-fired grill is the true inspiration behind charbar’s identity, taking from the history and culture of what it represents. The parilla, or grill, is an essential part of bringing families and communities together for an asado, or barbeque. We want Calgarians and visitors to come together and experience the authenticity and art of grilling beef that Argentina has perfected. charbar is serving up ultra-dry-aged Alberta beef between 60 and 100 days. We are the only restaurant in the province currently using this method to prepare the beef and maximize the natural flavour and tenderize the meat. Also, our menu will appeal to vegetarians and veggie lovers; almost half of the options are vegetarian, particularly the small plates meant to share, such as the pistachio and avocado bruschetta, sourdough Fugazza with Roman broccoli, provoleta and roast peppers or baked empanadas with almond chimichurri. All the chefs at CHARCUT and charbar are television stars – what motivates you to compete at each level from CHD through Chopped and Top Chef Canada? We are always striving to be better. We want our team to be the best they can be, and so we are always encouraging them, and ourselves, to find ways to push our culinary limits. Competitions help to get the creative ideas flowing, think about food differently, try new combinations and cooking techniques, and push us to be the best we can be. Some of these competitions force you to think fast on your feet, get inventive, and work under pressure, which is challenging and rewarding all at the same time. What is the biggest disaster/challenge you’ve faced in a kitchen? CONNIE: John was the Chef de Cuisine at the Owl’s Nest and I was his apprentice and he was doing a very important tasting for some of our very important clients for that evening. He came in extra early to get all of this prep ready. When it was all done, he put it in the Garde Mange refrigerator. I came in later for my dinner shift, John was in a meeting, and one of the other senior cooks asked if I had eaten. He mentioned that there were these really nice stuffed pheasants in the fridge that he thought were left over from the daily special from lunch. He started cooking them for the entire kitchen team, and we sat and had an amazing feast of stuffed pheasant, with perfectly turned vegetables; it was incredible. John walks in as we are eating, and goes to the fridge to grab his mise. We all looked at each other because it just hit us; we just ate his mise for his VIP tasting! We all looked very suspicious and he was furious. He ended up sending everyone home but me and another apprentice. That was a good lesson for us apprentices, for sure. What’s your guilty pleasure food? CONNIE: Poutine with white vinegar! JESSICA: Bourbon .

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