Chorney-Booth: Major hospitality conference comes to Calgary to celebrate and inspire local restaurants

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Tannis Baker of Food Tourism Strategies, which is the local partner of a Terroir Symposium in the city, discussing all things related to the food and restaurant industry. One of the participating restaurants is Rouge. Dean Pilling/Postmedia Dean Piling/Postmedia

As we’ve all heard over and over, the restaurant industry has had a rough few years. With pandemic shutdowns followed by rising food prices and ongoing staffing issues, and an economic downturn before that, Calgary’s restaurateurs have been in crisis mode for a while now. Many in the industry could use a morale boost and perhaps some new tricks to put up their sleeves. A group of event organizers hope that injection of inspiration will come in the form of the Terroir Symposium, a much-heralded hospitality conference touching down in Calgary for the first time later this month.

Terroir is well-known in certain restaurant circles – the program has run in Toronto for over 15 years, bringing in renowned chefs, restaurateurs and hospitality thought leaders to participate in conversations about the business of turning food into a magical experience. After having to adjust to virtual conferences over the last two years, the Terroir team is returning to a face-to-face symposium with the first of a series of conferences to be held here in Calgary.

“Our dream was to always have Terroir travel across Canada and to host it in a different city each year,” says Terroir founder Arlene Stein. “When the pandemic hit and we needed to go online, we realized that the entire landscape in hospitality was changing. We used this opportunity to rethink our own programming and looked for a partner who could help us support that vision.”

That partner is Food Tourism Strategies, the same team behind the Alberta on The Plate dine-around festival and other programs designed to drive culinary tourism in Alberta, with like-minded Culinary Marketing Strategies also joining in. The idea is to use the Symposium to not only provide a learning opportunity for local chefs and restaurants but to also introduce those things that make food in Alberta special to experts from across Canada and around the world.

The local committee involved in organizing the city’s Terroir Symposium are, from left: Rheannon Green, Aviva Kohen, Janet Henderson, Tannis Baker, Laurie MacKay, Liana Robberecht, Don House and James Werner. Dean Pilling/Postmedia Dean Piling/Postmedia

This year’s annual conference is the first of three that Terroir has committed to in Calgary and Food Tourism Strategies’ Tannis Baker is hopeful that it will eventually grow into a full-on food festival that focuses on both the business of restaurants and pleasing enthusiastic eaters. While Calgary’s restaurants pack a lot of punch – admittedly, every mid-sized city claims to have a fantastic restaurant scene, but there truly is a lot of momentum here – we don’t have a proper food event big enough to draw in tourists, but the arrival of Terroir could be the first step in getting there.

“I have such confidence in the amazing culinary talent here and we can grow our food scene by sharing it with the world,” Baker says. “I look at this as an opportunity for our people to be recognized and make some connections to help with their output down the road.”

This year’s main event is primarily aimed at restaurant professionals, be it chefs, managers, sommeliers, servers, food suppliers, or administrative staff, but curious members of the public can also buy tickets if hospitality topics are of interest. The programming is largely focused on the theme “From the Roots,” and will feature panels on everything from reducing food waste to encouraging diversity in restaurants, all taking place at the Central Library, along with wine and whisky tastings and interactive events, many with a focus on Alberta’s agricultural bounty.

Out-of-province dignitaries include celebrity chefs Elizabeth Falkner, Tanya Holland, Danny Smiles and Amanda Cohen, media personality Mijune Pak and food journalist Corey Mintz, with local favourites like chefs Liana Robberecht, Connie DeSousa, John Jackson, and Duncan Ly also taking the stage. Marquee venues like the Calgary Zoo, Rouge and Deane House restaurants, and SAIT will also welcome attendees for various events.

For those more interested in eating at restaurants than talking about them, Terroir is also hosting a series of signature dinners, that will bring local chefs together with visiting culinary masterminds. These dinners will take place at Major Tom, Fire and Flora, Bridgette Bar and Rouge. The collaborative dinners are open to the public — all part of Baker’s strategy to bring the guests and industry together at this event. And, perhaps just as importantly, the combination of the dinners, the symposium, and other events gives Calgary’s restaurant people a chance to have a bit of fun again.

“This is also a time of healing for our industry,” says Rouge co-owner and culinary director Paul Rogalski. “We were so beaten up by the pandemic and for us to have a chance to reconnect reminds us that we are a community of people. We’ve been in survival mode and this is a good opportunity to look people in the eye and have conversations.”

The Terroir Symposium and its related events take place from September 18-21 at the Central Library and other locations. For tickets to both the conference and the signature dinners, visit terroirsymposium.com.

Elizabeth Chorney-Booth can be reached at elizabooth@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter at @elizaboothy or Instagram at @elizabooth.