teatro

next up was teatro. it was my first time stepping intoteatroand i was wowed by its decor. it looked fancy yet comfortable from their choice to use tall couches for several of its seating. on top of that, it was a very bright and open restaurant, something that i did not expect from looking at the building from the outside. teatro's rendition was a deconstructed poutine that consisted of a fried potatoes, reconstructed cheese curd, cheese foam, and gravy meringue. it was definitely an innovative dish.

we dined atteatrofor father's day supper. the service was very marginal. our server seemed cold at first but eventually opened up. by no means was she friendly though. we then ordered oysters which were very nice; salads that were okay; then all of our pastas were very bland and flavourless. to be paying that kind of money for very less than average food we have decided none of would return. not worth the $$$.

my husband and i visitedteatrofor our 1 year anniversary. the food was really, really good.

i can't speak for all of teatro's service but i was very put off by our server. my husband wanted his food cooked a certain way and the server made a suggestion to cook it a different way. that was fine. a suggestion is always appreciated. however, after my husband politely declined she continued to insist on the meat being cooked rare. it came off very pushy and uncomfortable. when the bill arrived we paid part of it with a gift card and the rest on a debit. when it came to the debit part the waitress said quite abruptly "remember that when you are tipping to tip on the whole bill, not just what is left to pay." i found it very inappropriate. 

i will leave this with saying that the food was fantastic and the decor was beautiful. i just wish our service was on par with that.

i visitedteatrofor its $25 weekday lunch. i enjoyed the ultra-attentive service and beautiful dishes, but the food just didn’t really wow me. having said that, its express lunch menu will sure please anyone who is looking for fine dining experience at a reasonable price. though i must warn you that the portion size for set lunch is quite small.

teatro is probably one of the restaurants that are on my go-to list in calgary. i’ve been here several times in the past, for lunch and for dinner, and it was actually the first “fancy” restaurant i visited when i was still in high school, back in the day when dealfind still existed. i’ve always had great experiences here, and last night was no exception. our server was kind and polite (i even got a little stool for my bag), the food was delicious, the food came out quickly (so there wasn’t any major waiting in between courses), and it was pretty busy! a huge reason why i liketeatroso much, is because of the venue itself, as it is housed in the historic dominion building in downtown calgary. the interior and exterior of the building is gorgeous, and there are high ceilings, an open kitchen, and is very spacious. teatro is located just next to olympic plaza, and so it is nice to take a walk around olympic plaza or stephen ave before or after dinner. during winter, the skating rink is available for use and easily accessible, which is a bonus.

i’d been toteatroa couple times for lunch and knew that i wanted to bring jason there for dinner. the big taste was the perfect opportunity to do so – $65 for 5 courses plus $30 per person for wine pairings with each course. our reservation was for the first saturday of the big taste and we tried parking in the telus convention centre parkade as we normally do when we attend a play or eat at the east end of stephen ave. according to the numbered signs there were only 4 spots remaining in the whole parkade – 4 of us entered the parkade and made our rounds. we were the unlucky ones and had to find another lot down the road.

my boyfriend took me toteatrofor my birthday dinner. we were seated in a very nice booth spot and the atmosphere was great.

we had the calamari as appetizer and it was delicious. the batter was just perfect and great sauce to pair with it. for main, we ordered the daily fish - lingcod and beef tenderloin. the fish wasn't that great, it was a bit dry and i wasn't a big fan of the potato mash pairing. the beef tenderloin was cooked to perfect and was very tender!

service was good overall but our waitress didn't seem to professional for this type of restaurant.

haven’t been toteatroin awhile and finally came back for a birthday dinner. it was a nice sunday evening to escape the large crowds at the more casual restaurants and the 17th ave crowd. the dim entrance focuses on the grand highlight of the restaurant. the brass finish in the open kitchen and being able to see all the people who are responsible for each part of tonight’s dinner.

from the moment i walked in i knew we would have a special anniversary night. i'm not sure why we waited so long to dine atteatrobut now i just can't stop thinking about the meal we enjoyed there.
first i really want to say that this place is gorgeous! it used to be an old bank and there are several architectural features remaining from days gone by, like the large pillars and archways above the bar area. the tables are not set too close together, allowing for a bit of privacy whether you're on your first date or your 19th anniversary... but that kitchen! wow, it's a stunner. there are an italian white marble pass and gorgeous copper fume hood running almost the entire length of the kitchen. 
service was excellent from the coat check, to the purse stool provided as well as impeccable timing and personality.
now for the food. i could have just sat there and ate the house bread and olive oil all night. it was that good. 
we ordered the beef tartare and caprese salad to start. i thought it was nice that the tartare came preportioned on top of little potato crisps so we didn't have to worry about filling up on more bread. the tomatoes in the caprese were quite nice though i didn't think the micro basil had enough flavour on it's own. maybe add a basil pistou?
for our mains i ordered the dungeness crab risotto and was quite happy with all the chunks of crab involved. i didn't like the dehydrated cauliflower because i'm not really a cauliflower fan at the best of times. hubby ordered the agnolotti al plin and loved every bit of it. the pork ragu was so rich and the preserved egg yolk was a neat way to get that cheese flavour without adding cheese. 
since it was a special occasion we decided to order dessert and cappuccinos. hubby had the house specialty tiramisiu which i think is quite popular..i saw more than a few of them being ordered throughout our stay. i went with the rose water creme brulée. i thought it was a really great idea to serve it in such a shallow dish because that way the torching warms up the entire custard. it was delicious! 
we have a theatre subscription again this year and i'm hoping we can visitteatroagain on one of our theatre evenings.

wonderful choice for a special meal. elegant atmosphere. good service and great food. my scallop entree was a little piece of heaven. rob's beef was melt-in-your-mouth good, he said. the calamari and risotto are always can't-miss good.teatrois still one of our favourite places in town. prices a tad high, but a good place to splurge.

so this was my first time atteatroand i want to go back. the restaurant is beautiful and the food the three of us had was all truly enjoyable. when they called the day before to confirm my reservation they were nice enough to ask if we had any allergies or special requests. i thought this was a nice extra touch. all i asked for was a quieter spot because the three of us wanted to be able to talk. the customer service when we arrived was thorough – they offered to take our jackets and insisted my friends’ umbrella was placed in the bin by the front desk. we were served olive bread and focaccia as filler. yum.

chef john michael macneil brought moo out some greens to graze on we had been to calgary many times but never had the opportunity to drop in to try outteatro, overseen by chef john michael macneil . the restaurant had been recommended to us by a number of people, so when we knew we would be in town for the calgary marathon, we decided to go try out their tasting menu. compressed ice melon with vermouth, encapsulated balsamic vinegar and berlotta ham the restaurant itself is beautiful, opulent and classic. the space is filled with massive columns, though somewhat imposing, less so when compared to the impressively high ceiling. we began with a cold preparation of apple and pear encapsulation topped with morel mushrooms with asparagus veloute. the apple and pear spheres were very cool in the mouth, and when they popped open they were oddly thirst quenching, like fruit juice. the asparagus voulete was also satisfying and refreshing. faux bacon carbonara next a beet, lotus root, orange and crumbled goat cheese salad was light with a hint of citrus. the crumbled goat cheese added creaminess to each bite. next a compressed ice melon with vermouth, encapsulated balsamic vinegar topped with berlotta ham were unremarkable as separate components, but eaten together in one mouthful made for a beautifully balanced yet mildly acidic, salty, juicy mouthful.

the menu atteatrofocuses on traditional italian flavours using regional ingredients. dishes like steak tartare, gnocchi and braised pork shoulder were prepared with a high degree of refinement making the meal as a whole both comforting and upscale all at the same time. our five course gourmet menu started off with carrot and saffron velutatta with watercress and a house cured bresaola with pickled apple and shaved foie gras. the velutatta was a deliciously rich carrot soup perfumed with the aroma of saffron and our favourite of the two starters. the bresaola was delicate and cut paper thin however we found the shaved foie gras did not add much in the way of flavour. blurry due to the 'hangry' shakes  the second courses included one of the best beef tartare's we've ever tasted and a comparatively underwhelming marinated eggplant terrine. the tartare was perhaps the star of the night, tasting of fresh beef chopped with just the right amount of texture. the potato and sunchoke crisps nestled amongst the beef added great crunch to the dish. we could find no fault with the pasta course. the thyme gnocchi were light and airy and matched well with the earthy wild mushroom bolognese. the sweet pea and pancetta risotto was executed perfectly and struck the right balance between buttery risotto rice, rich bacon and fresh sweet peas. our mains continued the delicious progression of courses. the coho salmon was moist and flavourful and served with a tangy preserved lemo

i had the most amazing ice creamteatroristorante in calgary. chef john michael mcneil, executive chef at teatro, was incredibly nice to accommodate us with making some liquid nitrogen ice cream for dessert. one of the exciting parts of the night was watching the creation of the liquid nitrogen ice cream. the caramel is made exactly at 60c. any little degree over will result in a bitter and tart caramel ice cream and will have to be thrown out. so precision is important! liquid nitrogen is at a temperature of -190c, so as it is poured into the custard it will rapidly chill and freeze the custard without adding any extra ice crystals! according to dan (the engineer) the smoothness of the liquid nitrogen ice cream is due to the fat molecules being frozen precisely and resulting in no additional ice crystals. 

teatro wedding. we just had our wedding atteatroand i can't find a negative thing to say about it. the venue was beautiful, the food was magnificent and the service was excellent. the whole staff went above and beyond to make our night special. i would highly recommend it for any type of corporate or personal event!