Delightful new wines from Jones and Company, a new shareable menu from a decorated chef, and that same downtown location that makes it a primetime jumping-off point (or spot to wind down your night), should ensure Delta Hotels by Marriott Winnipeg’s Blaze Restaurant and Lounge is on your culinary radar.
Cameron Huley is the new Executive Chef for the hotel, which has always excelled with a focus on contemporary Canadian cuisine. Fittingly, the new Red Seal chef’s many credentials include being a regular member of The Canadian National Culinary Team, having competed in Europe many times, along with being a Counseiller du Canada for La Chaine des Rôtisseurs and working under the renowned chef and Order of Canada recipient Takashi Murakami at St. Charles Golf and Country Club early in his career.
Given this career spent in fine-dining establishments and centre plate competitions, the move to Blaze has presented Huley with the chance to create fun and often shareable dishes that go down well before a night at Canada Life Centre, which the hotel is directly connected to.
At Blaze, Huley’s menu, in the words of the chef, "blends Asian flavours and French cuisine together." For share plates, can’t-miss dishes include the crispy Korean chicken thigh bao, featuring Manitoba-made Cook Creek’s kimchi and bibimbap; duck wings in five-spice with orange ginger glaze; and pork and shrimp meatballs braised in a spicy bibimbap tomato sauce with melted mozza and XO toast.
The breakfast menu remains stacked classics, all using local Nature’s Farm free-run eggs. There’s French toast made on Gunn’s sourdough with Chantilly cream and berries; a traditional shakshuka; an all-local omelette featuring asparagus, oyster mushrooms and gold Oka-style cheese from Loaf and Honey; and lighter fare like prairie berry oats or Greek yogurt with house-granola.
The burger menu has grown to include a salmon club featuring both peppered and smoked salmon, a caprese panini with meaty eggplant for vegetarians, and a marinated skirt steak sandwich with onion rings and jalapeño parsley pesto on French bread.
Entrées include pan roasted salmon with a maltaise sauce (a blood orange-infused hollandaise) and creamed spinach, quinoa, and baby broccolini; chicken coq au vin with smashed crispy potatoes; and penne in creamy vodka sauce, with choice of gluten-free pasta.
Vegetarians will love the miso mushroom Buddha bowl, featuring brown rice loaded with roasted shiitake, shredded cabbage and carrots and other fun crunchy things like radish, along with avocado and a miso ginger dressing.
With Winnipeg’s celebrated Jones & Company Wine Merchants now doing the wines, you can expect plenty of delectable bottles for pairing–including standouts like Artuke rioja, Rocca di Montegross chianti and Underwood pinot gris–while Blaze has always carried some of the best local breweries in the city, both on-tap and in 473 ml cans. There's also a new craft cocktail list, all of which contain 2 oz pours and fresh squeezed lemons and limes for drinks like the Manitoba margarita and the prairie crocus.
For dessert, you’ll find more updates on two classics–those being a lemon basil tart and a warm chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream and crème anglaise poured tableside.
Blaze Restaurant and Lounge is open on the ground floor of Delta Hotels by Marriott Winnipeg Monday to Friday 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., and 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., and 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.
