Executive chef Daniel Pizarro at Provision restaurant in Calgary, Alberta, Thursday, June 22, 2017.Todd Korol/The Globe and Mail
Straight out of the gates, Provision is a restaurant that benefits 100 per cent from its picturesque location. If you don't know it by name yet, many will recognize its home, cozied into Central Memorial Park, as the former space of Boxwood Cafe. It's a building that feels comforting in the winter, light and bright in the summer and just plain stunning in the fall as the red and gold leaves float to the ground around it.
Owners Jackie Cooke and Kirk Shaw acquired the property in summer, 2016, and provided subtle upgrades, opting for glossier design accents such as brightly striped seating, modern leather chairs and tropical blue tiles. The minor but notable changes have helped this little park property feel more like a full-on restaurant than simply the lunchtime crowd go-to that it used to be.
Long-time industry veterans, Ms. Cooke and Mr. Shaw also run the contemporary French eatery Avec Bistro, which is a stone's throw away from Provision. As such, the two concepts share, more or less, their core kitchen staff, including executive chef Daniel Pizarro and pastry chef Kevin Yang. Admittedly, it's an unusual situation, but it seems to be working out thus far with minimal kinks.
Mr. Pizarro is easily one of the most underrated chefs in the city. His food is thoughtful and his résumé peppered with plenty more international experience than most, including working under famous French chef Alain Passard at his three-Michelin-star restaurant L'Arpège in Paris, known for placing beautiful produce front and centre on its menu.
Inspired by his younger years in Paris, Mr. Pizarro's menu here at Provision places preference on vegetables over proteins, a choice that is still quite uncommon in contemporary restaurants across the province.
If you thought Parmesan tuile was a thing of the past, then you will find new faith in the chef's mushroom dish. This deceivingly filling plate is made up of a mix of locally cultivated mushrooms – roasted and braised – topped with dollops of tart crème fraîche and a large Parmesan tuile holding a lightly dressed handful of greens. The beautifully layered presentation and balance of textures from the crisp crunch of the Parmesan through to the meaty, earthy mushrooms is a work of art.
Equally impressive are Pizarro's plate of sturdy B.C. asparagus, which is offered up with grilled ramps, house-made ricotta, a crispy fried egg and lemon butter sauce. Break through the golden crust and let the rich yolk help bring every bite together.
Gull Valley cucumbers, some fresh and some compressed, as well as sweet bell peppers come together in yet another winning vegetable dish that is above all else on the menu, perfect for a midsummer night's evening. Nestled into a silky smooth romesco, topped with fried shallots, cilantro and finished with garlic chili oil, I feel like this is the dish to which all summer salads should aspire.
In the evenings, you are encouraged to order servings of meat to accompany the aforementioned dishes in either three- or six-ounce portions. Having eaten here on several occasions, I can say with certainty that the smaller of the sizes is an adequate way to find balance with any carnivorous tendencies at the table. The best of the bunch is 40-day-aged Alberta beef rib-eye that comes sliced atop a truffled egg yolk spiked with sherry vinegar and finished off with crispy garlic chips. As far as beef dishes in Calgary go, this is one of the more memorable ones that I've had the past handful of years. Provision isn't delightful in all departments, though. Overripe B.C.-grown tomatoes do somewhat of a disservice to fried, house-made foccacia, fior de latte and cipollini onions. Two cocktails, "Doctor's Orders" (a bourbon, cider and cranberry bitters combination) and "Blonde Redhead" (a mish-mash of cranberry blonde ale, tequila and triple sec) proved to be watered-down disappointments. The wine selection here is perfectly seasonal, so take that path instead.
Your dining experience can also fall victim to the tables here, especially if you're dining as a pair; they are small for the amount of plates that you're encouraged to order. I'd recommend requesting the patio or simply hoping for a slower evening where you can land a larger table for elbow room.
As a final, sweet note, ordering a dessert of Mr. Yang's is a feast for the eyes and the taste buds. Always known for being experimental, the pastry chef loves subtly incorporating vegetables into his creations. Tonight, we spoon into a thin, but lavish-looking slice of dense butternut squash and chocolate cake topped with squash ganache, shards of pumpkin seed croquant and a cocoa nib soil. This has since left the menu, but expect to find something new and, hopefully, just as remarkable.