MODERN CANADIAN WITH A RUSTIC TOUCH
Creative cuisine at Cochrane’s Fence & Post puts focus on local, seasonal products
For a town of 26,000, Cochrane’s dining scene is impressive. Two fine Italian restaurants in Portofino and The Boot. (Plus Tim’s Gourmet Pizza.) Two good Indian restaurants in Mehtab and Jaipur. A spectacular veganvegetarian Thai restaurant in Thai Onzon, plus sushi, craft beer, locally roasted coffee and, of course, MacKay’s Ice Cream. Cochrane is a great place to eat.
But until recently it was lacking a modern Canadian spot, the kind of place where you can find crisp-skinned duck breast with cherries and almonds sided with roasted beets and zucchini rolls. Or grilled sockeye salmon with braised fennel and pan-roasted cauliflower and a grapefruitcream sauce. Or a ginger-lemon custard pot de creme topped with blueberries and almond clusters. The kind of place that takes influences from various food cultures around the world and turns them into something Canadian.
So Melanie Martzoukos and Chris Hartman have filled that gap by opening Fence & Post at 214 - 1 Street W. (403-981-7678) in the former Legacy Guitar shop and Heritage House Coffee Company. Legacy moved to new digs a block west a few months ago, allowing the new partners to open an 82-seat restaurant and lounge. It’s a roomy, pleasantly rustic spot cloaked in barnwood and highlighted by galvanized buckets and ceramic crocks. A zigzag room divider provides cosy nooks for tables and seethrough partitions allow a view into the kitchen.
There’s a certain rusticity in that kitchen with everything made in-house from locally sourced (as much as possible) products. Hartman, former executive chef at Bears Den and Farm, comes from a family steeped in agriculture. His great-grandfather founded Olds College and he’s worked in kitchens since the age of 14. Hartman studied at Ottawa’s Cordon Bleu school and cooked in France for five years followed by a few more in New Zealand and Australia before returning to Calgary. His focus is on local producers and seasonal products.
Martzoukos has lived in Cochrane for 11 years and has been managing partner of Vinestone Wine Co. for most of that time. Having worked in tourism in the Beaujolais region of France and with a strong commitment to supporting local farmers, Martzoukos is now combining her love of food and wine by partnering with Hartman at Fence & Post.
Fence & Post is open Tuesday through Sunday for lunch and dinner and takes reservations. Corkage is $25 per bottle. And if the soft brownie with chocolateraspberry mousse and vanilla ice cream or the honey-roasted peaches on a crumbly crust with whipped cream don’t appeal, MacKay’s is right next door.
Beakerhead, Calgary’s annual mash-up festival of arts, science and engineering, rolls into the city this month. And with a featured element of barley this year, there’s a large food component.
Here are some of the tastiest Beaker Bites:
Engineered Eats, Sept. 9 - 17: More than 25 restaurants and bars ranging from Anju and Deane House to Workshop and Rodney’s concoct engineered tastes and sips with a focus on barley. Field of Dreams Tour, Sept. 8, 9 and 13. Take a trolley tour from the East Village to three participating restaurants each evening for a dining experience focused on engineered eats. Butcher This Anatomy Class, Sept. 13: Compare the knife skills of butchery to the clinical dissection techniques of anatomy at Charcut, hosted by an anatomy expert and a butcher.
Malted Milkshake Madness, Sept. 13: Learn the science behind converting barley into sweet malt and then using that malt to make gelato and milkshakes. Led by chef Mario Spina and Beakerhead’s Paul Gordon. Good Chemistry: The Science of Beer, Sept. 14: Hang out with craft brew experts and learn the art and science of brewing. A dozen craft brewers will be tapping kegs for your edification.
Scientific Sommelier, Sept. 14:
A guided exploration of the elements of wine. (Sorry, this one is sold out.)
Cooking in the Arctic, Sept. 15 and 16: Create a meal of venison stew and cloudberry bannock while hearing about climate change in the Arctic and food security in the North.
Spinal Tap: Edible Vetebrae, Sept. 15: Pour and cast your own chocolate lumbar bones under the instruction of chocolatiers and experts who make orthopedic surgery training models.
Coffee in Parts per Million, Sept. 17: Taste and learn how small changes in water chemistry can affect your cup of coffee under the tutelage of a chemist and a coffee roaster. For more info and tickets to all the Beakerhead events go to beakerhead.com.
Also on right now until Sept.
7 is Calgary’s first iteration of Le Burger Week. Launched in Montreal in 2012, this burger fest has since expanded to include 11 cities across Canada. Participating restaurants — 21 in Calgary — are challenged to create a special burger for the event. Customers then vote on which burger is their favourite.
For more info on Le Burger Week and local participating restaurants check out LeBurgerWeek.com.