This is the magic that happens when restaurateurs take that risk to follow their hearts

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There are plenty of ways to describe the act of opening an independent restaurant.

“Risky,” for sure. “Courageous,” if I’m being kind. “Foolhardy,” if I’m not. Opening a successful restaurant is such a monumentally difficult task physically, emotionally, and perhaps most of all, financially, I’m not sure why anyone would do it.

But am I ever glad when they do.

I’m especially pleased when restaurateurs like chef Kyle Opel and his longtime business partner, beverage and front-of-house guy Jason Exton, take the extraordinary leap of faith to start a restaurant like their brand-new Pastiche. The chef-driven restaurant and wine bar is located in the historic De Waal block located at the bottom of Edmonton Trail.

Opel and Exton bonded while working together at The Wilde on 27, the splashy fine dining restaurant on the top floor of the ritzy Dorian Hotel. While both of their skill sets shined in that opulent setting, big hotels don’t always allow for unbridled creative freedom. In late 2024 they left to open the Love Damian pop-up in the Meat and Bread sandwich shop as they prepared to open a full brick and mortar restaurant. The pop-up ended this spring and Opel and Exton quickly sprang into action to transform their new Bridgeland space into Pastiche.

“Our goal was always to get a restaurant of our own,” Opel says. “This gives us the freedom to be able to express ourselves with no real restrictions.”

“Ultimately, this was our interpretation of what we love about restaurants,” Exton says. “That’s what we’re putting on the table and in the room.”

On the surface, Opel and Exton’s story mirrors that of the team behind the also recently opened Francine’s: a chef and a beverage director leave comfy corporate jobs to do a long-term pop-up before moving into a permanent spot specializing in contemporary French-inspired food. What’s fascinating, though, is that the end results of these two restaurants are both fantastic but completely different in terms of style, decor, and food. This is the magic that happens when restaurateurs take that risk to follow their hearts and let their businesses reflect their individual personalities, values, and talents.

The bones of Pastiche’s split-level dining room and lounge space are not unlike the other restaurants that have occupied the space in more recent years, but even with only minor redecorating, Pastiche feels like it has always belonged in the room. Opel and Exton chose a romantic French wine bar vibe, which works naturally with the wooden floors, exposed brick, and pressed tin ceiling. They painted, put some new fabric on the banquettes and swapped the window shutters for classic sheer drapes. Past inhabitants like Il Sogno, Whitehall and Jin Bar are honoured with some souvenirs near the front door, but the space still feels like it was created specifically for this little French-inspired joint.

Love Damian was a personal project for Opel, who envisioned it as a tribute to his late father and their mutual connection to northern Italy. Rather than continuing to tie himself to something so intimate, he’s branched out at Pastiche, opting for a loosely French-based reflection of dishes he likes to cook and eat. His kitchen team is made up of other like-minded cooks, including sous chef Stephanie Ramos, who also comes from The Wilde.

It’s a tight menu with five appetizers and five entrees, and a handful of add-ons including must-order pans of butter-soaked milk buns ($6). Appetizers include a luxurious foie gras ganache with seasonal fruit and delightfully bitter burnt grapefruit ($29) and tender scallops in celeriac beurre blanc with celeriac strings and pickled celeriac ($32) — yes, every one of those celeriac preparations is completely necessary to maintain Opel’s precise sense of balance.

On the entree side, you’ve got larger-format plates of bavette steak with shallot jus and a pile of luxurious aligot potatoes ($50), smoked chicken with cranberry beans ($42) and halibut with lemon butter ($57) with additional pasta and vegetarian options. The dishes are large and designed to be shared: two starters, an order of buns, and a main will feed two hungry people, particularly if you finish with a shared slice of ultra-creamy Basque cheesecake.

While Pastiche is very much a full restaurant, half of it is a lounge space (why not drop in for a mid-afternoon glass of something and an order of fried cheese curds with citrus honey?) and the drinks are a going concern. Since Exton and Open have worked so closely together, the wine list naturally caters to the food’s balance of bright citrus flavours and rich buttery sauces and servers happily offer samples of glass pours to get customers the right match. The bar also serves a nice selection of cocktails, with more creations to come as the restaurant settles in.

Pastiche is located at 24 4th St. N.E. and can be reached through pasticheyyc.ca or 587-834-5161. The restaurant is open Tuesday to Sunday from 3 p.m to 11 p.m.

Elizabeth Chorney-Booth can be reached at elizabooth@gmail.com. Follow her on Instagram at @elizabooth or sign up for her newsletter at hungrycalgary.substack.com.