Pourhouse - St. Patty's Day Fun (Edmonton 30 in 30)

I love spontaneity, the idea of going into a situation with no predetermined plan and that sensation of adventure and excitement mixed with slight apprehension as you decide, on the spot, the subsequent course of events. On St. Patrick's Day I had met up with a couple close friends on the initial pretense of simply grabbing a drink. As I was running late the pair had, on impromptu, stopped in at Pourhouse Bier Bistro for a drink. Four hours and three incredibly filled stomachs later, we emerged wondering with huge grins and a memory to last for the ages. You see, when we arrived we were greeted, amongst the forest of green, by a special Chef vs. Chef pop-up series where two popular would go head to head with novel and unique food creations. You can imagine what we decided to do.

The Pourhouse Bier Bistro is located on a bustling part of Whyte Avenue between 104th and 105th street. The signage, although a tad small and difficult to see, is bold and engaging and beckons potential patrons forward. The bar's interiors are simple and functional with large wooden tables, a random mishmash of wooden chairs and sparse decor. The wait-staff, although attentive, were overworked (it was St. Patrick's Day after all) and undermanned such that small aspects of the service were missed. Nevertheless they were unobtrusive and did a fine job despite the healthy turnover of patrons.

As mentioned above, the pop-up featured two chefs, one from Toast Fine Catering and the other the house chef from The Pourhouse duking it out with their unique menus. I thought the presentation a bit tacky with simple print-out Word documents doubling as a "menu" and would have preferred a bit more pretext into how the Chef vs. Chef pop-up would work, how and if we were to score each chef and the influences and styles that guided each chef to create said menu. Dining as a trio was perfect as this afforded us the opportunity to try each item on the menu.

We were served first the dishes of Chef Daniel Huber from The Pourhouse. The first was the Black Stout Beef Stew, a thick mixture of tender beef and vegetables in a delightfully rich and beefy gravy served on top of bacon mashed potatoes. I appreciated the slight bitterness and aroma from the stout which elevated the entire dish and thought it contrasted the fatty beef and sweet vegetables well.

Next was the Sriracha and Lager Braised Lamb Sandwich served with the Bibb Lettuce Salad. The sandwich consisted simply of braised tender lamb served on a brioche bun with a slight hint of the rosemary sauce. I loved the contrast of flavours from the slightly sweet bun with the lean but tender lamb (nicely cooked and devoid of any gamey-ness). On the other hand the salad of bibb lettuce, beet, radish and boiled egg was unfortunately under dressed and resembled a random mishmash of ingredients with little forethought.

This Baked Scotch Egg was the most interesting dish of the day. The central egg is covered by a few layers of pork and sausage and baked to with a final layer of breadcrumbs. The result is a wonderful contrast of crunchy breadcrumb, fatty meat, silky egg white and dense yolk that is all brought together by a thick and salty Hollandaise sauce, yummy!

Chef Spencer Thompson started with a smoked Andouille Sausage, Kale, Lentils and Cornbread. Going for a Southern influence, I enjoyed the combination of the cooked sausage with the bitter kale and tender pine nuts. The tastiest bite came from the warm, flaky and grainy cornbread. Ultimately though the dish lacked a unifying force, a sauce, to tie everything together.

These Acorn Squash Ravioli were the worst part of the meal. Chewy and doughy, the pasta was unfortunately overcooked and began to congeal and stick to one another. Thus partitioning each ravioli became impossible and the dish began a disastrous mess of overcooked pasta, the occasional taste of acorn squash and airy whipped ricotta.

The T.F.C Fried Chicken has a confusing name (T for Chef Thompson perhaps?) and was an equally confusing dish. The two pieces of chicken, nicely fried with a thick and non-greasy batter and tender meat, were paired with bitter mustard greens and a bland potato puree. The entire dish was under-seasoned and lacked, again, any unifying factor to bring all the flavours together.

The dessert from Chef Huber was the Deconstructed Apple Pie, an interesting take on dessert with Jamieson marinated apples, Riseling Apple Jelly, Shortbread and Vanilla Ice Cream. Taking a nibble from each item creates a nice mixture of flavours including the creamy ice cream, sharp apple jelly, smooth sweet apples and dense shortbread. Tasty.

Chef Thompson's dessert offering was this sloppily presented, but tasty Guinness Chocolate Mousse. The mousse was excellently light and airy smooth and was a tasty contrast to the Bailey's whipped topping.

I love impromptu events like this at The Pourhouse as they create a buzz of excitement amongst diners and also allows for local talent to compete and create novel dishes. However, the execution of said events need to be improved. I felt the restaurant failed to deliver on its promised Chef vs. Chef competition ... where was my scoring system and where was my ability to deliver comments about each chef's dishes? In the end I felt Chef Huber the clear victor with his tasty twists on classic bar treats. Chef Thompson, on the other hand, delivered bland, tasteless, sloppily presented and tasteless dishes more reminiscent of an amateur home cook than a restaurant chef. Ultimately I applaud The Pourhouse for creating the Chef vs. Chef pop up and encourage anyone interested in the concept to attend future events.