Chorney-Booth: Pursuit Celebrates Mountain Cuisine With Two New Rocky Mountain Restaurants

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Banff has been perhaps a little slower than Calgary in adopting an “eat local” philosophy, but in recent years many high street chain restaurants have given way to more regional food, and older independent restaurants they are moving to creating memorable food that evokes the flavor of the natural environment. Along with the growing behemoth that is the Banff Hospitality Collective and the collection of restaurants at the Banff Springs Hotel, Pursuit, the global tourism company that grew out of Brewsters, has been at the forefront of developing distinctive cuisine from the Rocky Mountains.

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It’s rare for a company that trades in glacier tours and FlyOver rides to prioritize positioning itself as a serious restaurant competitor, but with two newly opened restaurants in the Rocky Mountains, Pursuit is showing it’s not interested in pushing tourists down culinary paths. well traveled. The company’s latest Banff restaurant is Brazen, occupying the space at the Mount Royal Hotel previously occupied by an increasingly out-of-place Tony Roma. Brazen follows the openings of Pursuit’s Sky Bistro atop the Banff Gondola and Farm and Fire at the Elk and Avenue Hotel, both also overseen by Scott Hergott, the company’s highly capable Banff and Jasper Collection executive chef. Like those other restaurants, the focus is on producing a great mountain experience for locals and tourists alike. Brazen’s theme is a “mavericks of the Wild West” affair, as expressed in an elegant dining room with leather accents and a touch of Jazz Age flair.

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Brazen is located in Banff, occupying the space of the Mount Royal Hotel.  Chase photo.
Brazen is located in Banff, occupying the space of the Mount Royal Hotel. Chase photo. Photo by Chris Amat /jpg

“Brazen pays homage to the history of the Mount Royal Hotel and the lounge and restaurant that was originally housed here, the Alberta Bar,” says Philip Slawsky, senior director of food and beverage for Pursuit’s Banff and Jasper Collection. “It was a tavern-like bar and a gathering place for locals, pioneers and trappers who passed through the area. It reflected the times and the people, who were very confident and a bit of a challenge.”

Make no mistake: Brazen pays homage to the spirit of those colorful characters of the past, but it is by no means a rude tavern. Hergott and the restaurant’s chef, Dan Jiricka, have created a distinctively meaty menu both literally and figuratively. Menu highlights include savory bar snacks like a salty peanut mix with double-smoked bacon and pork rinds ($9) and chicken “pops” drenched in a sweet and tangy patis glaze with a hint of gold leaf for extra kick. glamor ($15), with the rest of the menu consisting of sharing plates both large and small, including an ultra-tasty smoked beef tartare made with cognac, pickled onions and truffle oil ($22), mussels bathed in fragrant matcha green tea broth ($30) and a luxurious version of classic Calgary-born ginger beef made with lightly crusted Angus beef steak seasoned with ginger syrup ($28).

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There’s also a well-regarded cocktail program featuring drinks named after prominent Banff personalities of yesteryear, formulated with local spirits and house liqueurs. Pursuit has also commissioned a signature vodka from Turner Valley’s Eau Claire distillery and a private label wine from Ontario’s Fielding Estates Winery.

Brazen is located in the Mount Royal Hotel at 138 Banff Ave. and can be reached at 403-760-8540 or banffjaspercollection.com/dining/brazen. The restaurant is open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

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Terra is a new restaurant located in Jasper's Crimson Hotel with a contemporary look and farm-to-table concept.  Courtesy, Pursuit.
Terra is a new restaurant located in Jasper’s Crimson Hotel with a contemporary look and farm-to-table concept. Courtesy, Pursuit. jpg

Pursuit’s other new restaurant is further away, in Jasper at The Crimson Hotel. Terra is as well conceived as Brazen but with a lighter, more contemporary look and farm-to-table concept. Terra is designed to showcase a taste of local generosity, again, a concept that’s trendy in the city but has taken a little longer to take hold in the Jasper market, where deliveries from local farms are a trickier proposition. .

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In contrast to Brazen’s bold and indulgent menu, chef Tyler Tays’ vision for Terra hinges on bright, fresh ingredients and flavors. This is where you’ll find things like fried green tomatoes with farmer’s cheese and a spicy ramp pistou ($12), spicy corn “ribs” cut from juicy Taber corn on the cob ($15), an impressively plated whole Alberta-caught trout served on a sharing plate with fiddleheads, wild rice and brown butter ($60), and braised duck with rose hips and red clover blossom ($37). The origin of each dish is listed on the menu so diners explicitly know where their food comes from, complementing the name of the restaurant which, of course, is a reference to the land and soil.

Unsurprisingly, the drinks at Terra are just as inspired as those at Brazen and are also formulated to match the restaurant’s concept, with plenty of local spirits behind the bar and flavors like rhubarb, juniper berries, blackberries and fresh mint on offer. the cocktails

Terra is open daily for breakfast and dinner and is located in Jasper at 200 Connaught Drive. For more information, visit banffjaspercollection.com/dining/terra.

Elizabeth Chorney-Booth can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @elizaboothy or Instagram at @elizabooth.

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