Raw Bar at the Arts...

New menu Offering

With spring's arrival, Chef Duncan Ly is launching a new dinner menu for the Raw Bar.Inspired by a fusion of different cultural influences, Chef Ly's new menu will introduce an array of appetizers that are fresh, light and meant to be shared.Highlights include a new Vietnamese Spring Roll; a Korean-influenced Salad Wrap with Flank Steak; a Duck Drummette Croquette; as well as a new twist on a Duck Confit Steamed Bun.Duncan's passion for Pho Soup will reveal itself with the introduction of some different noodle bowl dishes to the dinner menu. Seafood lovers will be delighted by the Pacific-Rim influenced entrees that Chef Ly will be featuring this spring. Look out for the Ivory Spring Salmon with Pork Gyoza and Sake Emulsion as well as the Donburi - a Rice Bowl with Roasted Miso Glazed Black Cod.Rounding out the options include outstanding dishes like the Braised Short Rib, the Sous Vide Chicken Breast and, arguably, one of the best Alberta Beef Burgers in the land.

Fans of the Raw Bar will be pleased to know that Chef Ly will be bringing back his award-winning Thai Lobster Bisque to accompany Raw Bar classics like the Dungeness Crab Roll and the Albacore Tuna Tataki.

Check out the new Raw Bar Dinner Menu when it launches later in April.  Reservations can be booked at open table or by calling the Raw Bar at 403 206 9565. 

It's never too early to think about Mom!

Raw Bar is featuring a special Mother's Day Brunch and a special dinner menu.

When: Mothers Day (two seating's 10:00-1030am or 1:00-130pm)

Cost: $50 for adults 14 and up, $25 for kids between 13 and 7, kids 6 and under eat free

Highlights for Moms: Mothers receive a complimentary Mimosa on arrival along with a gift to go  

Highlights of Buffet: There will be a chef attended omelet station, prime rib carving station and seafood extravaganza (assortment of fresh seafood)

Mothers Day Dinner: At 5pm we will  be featuring a special Chef's menu for the mothers with a complimentary glass of prosecco on arrival and a gift to go 

Inquiries or Reservations can be made by calling 403-206-9565 or by clicking here. 

Titanic: The Last Dinner  

Each year Tourism Calgary and their industry partners present the Calgary White Hat Awards, honouring those in the hospitality and tourism industry who provide exceptional customer service. 

Hotel Arts Group has participated in this program for the past 4 years.  While we have had our share of finalists, our involvement has taken on a more valuable perspective.  In the last 2 years, our nominees have jumped from 30 to 50! Being nominated by clients and colleagues is seen as a true accomplishment in which our staff takes great pride. 

Participation at the awards ceremony has also taken on a life of its own!  The evening begins with a reception held at Hotel Arts.  Participants from both properties and their guest's enjoy a spirited charter bus ride to the Jubilee Auditorium for the ceremony.  The nominees all sit together generating enthusiastic singing and cheering suitably accompanied by thunder sticks.  It is the pride and experience that has now taken over and simply not the winning of awards.

We have seen our staff grow as complete professionals from viewing their nominations as a form of recognition of excellence by our guests, clients and customers to affirmation by co-workers and colleagues in our corporation.  Motivation doesn't get much better than this.

Possessed is one of the hottest signature fundraisers in town for partygoers who want to dress up, get down and unleash their spring fever. Expect a raucous downtown dance party with live music by Superband, Joanna and the Acrobatiks and crowd-rousing DJ Cameron Sound.  Be enticed as a fun-loving Calgarian to party down with an amazing evening of the best selections of R&B, Funk and Motown sounds. Be one of the 800 guests invited to get "possessed" with DJD.  Take part in impromptu performances with the DJD dancers and special guests. Be drawn in by tempting auction items, sample fabulous cocktails and experience culinary delights.

Possessed will be held April 16 at Hotel Arts.  For further information to purchase tickets, call Decidedly Jazz at 403-245-3533 or visit the website at www.getpossessed.com.

Colin Tait, Raw Bar's mixologist supreme, went to Vancouver to participate as an Apprentice in the Tales of the Cocktail event in mid March.  Colin had the privilege of working alongside some of the world's most renowned cocktail experts during the mini-festival.  Here is his epilogue to the story.

For me, Tales of the Cocktail Vancouver was a great learning experience enveloped in a beautiful city.  The "Tales" crew and Canadian Professional Bartenders Association's outstanding planning and execution, afforded me the opportunity to meet some inspiring individuals and experience profound learning.  I was able to gather an abundance of ideas from the seminars.I now have the appreciation of the ever-importance of ice and what crucial role it plays in the dilution and end taste of any cocktail. I learned what could be accomplished with techniques such as infusion.Conversations over cocktails (it was a cocktail festival after all) saw professional talk about best practices and best products.

Returning to Calgary with this myriad of information was fantastic.  I have so many ideas spinning around in my head and I can't wait to start implementing some of the more adventurous aspects of cocktails here at Raw Bar. As a result, the future is looking stellar for the more demanding imbiber here at Hotel Arts.
 
On a side note there were cocktail competitions offered simultaneously to the "Tales" event. Colin was honoured' to take second place in the "Chambord Palais Royale" competition and have his beverage on the cocktail list of the popular Vancouver restaurant, the "Refinery".

Be sure to visit Raw Bar and talk with Colin about his most excellent adventure.  You will no doubt wish to try one of his newest concoctions.

Chocolate Almond Punch 

Executive Sous-Chef Mike Skarbo attended the Chef's Spring Farm Tour of Southern Alberta on a snowy March day.  A group of chefs throughout Calgary took a 12-hour bus tour of nearby farms that included stops at Broek Acres, Broxburn Greenhouses, Pura Vida and Fairwinds Farm.  The farm tour helped Chef Mike and the team at the Hotel Arts gain a better overview of how produce is grown nearby and helped network the hotel with the farmers that produce these wonderful products.   Although Spring only recently made its first tentative appearance, Mike was pretty impressed with the size of the plants in the greenhouses already. The various pepper plants were 6 feet high, while the cucumber and tomato plants were already at 8 feet. Chef Mike noted that they use predator bugs to keep their crops healthy instead of using chemicals.

The Farm Tour helped set the stage for Chef Skarbo to dust off plans for his own garden.  In fact, he has already been at work on plans for some time.  To kick things off, however, Mike will start his plants indoors and move them outside in June.  Many Calgarians are so desperate for a spring that they are lulled into a false sense of reality that summer arrives in May. Sadly, a surprise stretch of heavy frost can have a deleterious impact on a newly planted garden.

Mike prefers to plant in June after the frosts have abated (we hope!).  He waters his plants daily using a rain barrel.  If you need to use tap water, Mike recommends filling up your watering cans the day before so that the water temperature will not shock the plants if it is too cold.

Mike likes to plant various herbs such as thyme, basil, rosemary, and chives. When deciding what  plants to grow, people often let their stomach decide what to plant instead of understanding what crops work well in Alberta. Chef Mike has experienced success with tomatoes, runner beans, sweet peas, peppers, cucumber, zucchini, raspberries, garlic, and potatoes. In June, the risk of frost has usually past so it is a good time to get the plants outside and angle them to capture as much SW exposure as possible. Be sure to check the type of exposure your plant requires as some plants do not like a lot of heat whereas others thrive in the baking sun.  With a good water regimen, soil treatment and TLC, the plants should yield produce by July and keep going throughout the summer. Start potatoes now in a container and place them in a sunny window. By the end of May, the plants will start to die signaling that your potatoes are ready to be harvested just in time to pair with Spring Lamb.

For me, just hearing the word spring makes me think about lamb. Maybe that's because before improved animal husbandry made lamb available year round, lamb has always been associated with spring and therefore called "Spring Lamb." For roasting, nothing beats the leg, especially when coated with lots of garlic, mustard and rosemary.

Mustard-Rosemary Paste for Lamb

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4cup Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon chopped, fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 6-to-8 pound whole leg of lamb, shank intact, hipbone removed 
• OR
• 5-pound boned and rolled leg

There is no more festive dish then a roast leg of lamb, accompanied by oven roasted herbed potatoes and barely cooked fresh green beans. Pinot Noir was made to go with lamb so make sure to pick up a bottle on the way home.

Trim most of the visible fat from the lamb. If using a whole leg with the hipbone removed, skewer or sew together the flaps of meat where the bones were removed. Brush the meat with the mustard-rosemary paste and let it sit for two hours at room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 350oF. Roast the lamb in the middle of the oven for 1 hour. When the internal temperature of the thickest part reads 115o to 120 o F, remove it from the oven if you want beautiful, rosy, rare lamb. A temperature of 130 o to 140 o F will yield a medium roast. It is very important that the roast rest for at least 20 minutes, loosely covered with foil, before carving and serving. A whole leg serves 6-8.

Enjoy this roast with family or close friends.

Staff Profile: Adrienne Guitard

Adrienne Guitard, Assistant Manager, brings to the Raw Bar team a host of experiences and dreams.  Initially a graphic designer, Adrienne determined that there was more to professional life than designing marketing material that was restricted to one font and three colours.  After backpacking in Europe for the summer, she experienced the world of wine and cuisine and a new professional passion was born.  In order to pursue this new passion, Adrienne sold her classic Fender Stratocaster guitar, to purchase a plane ticket to the west where she became a banquet server at the Jasper Park Lodge.  Here she met the love of her life, her husband Daniel and confirmed that the hospitality industry was now her professional future.

Adrienne has amassed a variety of experiences that she uses as the foundation of her connections with guests and staff in Raw Bar.  As an accredited sommelier, her influence on Raw Bar's constantly evolving wine list is evident.  Her work at the JW Marriott hotels in North America provided her with a valuable perspective of food and beverage operations within hotels, a skill set that all our guests and clients are the beneficiaries.  Her skills as a trainer are evident in the way our crack team of morning servers care for each and every guest.

Adrienne's passion is to create WOW moments for our guests in Raw Bar.  This, of course, includes fabulous wines that enhance the gourmet fare on our menus.  All of this is served by an earnest and kind staff who will artfully care for our guests with great pride.  Her motivating belief is found in her words, "You can make anything an experience... even something as simple as a cappuccino; it's all about the effort you're willing to put forth!" 

As are we all, Adrienne is looking forward the summer at Raw Bar Poolside.  It is her mission to capitalize on the amazing ambiance of this patio and see it become the place for dinner service on warm summer nights.

Come in and meet this very personable young woman and experience engaging conversations about great wine, sumptuous food and a staff who seek to provide you with that WOW experience.

Hotel Arts Group is actively involved in the neighborhood around us. Every month, we are dedicated to giving back to the community by means of volunteering, providing silent auction items, or hosting events. Our most recent contributions include: 

• Alberta Diabetes Foundation:Thursday, March 24, 2011 the "Rations for Riches" breakfast to raise funds for diabetes research. For more information to get involved with the ADF, please click here.
• Easter Seals Alberta & Canada Safeway: Friday, April 1, 2011  at the Schanks Sports Bar to raise funds to give children in Alberta the opportunity to go to camp. For more information to get involved with Easter Seals Alberta, please click here.