Vero Bistro hosts Vine and Dine

While thousands gathered to cheer the arrival of an Olympic Torch in Calgary last Monday, a more intimate crowd was applauding the efforts of Chef Jenny Chan.

To them, her accomplishment was no less heroic than a gold-medal winner. That night, she and younger brother Frankie Chan prepared and plated a six course meal for almost 50 people; the full capacity of her small, upscale restaurant in Kensington.

Her partner, Mike Berg, is the restaurant’s manager and one of its few servers. He and co-workers were also given big praise, having slid deftly between tables, dropping gorgeous food with polished flare.

It was a ‘Vine and Dine’ event, meaning Linda Garson, an expert in wines, paired each course with a little known wine. She explained the history of each vineyard and grape, and why the choice was perfect for each dish.

A lobster bisque was first on the menu, complete with generous portions of lobster claws and a dash of Pernod. The matching wine came from Australia: Xanadu Next of Kin Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon.

The fresh crispness of it set the salty, cream soup in perfect balance. The following courses included a Dungeness crab cake with scallops and shrimp and exquisite hand-rolled sweet potato gnocchi drizzled with a sage brown butter and balsamic reduction; its sweet earthiness was paired perfectly with smoky bits of wild boar bacon, sweet candied almonds, and sharp gorgonzola cheese.

In a rare display of bias, Garson, who is set to visit winemakers in Italy, Chile and Argentina this season, announced her favorite wine that night: Chanson Pouilly Fuisse.

“This is delicate wine making,” she said of the Burgundy-region wine, “Chardonnay doesn’t have to be bright yellow, wheaty and steeped in oak … it can be like this, the perfect blend of acidity and sweetness. There is a subtle taste of oak, but not over-powering or artificial. This is how Chardonnay was meant to be.”

The same might be said of Vero Bistro. Confident, bold and complex flavours are matched by a comfortable, unpretentious setting. There are capable servers, a more-than-full bar, some of the freshest oysters in town, and a lively neighbourhood into which guests tumble after a long night of good food. Some Vine and Dine regulars said it was the best setting they’d experienced. It was, commented one patron, as if you had gone home for a special occasion dinner and your mother had been trained at Le Cordon Bleu.

Among the guests were Don Campbell, band leader for Estelle dance orchestra, Andy MacDonald, the new manager for Rouge Restaurant, and Johann Kyser, project manager for Alberta’s 2011 Solar Decathlon project.

Published in National Post on January 23, 2010