The pork roast is fork-tender meat is nestled into a smooth base of whipped potatoes and sweet caramelized apples and leeks with crispy sage and a Screech reduction.
Strolling down Calgary's Stephen Avenue, having people veer around you as they pop in and out of shops, bars and restaurants, it's hard to feel – or rather see – the recession that has been weighing heavy on this city for many months.
There's never been more reasons to head downtown for a bite to eat and the city's core feels slightly rejuvenated. Among the new are Oliver and Bonacini's The Guild, Earls 67, the healthy fast-casual Wise and Wright and Klein/Harris, a restaurant devoted to "true north cuisine."
The owners behind Klein/Harris, Christina Mah and James Waters, have been devoted members of the city's food community for many years. Both professionals have a lot of heart and collectively exude a charm that radiates through the room .
It's easy to see that the couple's love for the entertaining flows straight down to their staff, who buzz around the room, happily doting on tables, explaining daily specials with gusto and stirring drinks behind the bar while making pleasant conversation .
Mr. Waters's menu aims to work cohesively with Ms. Mah's drinks on the proposed Canadiana front. Both use a variety of Canadian ingredients, liquors and wines that result in a coast-to-coast smattering of offerings that highlight things like British Columbia scallops, wild Alberta mushrooms, spruce tips, oysters from Prince Edward Island … you get the point. It's a valiant mentality that delivers on some fronts and not so much on others.
Start off on the right foot with Ms. Mah's signature K/H Caesar. Canada's most famous cocktail sees a remarkable facelift, being made with a refreshing chilled celery and clam broth, Eau Claire Distillery gin and garnished with pickled vegetables. Easily the most unique interpretation of a classic Calgary creation I've had the opportunity to sip on.
As the cocktails go down a little too easy, it's best to have some food en route. The Baby Shrimp Bake might sound like something you'd find in one of your mother's Canadian Living issues from the 1980s, but it is quite the opposite. A thoughtful portion of tiny, succulent shrimp come covered in an insanely delicious chili butter emulsion with lemon balm and house pickles. The emulsion just begs to be soaked up by the toasted bread on the side.
Unfortunately, other starters don't fare nearly as well. The Beet Mosaic Salad grabs your attention with an ear-perking description – "salt-roasted beets" and "oat crumble" – but disappoints, tasting like any other run-of-the-mill beet salad.
Toast 3 Ways is also fairly simple, with a trio of mason jars filled with smoked onion jam, oil-poached tomatoes and a buttery mushroom tapenade of sorts. Each jar was tasty enough, but they'd fare much better in a more appealing bruschetta-style application rather than having a diner take the DIY approach.
The protein-driven plates are where things get more interesting. Seared beef skillet, Chef Waters's homage to ginger beef – a dish that was said to be invented at Silver Inn in 1975 – is a superb use of the province's world-class protein. Impeccably cooked beef arrives sizzling in a cast iron pan with a bubbling ginger syrup, topped with carrots, bell peppers and dehydrated ginger. Similar to Ms. Mah's spin on the Caesar, this ode to another Calgary creation is a standout.
Had this summer been as bright and cheerful, the filling, stick-to-your-ribs pork roast would feel sorrowfully out of place on this dinner menu. So it's lucky, I suppose, that plenty of grey skies and downpours have had us all leaning towards the comforting. Fork-tender meat is nestled into a smooth base of whipped potatoes and sweet caramelized apples and leeks with crispy sage. Aiming to stay true to their Canadiana focus, Newfoundland's signature liquor, Screech, has its hair-raising taste tamed into a surprisingly beautiful reduction that brings it all together.
The K/H Butter Tart is an intimidating dessert to tackle. Elevating those rich, buttery, sticky-sweet flavours, this version is updated mildly with candied walnuts and a relatively pleasant scoop of house-made pistachio ice cream for average results. If it were sitting at a church bake sale beside a grandma's tried-and-true recipe, I'd have to go with grandma.
All in all, Harris is a pleasant experience, it's just got a little fine-tuning to do before it can really shine.