DINE OUT REVIEWS:
Selkirk Grille
With celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Confederation in full swing, restaurants are tweaking their menus to highlight Canuck cuisine. But the Selkirk Grille at Heritage Park is ahead of the game, having focused on classic Canadian dishes since it opened in 2009, long before the tongue twister “sesquicentennial” entered our collective lexicon.
If, like me, this comes as news to you, it might be because the Selkirk Grille’s location works against it somewhat. If you’ve never toured Heritage Park (guilty), you might not know it’s there. Indeed, during a recent visit—mid-week, off-season—it was positively quiet. (The park’s Historical Village, with its vintage midway, opens for its 53rd summer on the Victoria Day weekend.)
Tucked away off Gasoline Alley, the restaurant is named for the Canadian Pacific Railroad steam locomotive that sits out front. The historical theme continues inside, where the decor elegantly references hallmarks of prairie architecture: lots of wood, sage-green walls, and a long bar anchored by sandstone. Landscape paintings adorn the walls, and, while there’s music, it’s a soundtrack worthy of a Woody Allen film—think Ella and Frank—played at a decibel level suitable for conversation. As I don’t like loud, this was all fine with me. In fact, there is something almost romantic about the Selkirk Grille, akin to that feeling you get dining at a long-established hotel, right down to the professional (career) service staff.
If there’s anything trendy about Selkirk Grille, it’s the food. Chef Tobias Larcher has been in charge for a little more than a year, and he emphasizes organic and locally sourced ingredients. So the lamb is from Driview Farms, the pork from Spragg’s in Rosemary, the cheese is Sylvan Star Gouda. Artisanal greens are grown year-round, with other produce grown in the summer. To top it all off, in partnership with ABC Bees, the Selkirk Grille has hives on-site for honey. On the day we visited, one of the featured appetizers was red-quinoa-and-spinach salad, $11. In addition to the titular ingredients, it featured dried apricots, blueberries, slivered almonds, radishes and kale chips for a bit of crunch. I would have happily eaten a large plate of it as my main, though then I’d have missed the pan-seared, B.C. wild spring salmon, $28, with baby carrots and perfectly prepared roasted potatoes. My friend has been trying to eat less meat, so he eschewed a steak and the tempting rabbit ravioli in favour of the West Coast crab cakes, $15, with a tomatillo-and-parsnip paste. (Come summer, I’m told, the crab cakes will be served with a sauce made of red wine and Clamato jelly, a nod to the Calgarian who invented the caesar. Mmmm, history.) He washed them down with a couple of Cowbells, a “sour” beer from Wild Rose Brewery that is flavoured with kaffir lime leaves. For dessert, we ordered the peanut butter parfait and the classic strawberry shortcake, $8 each. The former was a sophisticated version of a peanut-butterand-jam ice-cream sandwich. The latter was made with a buttermilk biscuit, so it was refreshing and not too sweet. Better still, the red berries and white whipped cream represented the Maple Leaf. Patriotism should always taste this good.
1900 Heritage Dr. S.W., 403-268-8607, heritagepark.ca.