Q-Water & Our Community June 22, 2011

I have been working with our awesome website wizard, Joel Pittet, to add a new page to our website called “Our Community”. The purpose of this page will be to share with all of you the ways that we are getting involved with our community. Look for a post very soon after our first exciting “community event”…

Those of you who have dined with us before likely know about our Q-Water program but I wanted to tell you more about it. The Q-Water system has a four stage filtration process that produces fresh filtered water. The final polishing filter uses coconut shells to filter the water and you have a choice of still or sparkling. We chose to have a Q-Water system in NOtaBLE because it allows us to be able to offer guests high quality healthier water without hurting the environment with lots of empty water bottles as well as the carbon imprint of transportation.

We do charge $1/litre for still or sparkling water but it’s all for a good cause! All of the proceeds from the Q-Water program go straight into our “donation fund” which supports both the Ronald McDonald House of Southern Alberta and the Global Enrichment Foundation along with all the other silent auctions, golf tournaments and events we donate gift cards or dinner certificates to.

So to all guests who participate in our Q-Water program thank you for helping us support all of these amazing charities and the environment at the same time!

I love Vegas. April 24, 2011

Okay so this is not completely NOtaBLE-related but whatever, it’s my blog I can write what I want!
Last weekend I went to Vegas with my favorite red-haired lady & we had an amazing time. We’ve decided to make it our goal to stay at every decent hotel on the strip at least once. Goal number two is to eat our way through Vegas.
There are so many amazing restaurants in Vegas that we had a hard time deciding were to start. Just to be efficient we decided to have two dinners one night.
On our Chef de Cusine Justin’s suggestion we started off with appetizers & cocktails at Nobhill at the MGM Grand Hotel. Some delicious salmon tartare, pork sliders, beer battered shrimp, a “poire rose” & a dirty martini later we made our way to Nobu at the Hard Rock Hotel.
I can’t even think of a good enough word to describe our experience at Nobu (thanks mc). We started off with a bottle of sake. I’m not normally a fan but this stuff was amazing, I wish I could remember what it was called. Next came some amazing yellowtail sashimi with jalapeño, trout sashimi with garlic chips & Kobe beef served on hot rocks with asparagus and black bean sauce. To finish off our meal apparently we needed a little dessert so we got three. Warm chocolate souffle with green tea ice cream, jasmine tea creme brûlée & a macadamia nut cake with this incredible guava sorbet. Don’t ask me how I managed to eat all this because I have no clue haha.

I definitely miss Vegas & can’t wait to go back!

In some restaurant-related news we have just launched a new market menu which I hear is to die for! Also if you haven’t tried this months calabrese pork burger yet I suggest you do so before we change it again.

Laura’s Lunch pt 2 March 16, 2011

SUCCESS!!!!!!

We are launching a new spring inspired menu today and what do I see here on the lunch menu?

CRAB CAKE SANDWICH. Mmmm nom nom nom. My baby bro’s creation has made it’s way to the menu and I suggest all of you come in to try it!

I will add links to the new menus once I get them online (soon!)

UPDATE

Brunch, Lunch & Dinner have all been updated, check them out

Laura’s Lunch February 28, 2011

The other day while I was hanging out in the kitchen during dinner service (waiting for them to slow down so I could eat!) I had a brief conversation with my dad about how it had been almost two months since my last blog post. In all honestly my problem has not really been a time issue because while we are still really busy at the restaurant I have managed to get work under control & have a life lately. The cause of my length of time between posts has actually been my lack of inspiration. I keep all of you updated on a more frequent basis through facebook and I just haven’t had any leftover stories to tell lately!

Finally the other day while I was enjoying my lunch of southwestern corn chowder & wood fire grilled bread I had the idea to tell you about my lunch. I know, sounds boring right? Well it would be if I worked in an office and had to pack my lunch every day but I don’t, I get to eat virtually whatever my heart desires .

Every day around 2pm I walk out of my office & into the restaurant to find Caryn (one of our lovely full-time lunch servers) so she can order lunch for me. Some days I know exactly what I want (the crab cakes! my absolute favorite!! if you haven’t tried them you’re missing out) but others it’s not so easy there is just so much to choose from. Sometimes I let the staff decide for me (like the day our lunch bartender Liam chose the new lamb burger because he wanted to try it and knew I wouldn’t be able to finish the whole thing so he could steal the last 2 bites) other days I make up my own dishes or take inspiration from others.

My favorite “off the menu” order so far (besides a classic grilled cheese sandwich mmm) is one of my brothers inventions actually and combines two my favorites things ; sandwiches & the crab cakes. We call it the “crab cake burger”. Take one of the house-made sesame buns, slather it in togorashi mayo, add one of the dungeness crab, scallop & grilled vegetable cakes and top with lettuce, Thai mango relish and some sunomono cucumber. It is sososooo yummy. I am trying to convince my dad to put it on the menu but so far have not had any success. He has been working on updating the menu lately though so I’ve got my fingers crossed it will appear soon…

my NOtaBLE dinner January 6, 2011

Every single time we’ve started a new market menu I always say I HAVE to try it and somehow they always get changed before I get a chance. When I heard we were doing an all lobster market menu then I said I REALLY had to try it!

This was one I definitely could not miss out on so I booked a reservation for my friend Lauren & I for just after Christmas.

Every single course was amazingly delicious and showcased lobster in a different way. I think my favorite (if I had to pick one) was the lobster mascarpone tortellini, with butter poached lobster claw & thai lobster bisque. It was Lauren’s favorite course too. That’s two votes to have this put on the menu daddy hehe.

We have now started a new market menu which is very probably equal on the delicious scale. If you were lucky enough to get to enjoy our New Years Eve or New Years Day dinner menu, three of the courses are items off of that menu. I tried both the first course which is a beef tenderloin “proscuitto” and the last course which is a warm rum-soaked vanilla “Baba” on New Years Eve and both are must-trys!

You can find the menu here: http://notabletherestaurant.ca/pdf/menus/dinner-35.pdf

In other new news, we have a new burger which started today. Beef & pork “Meatloaf”, Farmhouse-smoked cheddar & BBQ sauce on an Asiago cheese bun. I had one for lunch and got juice all over my hands. It’s probably the best burger we have had yet.

Birthday Cake! November 25, 2010

When my siblings & I were younger, dad always used to bake us the coolest cakes for our birthdays! Everything from boats to cars to jewelry boxes and he even did a grand piano for my sister once.

I just celebrated my 22nd birthday on Tuesday and while dad didn’t bake me a cake this year (my family actually got to all sit down & have dinner together), our awesome Chef de Cuisine Justin made me a special little dessert. A dessert that soon all of you will be able to try as well! He has been testing out a few recipes the last few days trying to get it just right & let me tell you I do not mind holding the title of “official taste tester” (because really, who knows chocolate desserts better than me? haha).

In other restaurant news, this month’s burger is a galloway beef & natural bison with caramelized, smoked onions and aged cheddar on a sesame bun. A new lobster-themed market menu is going to be starting tomorrow night! And on the dessert side of things our crème brulée is now coffee-flavored and we have something chocolate and new coming soon.

MORIMOTO! & new Menu November 10, 2010

So New York was awesome! It has been a month since I went but I’m still thinking about the dinner I had at Morimoto. I thought it would be cool to go there since my dad competed against him on Iron Chef Japan.

My friend & I shared:

• crispy rock shrimp tempura with spicy ‘kochujan’ sauce, wasabi aïoli
• japanese lobster fritters with pickled ginger, scallion, lobster reduction
• house smoked salmon ravioli with japanese sweet yams, salmon roe, yuzu gelee
• spicy tuna roll / chopped tuna, scallion, spicy sauce
• soft shell crab roll / deep-fried soft shell crab, asparagus,tobiko, avocado, scallion, spicy sauce
• and for dessert we had warm chocolate cake with white chocolate mousse and pear sorbet

All so delicious! I know I said I would have pictures but I would rather just enjoy the food instead of taking time to photograph it haha.

 

Speaking of delicious we are rolling out a new menu today! I can’t wait to try all the new items & revisit some old favorites. The Dungeness crab, halibut and grilled vegetable cakes are going to be served with a Thai mango relish that I absolutely love! I made it for myself quite a few times when I was living in Vancouver for school and it’s actually a really simple recipe.

 

Thai Mango Relish

Part A

1             clove     garlic ~ minced

1             ea           lemon ~ juiced

2             Tbsp       brown sugar

¾            tsp          sambal oelek

½            tsp          Thai fish sauce

 

Part B

1             ea           mango (ripe) ~ scooped out of the skin and fine diced

1             tsp          red pepper ~ diced fine

 

Part C

2             tsp          cilantro ~ chopped coarse

 

Method:

1. Combine all of Part A in a mixing bowl.
2. Add Part B, mix into Part A and place in fridge for at least one hour to draw the natural juices out of the mango.
3. Taste mixture and adjust for spicy (sambal), salt (fish sauce) or sweet (sugar).
4. Add Part C just before serving.