Kristy Olsen’s Beet Salad

FOR THE BEETS

2 large red beets

2 large yellow beets

1 stick cinnamon

2 cloves

1 tbsp. peppercorns

2 bay leaves

¼ c. kosher salt

2 star anise

1 c. red wine vinegar

½ c. sugar

FOR THE WHIPPED GOAT CHEESE

100 g goat cheese

1 tsp. honey

¼ c. heavy cream

FOR THE REST OF THE SALAD

1 peeled Cara Cara orange

1 peeled naval orange

1 c. vinaigrette (Safeway’s turmeric black pepper vinaigrette works well)

6 fresh basil leaves

1 tbsp. crushed pistachio

As needed arugula

FOR THE BEETS

1. Combine all items listed in a pot and fill with cold water. Bring to a boil until a knife inserts easily into the centre of a beet (anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the beet).

2. Drain, rub off peels and set aside. Once cool, slice and refrigerate until needed.

FOR THE WHIPPED GOAT CHEESE

1. Using a mixer with a paddle attachment, paddle the goat cheese until it is smooth. Add the honey.

2. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and switch to a whip attachment.

3. Slowly add the heavy cream, a little at a time. Continue to whip until it reaches the texture of whipped cream. Refrigerate until needed.

TO ASSEMBLE THE SALAD

1. Slice oranges as you did the beets.

2. Layer the sliced beets, oranges and whipped goat cheese.

3. Add basil, arugula and pistachio.

4. Top with vinaigrette and a drizzle of honey. Finish with a pinch of salt. Enjoy!

If you asked typical home cooks how to make a beet salad, they might suggest roasting beets, tossing them with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, and maybe throwing some cheese or nuts on top. Olsen’s beet salad has some of those same elements – but she elevates everything from the standard to the sublime. She does start with roasted beets tossed in a turmeric vinaigrette, but she artfully constructs the salad with layers of beet, orange, arugula, pistachios, and goat cheese that she’s whipped with honey.

“I don’t eat vegetables unless I eat them at Kristy’s,” says Noble, who works as a sales manager at Bridge City Chrysler in Lethbridge, with a hearty laugh.

While Olsen comes from a long line of chefs – in addition to her grandfather, her parents, aunts and uncles all worked in the food industry – she spent the first part of her career working “front-of-house,” first as a host, then as a server, then as a bartender. She loved the work, especially the people and the fact they usually went out to eat when they were happy, which made her happy, too. But when she became pregnant with her daughter, she realized bartending hours – which took her home at 4 a.m. many days – wouldn’t work.

That’s when she came to Lethbridge College. “I remember deciding I was going to switch from bartending to cooking and I was like, terrified. I was really good at bartending,” she recalls. But she started in the Culinary Careers diploma program and progressed to the Cook Apprentice program, and before she knew it, she was really good at cooking, too. “Kristy is very much like her grandpa!” says Chef Overes. “She has a very thick skin and is tireless. Her grit, desire to excel, determination and need for furthering her education shows not only a hunger for lifelong learning, but a desire to follow in her grandfather’s footsteps and do him proud.”

In addition to her regular coursework, when Olsen was a student she signed up for exchanges, “stages” (or internships), conferences and competitions that took her from Edmonton to Ottawa, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island, and as far away as Germany. “The chefs here at the college pushed me and did not let me get away with anything,” she recalls. “They definitely helped put me together as a human being.”

She came back to the college in 2022 to complete the Baker Apprenticeship program, wanting to learn from Chef Overes again, and she says she is grateful for all of her Lethbridge College learning opportunities. “Going through the Lethbridge College program for cooking was such a fun adventure,” she says. “I was endlessly challenged, and given a place I could truly unleash my creativity. My instructors took so much pride in coaching us all, and they encouraged me to grow as a person as well as a cook. Coming back for my second Red Seal has been so wonderful. They constantly make me feel welcome and as if there is an entire new world to explore, all while still loving the industry we chose.”

When Olsen first left the college after completing the Cook Apprenticeship program, she took advice from Chef Overes with her. “I remember Chef telling me that the best thing you can have was a full toolbox,” she says, explaining that he encouraged grads to try different jobs and different kinds of cooking – everything from breakfast to fine dining.

So she did just that, working up to 80 hours a week in a kitchen for over 10 years. By 2020, she was working as a sous chef at Purlieu Bistro in Calgary, which had just been named one of Canada’s top 10 new restaurants. Five days after the restaurant received that honour, everything closed because of the pandemic. “It was like up, up, up and then everything just slammed shut,” she says. “Luckily, I was able to take some time off and hang out with my kid for a few months, and I was like, ‘well, this is nice.’”

With everything closed, Olsen and her daughter decided to go to Raymond to visit family. On a walk one day, Olsen saw that the beautiful white manor that had been built for Raymond’s founder, Jesse Knight, had been listed for sale. She had worked for a time as the head chef at The Restaurant at Lougheed House in Calgary – a landmark building now home to a museum, gardens and fine dining – and realized she could “do a mini-one” in Raymond at the historic house.

Her original idea was to create a 30-seat French restaurant. But the home’s location in a residential area limited possibilities – as did the renovations that would have been required to make the building fully accessible. The town of Raymond’s prohibition against the sale of liquor didn’t help her business plans either.

“I was going to have to gut the whole first floor, and I was like, how do I not wreck this 120-year-old home?” she recalls thinking. Then one day, when she had a fire inspector visit the house and he said it could not be open to the public, she asked about hosting private dinners. And he said that could work.

“With COVID shutting everything down to like 10 people,” she remembers, “I decided to just do dinners on a smaller level, and people could bring their own beverages, too. It would literally be people having dinner in my dining room – like family dinner with a private chef.”

She opened in July 2021 to small groups, with word of the restaurant being shared by happy diners. “It was kind of slow moving to start,” Olsen recalls, “and then it just snowballed. I think I have four days still open this year.”

That’s how alumni Witzke, Novel and Candice Boldt and their partners came to be regulars at Eden Restaurant. Witzke came first with Jeremy Duchan, and they loved it. The next time they came, they brought Noble and Steve Szilagyi. And the next time they added Candice and Jack Boldt. All of them now come as often as they can get a reservation, and they love seeing the restaurant and house evolve over time. “When we first started coming here, she had six little white IKEA tables with a tablecloth over,” Noble says. “And all of that has changed. Every time we’ve come since she’s done another project, restored another window, or re-plastered another wall.”

Locals and guests have also donated antiques that fill the historic home – everything from a grandfather clock built in 1911 that originally stood in the home of a Pennsylvania governor, to the china and cutlery Olsen uses to serve her delicious meals. She also has plans to develop the garden to host more events in the future.

The scale and scope of the restaurant has been a great personal and professional fit for Olsen, as well as a sustainable one. With a limited number of guests and a reservation system in place, Olsen always knows exactly how much food to buy and prepare each day, so she has nearly eliminated food waste in her kitchen. She also enjoys the flexibility of cooking whatever inspires her and whatever is in season on a given day. While she will modify the menu for food allergies and sensitivities, the menu is otherwise a surprise for her guests.

Her regulars have come to enjoy that part of the experience, too. “It’s a little weird at first to go to a restaurant and not pick what you are going to eat, and yet everything is so perfectly done,” says Boldt, a co-owner of Lethbridge Hearing Centre. “It’s one of the best dining experiences around.”

Witzke agrees, adding “Kristy has the passion. You can just feel it.”

To make a reservation at Eden Restaurant, message Olsen on Instagram @edenrestaurant_. To learn more about Lethbridge College’s Culinary Careers, Cook Apprentice or Baker Apprentice programs, go to lethbridgecollege.ca/culinary.

“

In my family, food is how we say we love you,” Olsen says. “We don’t verbally say it. It’s just like – are you hungry? Have you eaten? That’s just how we show affection, and it’s still my love language.”

She feels that love when she calls her father, Jay Olsen, from the grocery store as she shops to ask for his ideas about some squid she was thinking of preparing later that evening. It’s in the pride in her eyes as Nohla helps clear a table or pour water for guests. Getting to spend more time with Nohla has been one of the best parts of the new business, she says, and she imagines she could keep running Eden Restaurant at least until Nohla finishes high school.

Olsen says she does miss being around the brigade in the kitchen and having people around to bounce ideas off of. “But on the other hand,” she says, “it’s really nice that I am responsible for my own things. No one can screw things up aside from me – the buck stops with me!”

While she’s found a comfortable rhythm serving meals five nights a week, she is always “trying to figure out how to make this work better and work on my own skills.” That’s why she plans to take two weeks off every August to travel and work in a kitchen in another part of the world. And that’s the other reason she took the Baker Apprentice program this past year, as she says she wanted to expand and improve her breads, pastries and desserts.

Baking instructor Chef Amanda Kawchuk (Culinary Careers 2009, Cook Apprentice 2009) and three colleagues from the Culinary team booked a night with their partners to dine at Eden in April, and they were all impressed with the restaurant their graduate has created.

“It was awesome – a really neat experience,” says Kawchuk. “You go there with a small group of friends or family, and she just makes you feel at home. The historic house is so beautiful, and the food was delicious. She customizes your menu and everything is just so beautifully plated and tastes so good. She pays such close attention to detail – she’s meticulous. It was neat to go support one of our students in the industry – and a very fun night out for us chefs!”

Olsen says Eden Restaurant is as much about people as it is about food.

“I really want people to feel safe when they are here, to feel like family dinner, to feel like home,” she says. “I want people to have that place where the world stops existing when you visit. I love the people aspect of this work. I’ve made some amazing relationships with people who come in regularly, and they feel like friends and family. There’s always hugs and conversations, and it’s gotten to the point now where people just walk in and make themselves at home. It’s wonderful.”

“I REALLY WANT PEOPLE TO FEEL SAFE WHEN THEY ARE HERE, TO FEEL LIKE FAMILY DINNER, TO FEEL LIKE HOME. I WANT PEOPLE TO HAVE THAT PLACE WHERE THE WORLD STOPS EXISTING WHEN YOU VISIT.