COMFORTING CLASSICS
Jin Bar adds Korean twist
In 2020 the concept of “celebrity chef” seems kind of silly, but Calgary does undeniably have a few local chefs who have reached relative superstar status, mostly thanks to stints on cooking competition shows. Among the most beloved of that group is Jinhee Lee, the former executive chef at Foreign Concept, one of the breakout stars of the 2018 season of Top Chef Canada, and the winner of the 2017 Canadian Culinary Championship. Known for her creative approach to food and deft command of flavour,
Lee has legitimately earned the strong local following she's built over the years.
This is why that even in the middle of a pandemic, word that she was opening her own restaurant came as very welcome news in the food community. After leaving her post at Foreign Concept to spend most of the last year in Korea with her family to recover from a persistent back injury, Lee returned to Calgary over the summer and started making plans to open Jin Bar, her new restaurant in Bridgeland's de Wall Block. With her reputation and fine-dining chops, Lee could have taken the concept in any direction, but she chose something that was takeout friendly in light of the pandemic, while still speaking to her culinary interests. In short, it's a fried chicken and pizza joint.
While fried chicken and pizza isn't what you'd necessarily expect from such a high-profile chef, Jin Bar makes sense. Korean fried chicken has a nostalgic place in Lee's heart — it's the meal that her father would bring home on payday when she was a kid and something she saw families sharing in Korea during the early months of the pandemic. The lightly battered, ultra-crispy chicken is also a convenient vehicle for several different flavours, with Jin Bar offering up perfectly delicious original chicken, as well as pieces coated in jalapeno soy, Korean chili glaze, buldak “dragon breath” sauce, or a honey garlic butter reminiscent of Lee's signature honey butter chips from Foreign Concept. To make things a bit more elegant and worthy of a full-service restaurant, the chicken is deboned and comes three pieces to an order ($15) or on the house sandwich, with the dragon breath chicken wedged between thick slices of butter bread ($15). Because Lee marinates her chicken for 12 hours to ensure tender, juicy meat, it's a “once we run out for the night, that's it” situation.
The same goes for the pizzas, which Lee loads up with Korean-inspired toppings. The space's previous occupant Waalflower installed an impressive forno oven behind the bar, so flatbreads were a bit of a no-brainer, but Lee was also inspired by her mother's love of pizza. Toppings include beef bulgogi with tomato sauce and aged cheddar ($21), soy brown butter with wild mushrooms ($19), buldak bbq chicken ($23), and a reappearance of those honey butter chips, on a pizza with corn and Alfredo sauce ($17). The rest of the menu is rounded out with snacks like chicken wings with a chili-lime glaze ($13), kimchee mac and cheese ($11), and beef bulgogi poutine ($14).
“I know what Korean people are eating right now and what's trending there and wanted to bring that kind of flavour to Calgary,” Lee says. “I want to treat my ingredients like I did when I was at Foreign Concept. It's the same quality, but with different components to make it comforting and humble.”
The chicken and pizza can be ordered for takeout (again, until the day's supply is exhausted), essentially Covid-proofing Jin Bar. Inside, Lee has put up plenty of Plexiglas to keep customers safe, and in addition to the snacks, dining in gives patrons access to bar manager Kayla Atayiu's Asian-inspired cocktails.
Jin Bar is located at 24 4th
St. N.E. The restaurant is open Sunday through Thursday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. and on Friday and Saturday from 4 p.m. to 12 p.m. It can be reached at 587-349-9008 or jinbar.ca
In other food news, many of us are making efforts to shop local this holiday season, but running around to different independent food shops can be difficult, especially in the midst of a pandemic. To help boost the local food economy, a group of 24 food vendors have banded together to start a new delivery service called Best of Calgary Foods. Now, rather than spending a weekend stocking up on Glamorgan Bakery cheese buns, Tres Marias salsa, and Pie Cloud's sweet or savoury pies, customers can simply load up a virtual cart and have the goods delivered to their doors for a flat delivery fee.
Headed by Janeen Norman of Alpine Sausage, Best of Calgary Foods includes luxury goodies from businesses like Peasant Cheese, Sweetsmith Candy Co., and Soffrito Oil and Vinegar
Bar, produce from The Cherry
Pit and Gull Valley Greenhouses, meat from Noble Bison and Lambtastic Farms, beer from Village Brewery, and wine from Richmond Hill Wines. For a full list of products or to order, visit bestofcalgaryfoods.com.