You know all those ultra fancy French techniques and ingredients, with names you can't pronounce, that you see in the food network? At Q Haute Cuisine you get to try them! For this post, we have unabashedly used google to help describe the food. This is also a post where it's obvious we have limited knowledge of true haute cuisine.
We went to Q Haute with our friends E & A for the Big Taste. While we paid considerably less for their 5 course meal, much like any other night at Q Haute, the experience is the same and the menu is always different! In a venue reminiscent of a historic home, Q Haute is located on the South-East edge of Prince's Island Park. The dining rooms on the second floor have beautiful views of the Bow River and the Peace Bridge. It's a great spot for a memorable night!
Before our meal, we were presented an Amuse of a frozen carrot geode, with cucumber gel, gingered carrot and creme fresh. It was a cold bite with warm flavours. Fancy start to a fancy meal!
Our first true course was called 'Crimson River'. It featured a beet and mushroom duxelle (google says it's similar to mushroom mousse), a caraway biscuit (made in a microwave, incidentally), corn, greens, cucumber and goat cheese mousse. The dish was fresh, and made for endless combinations of flavour profiles with it's many components.
Next up was a dish called 'Ecumes', French for foam according to google translate. It lived up to it's name, with buttermilk foam cascading off seared arctic salmon. It came with quinoa ragout, pesto, kale chips and a potato medallion. To our surprise, even though all components were great, the highlight of the dish really was the buttermilk foam! The kale chips were also some of the best we've had.
Our third course was 'The Black Swan'. This one, not true to it's name, was neither black nor was it made of swan. It was a delicious saffron risotto. The highlight of this course was the sun-dried tomato espuma (again, google let us know it's a variation of thick foam). It was jam packed with flavour, and reminded us of a gourmet tomato soup. Our friend E mentioned she'd like to dunk a tiny grilled cheese into it!
The fourth course, the main, was called 'Paradigm'. It was a duck breast farcite (Italian word for stuffed, not French!), stuffed with chicken. This dish is creative! Look at the photo above - the duck is the darker meat, and the chicken is the lighter meat. The duck was cooked the perfection and the chicken "stuffing" had great flavour from herbs and pumpkin seeds. It came with a side of confit beets, mashed potatoes and cranberry jelly. This is fanciest Thanksgiving dinner you'll ever have. Move aside Grandma, there's a new chef in the kitchen!
Before dessert, guests at Q Haute are treated to a tour of the kitchen. As you might expect, the kitchen is spotless and meticulously organized. Contrary to what we've learnt from Gordon Ramsay, there was no swearing in the kitchen. They must save that for when the guests aren't around. Jokes aside, this is an incredible way to have the guests connected with where the magic happens. This is all part of a memorable Q Haute experience where they go above and beyond in many ways.
For dessert, we were treated with 'Impressions of Chocolate'. Much like other dishes at Q Haute, this one had many components including dolche de leche and peach pana cotta, crème pâtissière (French for custard), blueberry yogurt, double chocolate gelato, cherry coulis and a chocolate kiss. Much like the Crimson River, each component of this dish was unique and came together in endless combination. The chocolate kiss deserves a special mention for it's rich, melt in your mouth, spicy, chocolate goodness. The blueberry yogurt was very refreshing, with concentrated blueberry and tart yogurt flavours. A masterpiece dish!
We ended our meal with a 'Reflection'. We don't mean thinking about how interesting and delicious our meal was (well, we did reflect on that). The 'Reflection' were two maple marshmallows we got over our meal and before our cheque. They were home made, full of flavour and so light that they dissolved in your mouth. Another great touch by the thoughtful stuff at Q Haute. This was a fitting end to our very unique experience at Q Haute!
V's Final Word: As you can hopefully tell from our pictures, the plating at Q Haute is absolutely exquisite. I have never seen so many consistently beautiful dishes in one place. They were each a piece of art. Bon travail, Q Haute!
P's Final Word: I was impressed with all of the little touches that went above and beyond a traditional restaurant experience. During our meal, we ordered a pot of coffee. Our server came to us with a choice of three different single-origin beans to choose from, and measured and poured the beans into a hand grinder right at our table. The kitchen tour included an brief history of the restaurant. As we were leaving, V & E were even given Gerbera Daisies. Overall, the staff were informative, attentive, and had a great sense of humour. All of these things really make an experience at Q Haute memorable!
Price Range: $170 for two five course Big Taste dinners. This would normally cost around $250 for two.
Website: http://www.qhautecuisine.com
Address: 100 La Caille Pl SW, Calgary, AB T2P 5E2