| When opening the heavy wooden doors to the Redwater Rustic Grille, you’d think you were stepping into a downtown restaurant. Now, suburbanites can enjoy the type of dining most often found in the downtown core on MacLeod Trail South, at the Vintage Group’s latest restaurant.
Formerly the family restaurant Luciano’s, Redwater is headed up by executive chef Ned Bell of Food TV fame, who has also given his golden culinary touch to both Murrietta’s and Vintage Chophouse.
Redwater is rich and full of warmth, with muted dark green walls, creamy upholstered seating, and plenty of wood and rock accents. Tall, clear vases filled with greenery and scattered flowers brought a bit of the "rustic" outdoors inside. Embedded lighting gave a warm glow off the ceiling, with a variety of lamp styles adding to the cozy feel. The centrepiece of the restaurant was a floor-to-ceiling transparent wine cooler next to the large and open concept semi-circle bar, which took up almost the entire north wall.
We were seated in oversized chocolate leather club chairs in an elevated corner of the room. Smooth jazz and crooners poured out of the speakers, and we observed a full Monday night crowd of dressed-up couples and casual groups of friends. Our friendly server brought out a complimentary ragout dish, which she described as sundried tomato, roasted red peppers, basil, beets, paprika and lime oil, with a multigrain mini loaf of bread for dipping to start.
Bell’s menu focused on fire-roasted dishes to bring out strong and unique flavours. After questioning our server on her favourite appetizers (she candidly revealed her picks and admitted honestly to the ones she hadn’t tried), we decided to share the Alberta bison carpaccio ($14). The mouthwatering, paper-thin slices of tender bison were laid out flat, drizzled with a tomato sauce and garnished with two small and dense white cheddar cornbread muffins.
For the main course, the menu offered pizza ($10 - $12) and pasta choices ($14 - $17) as well as "naked entrées." The naked entrées allow you to choose from a variety of meats, poultry, fish or seafood, plus one of six different sauces and two sides. We ordered the wild shrimp and scallops ($23) with the lime passion fruit and honey dressing, and roasted, crushed sweet potatoes and roasted red and yellow peppers. The light, sweet glaze was a nice accompaniment to the fresh seafood, and the roasting brought out delicious flavours in the vegetables. I enjoyed the puréed sweet potatoes, but my friend thought they would have been more appealing with a slightly thicker consistency.
We also shared the mango barbecue chicken pizza ($12), topped with smoked gouda, mozzarella, red onions and corn. The pizza was a great representation of the fire-roasted flavours, but there was just a little bit too much going on. The combination of so many unique pizza toppings was overwhelming.
To top off the evening, we couldn’t resist the coconut cheesecake ($8), served with pineapple relish and coconut shortbread. The cheesecake was extra thick, more cheese flavoured and less sweet (as I prefer), with thick pieces of coconut baked in it. It was so rich and flavourful that I skipped the fruit topping altogether.
Overall we enjoyed the upscale dining experience with a slightly casual suburban feel – and, of course, not having to circle one-way streets and pay exorbitant parking prices.
The Redwater Rustic Grille is located at 9223 Macleod Trail South; phone, 253-4266. |
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