Chorney-Booth: The office serves Cali Cabo food in downtown Calgary

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During mid-afternoon and early evening, the block of Stephen Avenue between 3rd and 2nd streets SW is often packed with office tower workers looking for food and drinks. Visit the Cactus Club or Earls downtown and you’ll discover that the corporate lunch is back in full force. Longtime Calgary restaurateur Jeff Hanna wanted to make sure this business-filled block along Stephen Avenue maintained at least a hint of local influence by opening a new restaurant cheekily nicknamed The Office.

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Business people tend to meet at reputable chain restaurants for good reason: The food is designed to be familiar, so there are no unpleasant surprises to distract from more important conversations. That said, supporting local establishments is a priority for many Calgarians and visiting business travelers who don’t necessarily want the same chain dishes they can find in their hometowns. Hanna, who is also behind the nearby Barcelona Tavern and is the original owner of The Metropolitan Grill, which previously occupied the unit where The Office is today, knows this well. Although she parted ways with the Met years before it closed at the end of 2022, she is intimately familiar with the space and had long wanted to return there.

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“When I presented the business plan, my biggest selling point was that I am local,” he says. “I’m a guy who’s from Calgary, loves Calgary and really knows downtown.”

The name of the restaurant refers to a place in Cabo San Lucas, although the location in the center obviously gives it other connotations. Hanna says at least one client, who was asked by a colleague to “meet me at The Office,” found himself alone in a corporate tower while his friend sat in the restaurant with a drink ready. That said, it’s the Cabo connection that most influences the 220-seat restaurant’s cheerful beach decor and menu.

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For food, Hanna hired chef Ryan Blackwell, best known for his now-defunct restaurant Elbow Room and his continued involvement with Olea and Sensei Bar. Blackwell is remarkably skilled at interpreting different cuisines to make them accessible to a wide audience, which extends to California and Cabo food from The Office. Seafood plays a starring role, with a pair of large-format sushi rolls ($19) and a fresh, citrus-rich raw hamachi ($20), as well as a main course of salmon and spring prawns ($38). There’s plenty on the menu for local lovers, with tacos ($12-$16.50), pizzas ($19.50-$23) and entrees, including a spicy Fresno roast chicken ($37) and, for those who like it They want everything, a Cali shrimp and beef steak. ‘n’ lawn ($55). Since this is a business establishment, there is also a sandwich section, including a killer burger ($19).

You can’t do Cabo without cocktails, and longtime Hanna collaborator JD Pilz is responsible for a bar program that includes specialty margaritas and tequilas, with plenty of beer, wine, and non-alcoholic selections also available.

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The office is located at 318 8th Ave. SW and can be accessed via Stephen Avenue and Core Shopping Center. You can reach the restaurant through laoficinarestaurantandbar.com.

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In other restaurant news, after Fairmont Palliser opened its new Hawthorn dining room following an extensive renovation in 2019, the restaurant never fully found its footing, with disruptions caused by the pandemic and some major chef changes. But thanks to a complete overhaul of the food concept and menu, Hawthorn appears to be back on track.

Rupert Garcia took over as Hawthorn’s chef a year ago and just introduced a new concept focused on modern Prairie cuisine. The emphasis is on local ingredients and the kitchen’s homemade sauces, pickles and preserves, with several nods to Calgary heritage, including elegant interpretations of Palliser’s original clam chowder recipe, made even more luxurious with fresh seafood and some other chef ingredients. tricks ($16). Garcia was also able to get his hands on the late Silver Inn’s original ginger beef sauce recipe, which he uses to make ginger beef bites from premium beef sides for a dish that’s both refined and deeply nostalgic ($16 , on the lunch menu).

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“On the menu, the dishes may seem simple, but there is a story in everything,” says García.

The Big Shots feature a new selection of shareable meats with several side dish options, including a 42-ounce bone-in prime rib ($150) and a 12-ounce mushroom-dusted chateaubriand ($120), all designed to feed two or three people. . The granddaddy of them all is the crown pork roast “experience.” At $475, it’s not cheap, but the multi-course meal includes many of the menu’s greatest hits and a Broek Farm pork roast glazed with bourbon and birch syrup, all large enough to serve four to six people celebrating a special occasion at Calgary’s greatest venue. hotel.

Hawthorn Dining Hall is located at 133 9th Ave. SW For more information, visit hawthorndiningroom.ca

Elizabeth Chorney-Booth can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on Instagram at @elizabooth or subscribe to her newsletter at hungercalgary.substack.com.

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