Delicious "Tasting Menu" at 100 Bar + Kitchen

Foie Gras Popcorn

Chef Andrew Cowan, one of my favorite chefs in Edmonton, had been promoted from sous chef at Lux Steakhouse to chef de maision at 100 Bar + Kitchen in March. Since then, he has been working on making the menu his own and in May, agreed to give mooself, my entourage and @thepolishviking a sneak peak on some items he had been working on.

He'd also posted this picture and after inquiring, found out they'd removed foie gras from their menu. After telling him how we adored foie gras, he incorporated it into the evenings tasting menu. More pictures of the nights dishes can be found on Chef Cowans blog, as well as a blog post by @thepolishviking.

What we hadn't expected was the parade of food that would soon begin. When I say Chef Cowan prepared a "tasting menu" for us, what I meant was "taste a lot of delicious but not very small dishes". We started with foie gras popcorn, which was irresistible and delicious, and we had to fight the urge to fill up early as we all kept snacking on it.

First course was an oyster with a champagne sorbet resting on sea salt, which was a refreshing and light follow up to the popcorn.

Next came a slew of cured meats, including a deliciously salty cured pork loin drizzled with olive oil, topped with meaty and tangy Turkish olives.

Next, my entourage enjoyed what they said was very tender air dried Kobe Feeb (eek!) with  sesame oil, wasabi greens, and Thai chilies they said gave the dish a nice kick of heat.

The next act included foie gras and rabbit terrine au torchon with arugula, shave pecorino and mustard. As we began to feel ourselves getting full, we wondered how many more courses were to come.

Our favorite dish of the night was a bison pastrami and foie gras poutine. The foie gras melted in my mouth, the bison was deliciously tender,  and the fries were delightfully crispy. A decadently rich poutine that we agreed should become a permanent part of their menu and we tell people about months later.

Bison pastrami and foie gras poutine

Chef Cowan was determined for us to leave stuffed and continued on with a 6th dish! Duck confit on gnocchi and proscuitto. The duck had a wonderfully crisp skin, and flavorful yet tender duck meat. The accompanying gnocchi was pillowy, light, and left us wanting more.

The tasting menu winded down with Chef Cole's dessert, candied maple bacon and bacon glazed strawberries. A dish certainly designed with @zoomjer in mind. After a meat filled evening, the strawberries were a refreshing reprieve, but the bacon made for a surprisingly sweet ending.

We were left satiated,  full, armed with loads of leftovers, and fighting to return home before falling into food comas.

I highly recommend 100 Bar + Kitchen, particularly if you are a fan of cured meats or foie gras, both of which Chef Cowan is a genius with.

More photos on Flickr.

Hundred Bar + Kitchen
10009 - 101 A Ave
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 0C3
780-425-0100
Twitter: @100BarKitchen, @chefcowan & @CenturyHG