Charcoal revolution hits city dining scene
We’ve seen restaurants built around scenic locations or star chefs or food concepts such as soba noodles or micro-local cuisine. But rarely do we see a restaurant developed around a single piece of kitchen equipment.
But that’s what partners Brad Taylor, Xavier Lacaze and Darren Lexa are doing with the opening of Briggs Kitchen + Bar at 317 10th Ave. S.W. (587-350-5015) in the former Cannery Row location. The trio purchased and installed two new Spanish-built Josper Charcoal Ovens, becoming just the second restaurant in Canada to have such equipment. (The first was Vancouver’s Black + Blue.)
The Josper is like a closed barbecue that burns charcoal. The idea is to contain the heat and the smoky essence of the charcoal in an oven that allows grilling and roasting at the same time. Working between 600F and 700F, the ovens can grill a steak or roast a rack of lamb quickly and efficiently. There are two vents in the ovens, allowing the chef to increase or decrease the heat and the closed section allows the charcoal to burn more efficiently than an open grill.
After weeks of testing, the partners decided on mesquite charcoal as their fuel of choice, a fuel that could easily take the temperature up to 800F and impart a lovely, southwestern-tinged smokiness to hamburgers, tenderloins, poultry, lamb, seafood and 48-ounce tomahawk rib-eye steaks. (These are immense hunks of beef with a long rib bone attached for those into Fred Flintstone-style primal eating.) The partners are taking food back to its simple beginnings, cooking it over solid fuel rather than gas or electric-generated heat.
The Briggs team brings decades of experience to the new restaurant. Taylor, the majority partner, spent 22 years working with the Fuller family of Earls fame. (The name Briggs comes from a nickname his grandmother gave him as a child.) Lexa has a couple decades working with the same group, the past eight as a regional chef. Lacaze, a native of Toulouse, France, comes to Briggs after holding executive chef positions at Muse and Home Tasting Room. He also performed well on the second season of Top Chef Canada, finishing fifth in the intense com- petition.
They’ve given a serious makeover to the old brick warehouse that served as Cannery Row for many years, creating a 185-seat dining room. They’ve kept the woody, warehousy look and the long bar that runs along the east side. That’s where, under the kitchen spotlights, you’ll find the stars of the show, the Josper ovens, hard at work.
About 25 years ago, a couple of young entrepreneurs in London decided that what they and their colleagues needed was a lunch option that was not a greasy fastfood burger or a long sitdown meal. They created a quick-to-go shop that keyed on freshly made sandwiches and salads and called it Pret A Manger. There are now hundreds of these shops throughout Great Britain and they’ve even moved into the United States, Hong Kong and France.
But they’re not in Canada. So when Nathan Hedley moved to Calgary from England to work in oil and gas, he saw an opportunity to provide high-quality foods to a busy business crowd. Taking a page from Pret A Manger’s playbook, he and wife Amanda, a native Calgarian, opened Montagu’s Sandwich at 1306 1st St. S.W. (403-6805830). They launched in the middle of June, just in time to be closed by the flood. And although Montagu’s Sandwich didn’t sustain any damage, it, like other businesses in the Victoria Park, was closed for 10 days.
But now Montagu’s Sandwich is up and running again, offering graband-go sandwiches — such as smoked salmon with spinach and a caper-infused cream cheese or mediumrare roast Prime rib with horseradish mayonnaise, along with a range of fresh salads. And there’s baking from pastry chef Emily Smith, who knows her scones and banana loaves.
Everything is made fresh daily and any unsold goods are given to charity at the end of the day. There are gluten-free, nut-free and dairy-free options and everything is available for corporate catering.
Montagu’s, which is named after John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, who is purported to have invented the sandwich, builds theirs on Manuel Latruwe breads. But, since Latruwe has been temporarily closed due to some flood damage, during the renovation period, Montagu’s is using Cobbs Bread instead.