Chorney-Booth: Lake House celebrates 10 years with a menu of favorites

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The Lake House – a beautiful restaurant on the edge of Lake Bonavista in the Canadian Rockies – has been the site of many anniversaries, but now it's time for the restaurant to celebrate its own anniversary. A decade of service is a feat in the restaurant world, and The Lake House is celebrating its double-digit birthday with a special menu that revisits its greatest culinary hits.

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The Lake House was born out of the intersection of two local legacies: the lakefront building that housed the long-standing and beloved Inn on the Lake and the institution behind equally venerable restaurants like CRMR, Dear Divino and Cilantro, as well as the still-Emerald Lake Lodge, Buffalo Mountain Lodge and Thriving mountain properties like the Post Hotel and Spa. Born after CRMR moved its Ranche restaurant out of Fish Creek Park, Lake House opened its doors on Valentine's Day 2014 – an appropriate date given its ultra-romantic location. It is currently the only full-service restaurant in town, following CRMR's ​​decades-long role in creating the concept of delicious, locally sourced Western Canadian cuisine.

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While a decade isn't a long time in the grand scheme of CRMR's ​​history (it dates back to the 1979 purchase of Emerald Lake Lodge by company founders Pat and Connie O'Connor), Lake House itself has plenty of reasons to celebrate. Longevity is a tough business for restaurants, but general manager Kevin Skye attributes the restaurant's continued success to a combination of the spectacular view from the restaurant's expansive lakefront windows, locals excited about the high-quality dining options in their neighborhood, and a dedicated staff committed to maintaining the standards CRMR has long guided.

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“Not much has changed since we opened and that's responsible for some of our success,” says Sky. “Our chef, Thomas Neukom, was here before the restaurant opened. Our chef Gareth Colville was here the whole time. I've been here almost the whole time. The stability of the people here was a big factor.”

This combination of chefs means that it was easy for the kitchen team to create a menu of classics. While there are some constants on the Lake House menu (you'll always find a bison burger, for example), Colville generally likes to change things up seasonally, meaning there are already plenty of favorites. The magic of The Lake House menu has always been the use of high-quality ingredients (including meats from the company's ranch) to create comfort and creative dishes that reflect CRMR's ​​mountain roots. It's a rarity in a suburban setting, and the unique nature of the dishes has led to many fan favorites over the years.

Resurrected dishes include glazed red spring salmon ($28) for lunch and chicken schnitzel ($28) over spinach fettuccine with mushroom cream. Guests can also look forward to a 2014 dinner selection of prepared and smoked seafood from the Lake House fish board. fish ($26/$36), 2016 risotto and pan-fried scallops with tempura scampi ($46) and, from 2016, a luxurious parmesan-crusted lamb tartare with lamb shoulder moussaka ($52). Because it's a seasonal affair, those selections will be available until early summer, when Colville expects warm-weather dishes to return.

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Lake House 747 Lake Bonavista Dr. Located at SE and can be reached at 403-225-3939 or lakehousecalgary.com. The restaurant is open for lunch Tuesday through Friday and dinner Tuesday through Sunday.

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In other restaurant news, the DOP team has been saying for some time that the iconic building that houses the restaurant is slated to be demolished. An announcement was made on Instagram last week that DOP will be moving out of the Victoria Park space in September of all years. The restaurant recently appointed new chef Cody Fummerton following the departure of Alessandro Chinia, who was opening his own new restaurant.

Fear not – management is in the process of finding a new space, so DOP will have to go one way or another. Stay tuned!

Finally, the minds at Modern Steak seem to be constantly coming up with new ideas to get people to eat steak, and the latest is a dinner series that pairs food with music. The first will take place on April 20 at Stephen Avenue in celebration of the release of Taylor Swift's new album, Tortured Poets Section. Bruschetta and “Empty space?” Love Story filet mignon? Why not?

Future dinners include a Drake Chateauneuf-du-Pape wine dinner on May 25 and a Wagyu and Wutang dinner on June 15. For reservations or more information, visit modernsteak.ca.

Elizabeth Chorney-Booth can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Instagram @elizabooth or sign up for her newsletter at hungrycalgary.substack.com.

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