Quote:
Originally Posted by I_H8_Crawford
I landed a reservation to take my wife - anyone been?
Is it worth the money, or did I just throw away a bunch of money on an OK meal?
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The valuation is going to be very subjective and shaped by your culinary experiences to date.
There is literally nothing else like it in Calgary. There will never be a Michelin star restaurant in Canada, but this rivals the caliber of a 1 star in Tokyo, Chicago, New York etc.
It's a wholly engaging affair with a top chef cooking 4 feet away, conversing directly with you, sharing stories, showing you exotic ingredients and cooking techniques. You can (and should) ask questions about anything, and not just relating to cuisine or behind the scenes of the TV show. Ask him if Grant Achatz is even weirder in person. Ask about the logistics of setting up a restaurant on a cruise line. Ask to hold and smell a 1000$ truffle. Ask Darren to hook you up with last minute reservations at Le Bernadin. Ask him about his 'interesting' jobs before he got into cooking. The more talkative the group, the more Darren comes alive and enrichs your experience.
The food itself is of very high standard in terms of creativity, technique and ingredients. Darren has honed his style as an interesting local farm-Japanese fusion which is quite unique in itself. Obviously not every course is going to be a home run, but you have to appreciate that Darren is often trying to push the envelope or he wants you to focus on something else besides taste, like mouth feel or a weird/underutilized ingredient. Thats what the great restaurants of the world do - guiding you into undiscovered territory - opening your eyes to what you didnt even know you've been missing.
Ultimately, you might not appreciate the value here. It is definitely not for everybody, and that's perfectly all right. But at least you've gotten a taste of what kind of next level dinning experience exists outside of Calgary.
No I'm not Darren's mom, nor do I own any portion of the business. Just a fellow foodie who's very pleased that Calgary can sustain this level of cuisine.