Family Style at Hundred Bar and Kitchen

Marble Rye with Whipped Lardo

This past Saturday evening, Hundred Bar and Kitchen held their first family style dinner for only $45 per person. As is Chef Andrew Cowan’s signature, it was a carnivores dream, a meal that featured Irving’s Farm's beautiful pork and highlighted these porcine delights in many ways. It almost felt like a practice run for International Bacon Day.

Although they were still working out the logistical kinks of how they would work their family style dinner, 16 people attended the inaugural event. There were optional wine and beer pairings available for $30 and $20 respectively, as well as cocktails specifically chosen for the meal for $7 each.

Tomatoes, ricotta, arugula and lonza

We started with a marble rye that had a slightly crunchy texture, served with whipped lardo, which was satisfyingly salty and bacony tasting. It was followed up quickly with a salad made up of juicy chunks of tomatoes, rich and creamy ricotta, crunchy arugula and large pieces of salty lonza made of Berkshire pork.

Porchetta with arugula pesto, quinoa, ramps, brussel
sprouts and sausage

The star of the evening however was the giant board of porchetta, quinoa, roasted sausage, peppers, ramps, brussel sprouts and arugula pesto. The porchetta was a gigantic pork tenderloin wrapped in pork belly – because what’s better than pork wrapped in more pork/porkfat? It was so massive it could barely be lifted with the tongs provided. It was incredibly moist and tender – but what wouldn’t be wrapped in what was easily an inch or more of fat? Underneath and surrounding the massive porkish delight were ramps, quinoa, sausage and brussel sprouts. The sausage was well seasoned, smoky tasting, and slightly spicy, albeit a bit on the dry side. The deep fried brussel sprouts were slightly soft with a mild sweetness to it, making it delectable. If you haven’t tried Chef Andrew Cowan’s deep fried brussel sprouts, you’re missing out!

Mini Donuts

We finished with mini donuts, accompanied by warm melted chocolate for dipping, bacon cream and black berries. The mini donuts were still warm, lightly coated with sugar and had a nice crispy exterior. The melted chocolate was dark and not overly sweet, while the bacon cream was rich with the distinctive taste of bacon. The mini donuts combined with warm chocolate and bacon cream were heavenly and gratifyingly sinful morsels, a childhood fair favorite kicked up a notch.

Mini donuts with warm melted chocolate

As always, there was an abundance of food – no one ever leaves hungry when Chef Andrew Cowan is cooking – leaving us happily full and with the heaviest bag of leftovers we’ve ever had.

If you’re looking to attend, they’re hoping to host the next family style dinner at Hundred Bar and Kitchen in about 3 weeks or so, and hope to make these monthly events. There will be limited seats available at each event, and they plan to invite other local chefs to join in on future events to make each menu a unique collaboration. Keep an eye on Chef Andrew Cowan’s twitter feed for information on the next event.

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