Chorney-Sales space: Teatro’s Clos de la Oyster Barre pop-up finds a brand new dwelling at Vendome

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Many a joke was made within the early days of the pandemic in regards to the overuse of the phrase “pivot,” however within the restaurant world, no less than, there may be nonetheless an terrible lot of pivoting occurring. Persevering with modifications in client habits coupled with unstable meals costs have compelled many eating places to shift gears, reassess, after which shift once more, hoping that they’ll strike gold with programming that satisfies the general public’s urge for food for memorable eating experiences.

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The Teatro Group has performed some notably complicated pivoting. The group’s flagship restaurant Teatro Ristorante misplaced virtually the entire company bookings in its non-public Opera Room when the pandemic hit, a phase of enterprise that was sluggish to choose up whilst common visitors returned to eating places. Somewhat than letting the room sit empty, Teatro launched a collection of occasions referred to as Clos de la Oyster Barre starting within the spring of 2021. With a give attention to uncooked seafood, white wine pairings, and a hearty dose of whimsical class, the idea didn’t put an excessive amount of stress on the kitchen workers as they served the primary restaurant, whereas nonetheless bringing some youthful vitality to the vacant Opera Room.

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The Clos De La Oyster Barre positioned at Vendome in Calgary on Thursday, September 21, 2023. Darren Makowichuk/Postmedia Picture by Darren Makowichuk /DARREN MAKOWICHUK/Postmedia

In the meantime, over at Vendome, in the summertime of 2020, the group’s informal Sunnyside eatery was reinvented as a day-and-night restaurant with a brand new dinner menu to enrich its already common breakfast and lunch choices. Breaking the general public’s notion of Vendome being a easy breakfast joint proved to be an uphill battle and, regardless of a scrumptious dinner menu, the night crowd by no means actually gravitated over from Kensington’s primary drag.

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The Clos De La Oyster Barre positioned at Vendome in Calgary on Thursday, September 21, 2023. Darren Makowichuk/Postmedia Picture by Darren Makowichuk /DARREN MAKOWICHUK/Postmedia

Quick ahead to 2023: with company occasions selecting up within the Opera Room and dinner flagging at Vendome, the Teatro Group was left with an awesome dinner idea that now not had a house and a cool restaurant that was largely unoccupied after darkish. So, as of mid-September, Vendome is now not providing common dinner service, making room for Clos de la Oyster Barre as a everlasting fixture on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

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The dozen oyster plate at Clos De La Oyster Barre positioned at Vendome in Calgary on Thursday, September 21, 2023. Darren Makowichuk/Postmedia Picture by Darren Makowichuk /DARREN MAKOWICHUK/Postmedia

To make the daytime restaurant really feel like a hip seafood and wine bar, visitors are directed to enter Vendome from the facet door on Clos nights, bypassing the espresso machine on the entrance entrance. The lights are turned down low (even within the kitchen, which has a window wanting onto the primary eating room), the retro hip-hop soundtrack is vigorous, and the wine – with an emphasis on bubbles and whites – is fastidiously chosen by Teatro’s famend workforce led by Taylor Simpson, director of operations and beverage. The kitchen crew, which is overseen by chef Ryan Baker and consists of Teatro favorite Daniel Ramon, operates independently from the daytime Vendome workers. Whereas uncooked seafood continues to be on the coronary heart of this system, the cooks are free to deviate from that authentic idea.

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The Fettii and Spaghetti dish at Clos De La Oyster Barre positioned at Vendome in Calgary on Thursday, September 21, 2023. Darren Makowichuk/Postmedia Picture by Darren Makowichuk /DARREN MAKOWICHUK/Postmedia

“It’s essential for us as a restaurant group to do enjoyable and various things and keep related,” Simpson says. “Apart from a seafood focus, we’re fairly broad in what we serve. The main target is on wine compatibility and what meals is smart with the wines we’ve got.”

The comparatively tight Clos menu consists of, naturally, oysters ($3.75 every or $37.50 by the dozen) and a scallop and hamachi crudo ($20) but additionally issues like beef fats fries ($7), grilled octopus with gnocchi ($35), a lobster sausage sizzling canine ($41) and soft-shell crab sliders ($24). Along with the common menu, every evening has a brief chalkboard menu itemizing a handful of particular creations and wine pours. For dessert, issues stay comparatively savoury with a rotating number of cheese or foie gras ice cream sandwiches ($24) to finish the evening (ideally accompanied by a glass of Sauternes).

Clos de la Oyster Barre runs Thursdays by way of Saturdays at Vendome, positioned at 940 2nd Ave. N.W. Reservations may be made by way of OpenTable. Vendome can be open for breakfast and lunch every day from 7 a.m. to three p.m.

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The Scallop and Hamachi Crudo dish at Clos De La Oyster Barre positioned at Vendome in Calgary on Thursday, September 21, 2023. Darren Makowichuk/Postmedia Picture by Darren Makowichuk /DARREN MAKOWICHUK/Postmedia

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On one other finish of the eating spectrum, two much-anticipated chain eating places opened their doorways over the past couple of weeks. Crowfoot residents have watched building on the town’s latest Cactus Membership location for a while, but it surely’s lastly up and operating and able to serve these signature belini cocktails. At virtually 10,000 sq. toes, the brilliant and vibrant restaurant seats about 300 individuals in its eating room, lounge and expansive all-season patio.

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Earls additionally has a brand new location on the opposite finish of the town at Southcentre Mall, changing the just lately closed Willow Park restaurant. It’s one other huge and delightful room with a singular design meant to emulate Calgary’s place between the mountains and the prairies. Make sure to try the brand new Strawberry Smoke Present, a suitably complicated mezcal margarita, in addition to the seafood towers – Earls is positioning itself as a vacation spot for seafood, so for those who’re after oysters, it’s one other good place to go.

The brand new Earls location is at #355 100 Anderson Rd S.E. in Southcentre Mall (close to the Craft Beer Market). Yow will discover the brand new Cactus Membership at 112 Crowfoot Terrace N.W.

Elizabeth Chorney-Sales space may be reached at [email protected]. Comply with her on Instagram at @elizabooth.

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