Chef Shane Chartrand’s Rustic Aboriginal Dinner

Ok so fine. This is weeks late. I’m a rotten blogger, I admit it. Back in June (yes yes in JUNE I know) I was lucky enough to attend a fabulous Sage Signature Series Dinner by Chef Shane Chartrand at Sage Restaurant, in the River Cree Casino. Long time readers of this blog will know that Chef Chartrand is one of my absolute favorite chefs in Edmonton, not just for his mad culinary skills but also because of his kind and giving back nature. Rarely does a chef do so much giving back to the community without heralding his actions. That might be because I still can’t get him to go on Instagram. (he’s going to kick my hiney for that one lol)

Truly though, Mike and I are always over the moon with excitement when Shane is cooking. I am so happy to see him back where he began his apprenticeship, at Sage, delving into all sorts of amazing culinary Aboriginal cuisine creations.

This dinner was a rustic Aboriginal menu. Bloggers, mainstream media and celebs alike were in attendance. We hung around with the food blogger rowdy’s at the end of the table.

After a fantastic hour of drinks, catching up with friends and mingling, it was time for the feast! A five course repast of amazing Aboriginal inspired food with a wine pairing from Simmer Wines.

“Wild Turkey”

  First, the deep fried croquette that was packed with pulled wild turkey leg and doused in a hot turkey leg confit & corn soup. Damn that dehydrated broccoli in it LOL! I had a wee taste of the broth and then Mike ate my meal, exclaiming how amazing it was.I mean seriously. Who’s allergic to broccoli? Anyone else or just me? What a stupid allergy.

This was a much lauded and exclaimed over dish and you can see why. How utterly gorgeous & innovative! The absolutely divine Harvey’s Cream Bristol Sherry that came with it is now on my to-buy list. I might have drank Mikes, since he ate my turkey. Might. I’ve not admitting anything.

 “Seafood”

Next was a mouthwatering seafood delight. A West Coast scallop with trout , a scallop chip, greens and caviar. I totally ate the caviar off of Mike’s dish and nabbed his scallop chip. While you would think a scallop chip would be fishy, it was a perfect little crunchy nibble of bliss.

“On The Run”

Next up was a decadent bison short rib crepinette with goat cheese. served with a paper thin slice of decadent elk tongue, barley and black garlic gravy. Now I am a huge fan of tongue, no word of a lie. I use to love tongue sandwiches as a kid, which was a staple at my grandparent’s house. This was gorgeously done and while I don’t think I could pick a favorite, this is in my top two dishes of the meal.

“Spring Hunt”

The licorice lamb loin, BBQ lamb leg, and rack of lamb with a kale pea puree and root vegetables was amazing. Lamb is best done rare and I love rare meat, so this was thoroughly enjoyed.

“Open Fire”

I finally tried Fry Bread! It’s been on my list to try and I’ve never gotten around to it and what a way to experience it for the first time! Saskatoons and maple ice cream made this a gorgeous, not too sweet way to end an amazing meal.

The team came out for a round of well deserved applause and accolades! Well done!

I didn’t get a good picture of Shane, but here he is talking about one of the courses.

Now it’s time to play an age old tradition here on The Kitchen Magpie.

It’s The Jesse’s Beard Game!

Here’s Jesse without a beard at the 2014 Cook Off in March:

And here’s Jesse with his beard (and his seriously adorable girlfriend Kiri, who does prefer the beard last time I checked) at the Sage Dinner!

So internetz, time to play! Jesse’s Beard: Yay or Nay?

 

Hah.Why do they keep inviting me to these events? I know this is going to drive him batty. Again. Jesse should run when he sees me coming with my IPhone.

A huge thanks to the staff at Sage for the epic, amazing night of food, fun, friends and wine! It was the highlight of my summer so far! A huge thanks to Chef Chartrand for being his usual awesome self and a huge thanks to Jesse for always being a good sport about his beard.

If you are looking for an amazing experience, Chef Chartrand does do an epic tasting menu. Mind blowing. I took my best friend for her birthday and we were spoiled like royalty! Make sure to book a tasting menu, you will not regret it!

With my track record I’ll actually write about that in another 8 weeks…

Love you more than chocolate!

Karlynn