Well, this was quite a surprise! Thank you to my good friend @chef.nao for letting me know about my selection. I’m truly honored to be recognized by @thebestchefawards for the work we do at EIGHT.
A huge thank you to our amazing team @des.murph@sandrine_archambault@keisuke_4220 your dedication at @eight_cdn@shokuninyyc and @nupoyyc makes this recognition possible every single day. Couldn’t be prouder of what we’re building together. So thank you to all of our guests and whichever of you thought highly enough of us @eight_cdn Thank for this wonderful accolade and mention! @palmpublicrelations your the best! Lastly the people, restaurants and Most importantly the CHEFS in #YYC #LFG!!!! We are the hungriest and hardest working food city in Canada and it’s only a matter of time for us all! I keep pushing because you are all relentless! Big ups to our amazing partners in the #culturalchefexchange @squarecanada@westjet@althotel@mediumrarechef let’s keep celebrating Canada!
Season 27: High Prairie Sun
To our guests, friends and neighbours both here and abroad, The bluest skies and the most sunshine are about to be gifted to us once again. You may not know that Calgary, Alberta is fortunate enough to be Canada’s sunniest major city. No matter the season, we are blessed with over 2,400 hours of sunshine each year. You truly feel its impact in the dead of winter and at the height of summer. When summer arrives in Alberta, there is an urgency and restlessness in the air. With one of the shortest springs in Canada, Albertans are ready to take full advantage of the incredible sunshine we experience and get outside to explore the wild places and spaces that make this part of Canada so unique. With some of the hottest temperatures in Canada and ample prairie sun, ours is one of the fastest growing seasons. The available ingredients explode in the last weeks of June, and we are fortunate to enjoy summer provenance that continues through the first frosts of October. It is a flurry of wild edibles, locally grown vegetables, and seasonal fruits that abound from coast to coast. This fervor of produce is almost overwhelming and makes for one of the most dynamic times to dine anywhere in Alberta. Our own gardens and pastures spring to life, as do the over 28 local farms we work with to meticulously source every part of our Canadian Reflection Menu. The diversity of cultures represented by the farmers of Alberta is something to behold, particularly when holding one of Sudo-San’s cabbages. There are so many stories unfolding on our lands and on the lands of our farm partners. Such an incredibly rich history of farmers, foragers, and ranchers has shaped our culinary landscape for generations. I cannot wait to share these stories of Alberta provenance with you as we engage with the tapestry of our cultural mosaic and the purveyors and growers we hold so dear. We look forward to sheltering you from the high prairie sun in Eight while sharing the incredible culinary stories of all Canadians. Respectfully, Darren MacLean
No. 9 in Canada. We’re very grateful and proud.
Eight is difficult to summarize for some but for us our ethos is to hold a mirror up to Canadiana! EIGHT looks at ingredients, techniques and flavours that have found specific homes across our nation. Nestled into the niches of the cultural mosaic that make up the Canadian identity. Ours is a cuisine defined not only by location culture and circumstance but by the chaotic conflation of the three. Flavours born of migration, whether it be indigenous or international. Technique passed down through shared history and tradition, not just between mothers and their children, but neighbours, friends and loved ones whose stories may have begun in vastly different places, but who found a home in Canada. With this in mind We believe that Canadian cuisine needs to reflect the cultures and flavours that all Canadians contribute to whole!
That only happens because of a team willing to carry that ambition into four services a week. Thank you for everything you bring to it.
To our guests — thank you for engaging with the stories, sitting with our unique form of dinner theatre, and coming back again and again
Congratulations to everyone on this year’s list.
“The cooking is original and fiendishly complex, but the flavours always come through in harmony and with resounding clarity.” — @canadasbest100
#Eight #CalgaryFineDining #CanadasBest100 #canadiancuisine DarrenMacLean
@chefdarrenmaclean@chefchan.tcy@jesus.turpin_@jiwanchoii
photography by @dqstudios
To say that I was humbled & surprised when this arrive is an understatement! Truly though this award is a reflection of the dedication and hard work of our team @eight_cdn I look forward to when I am sharing there wins in the future! Thank you @thebestchefawards and any of my peers who thought highly enough of me for this honour, I won’t let you down! @chefchan.tcy@jiwanchoii@keisuke_4220@z.diianaaaa visuals by @tenzo.creative
Cultural Chef Exchange: Chef Ton × Chef Darren.
Chef Thitid “Ton” Tassanakajohn (@cheftonn ) from Le Du (1 Michelin star, no.1 Asia’s Best 50 Restaurants) joined Chef Darren MacLean for two sold-out seatings.
Thank you to everyone who joined us.
📍 EIGHT, Calgary
@cheftonn@ledubkk@chefdarrenmaclean@eight_cdn@chefchan.tcy@jesus.turpin@jiwanchoii
📸 Exquisitely Captured by @dqstudios
#ChefExchange #ChefTon #LeDu #CalgaryEats
Avenue Magazine named Eight the Best Fine Dining Restaurant in Calgary.
Eight seats. Four seatings per week. 20+ courses that explore what it means to be Canadian.
#6 on Canada’s 100 Best. The highest-ranking Calgary restaurant ever.
Reservations release quarterly and sell out fast.
Eight, Calgary
“With its exclusive eight seats and four weekly seatings, is notoriously difficult to book — reservations are released quarterly and quickly sell out. But, for those lucky few who snag a seat at Darren MacLean’s table, it’s worth it.
Eight placed as number six on Canada’s 100 Best list in 2025, the highest-ranking Calgary restaurant ever. Add in MacLean’s global recognition at The Best Chef Awards 2025, and you’ve got a bucket-list dining destination.
Through Eight’s unparalleled menu, often upwards of 20 small courses, MacLean reflects on Canada’s evolving identity — each dish a patriotic homage to Canada’s multicultural tapestry. “While our country is young, we are still defining what it means to be Canadian. In the generations to come, we will continue to meld our local ingredients with our ever-changing and dynamic Canadian cultures,” says MacLean.
Each dish tells a story, and each seasonal menu is unique. When I dined at Eight, MacLean served pickled beetroot in a Madras curry gazpacho, a dish inspired by his childhood friend’s mother, who was Indian, using beetroot in samosas; Har Gow dumplings stuffed with Nova Scotia lobster inspired by his first kitchen job at a Chinese restaurant; and a veal sweetbread with kohlrabi kimchi paying homage to French Canada. Desserts delight with beeswax ice cream and a chocolate tart lightly infused with roasted mushrooms and smoked whipped cream.”
#AvenueMagazine #Eight #CalgaryFineDining #YYCFood CalgaryEats Canadas100Best ChefDarrenMacLean TastingMenu YYCFoodie @chefdarrenmaclean@chefchan.tcy@jesus.turpin_@jiwanchoii
The shokunin hospitality group proudly presents Cultural Chef Exchange with Chef Thitid “Ton” Tassanakajohn. @cheftonn . The event SOLD OUT quickly! Thank you, we can’t wait to see you.
Born in Thailand, his passion for cooking was inspired by the flavors of his mother and grandmother’s home-cooked meals. After completing his Economics degree at Chulalongkorn University, Chef Ton pursued his culinary dream at the Culinary Institute of America and later earned an MBA in Hospitality from Johnson & Wales University. His career took him to Michelin-starred kitchens in New York, including Eleven Madison Park, The Modern, and Jean Georges. Chef Ton is passionate not only about cooking but also about wine, earning certification as a sommelier. He is known for elevating Thai cuisine, combining traditional flavors with modern techniques and ingredients, and for being a prominent figure in Bangkok’s dining scene. As a judge on popular TV shows like Top Chef Thailand and Kitchen War Thailand, Chef Ton has become a respected authority in the Thai culinary industry. His restaurants continue to be celebrated for their creative and innovative approach to Thai cuisine.
Le Du (*1 Michelin star & No. 1Asia’s Best 50 restaurants 2023)
Nusara (* Michelin star& No. 3 Asia’s Best 50 restaurants 2023 & Art of Hospitality award 2024)
Baan (Michelin Guide Thailand )
Samut (Michelin Guide Thailand)
Lahnyai Nusara (Michelin Guide Thailand)
Sood (Michelin Guide Malaysia)
Lawoi
Season 26 “frontier” April May June @eight_cdn Live today at 12pm mst “The extreme limit of settled land beyond which lies wilderness.” — Oxford English Dictionary
That line reads differently in Alberta.
Growing up, I always yearned for the spring thaw — heading out into the mountains, bear spray in hand, to fish recently opened waters and streams. The smell of wet soil and fresh pine during the thaw always made me feel like I was stepping into land no one had touched yet, crossing into a new frontier. Maybe as Canadians we have always explored, conquered, and been shaped by our wild places — living constantly at the boundary’s edge.
Particularly if you’re from Calgary, it’s a part of you.
Frontier here has always meant action. It meant riding past the surveyed boundary and staking ground without waiting for permission, building with what the land gave you and standing behind it. That character runs through our nation, this province, this city, and right into our kitchens.
Quebec veal sweetbreads, delicately dusted in potato starch, are gently smoked with barley and oolong tea, then pan-fried until crisp and yielding. A gochujang-laced veal jus—layered with soy, sesame, ginger, scallion, and doenjang, brings depth and warmth. Roasted parsnip purée grounds the dish, while a crisp kohlrabi kimchi, grown in @chefdarrenmaclean own garden, adds brightness and lift. Chinese chestnut purée and sesame-candied almonds introduce subtle sweetness and texture, finished with fresh scallion and aromatic perilla oil.
This dish speaks to Canadian terroir through a multicultural lens. Rooted in French technique and Canadian ingredients, it draws bold influence from the Korean pantry—an homage to the Korean Canadian community that has shaped Chef Darren’s culinary journey.
The inspiration traces back to his first restaurant, downtownfood, opened at 27 above a Korean karaoke bar. It was there, after hours, that he was welcomed into the generosity, precision, and depth of Korean food culture. What left a lasting mark was the Korean approach to meat—an ethos that elevates already world-class Alberta beef, and naturally extends to sweetbreads.
Years later, this dish carries that influence forward: a meeting of cultures, techniques, and memories—expressed on the plate with clarity, respect, and intention.
#Michelin #Worlds50Best #BestChefAwards #LaListe #FineDiningLovers
Check out my lobster course from my recent trip to Calgary 🇨🇦
I had the absolute pleasure to take part in the #culturalchefexchange with @chefdarrenmaclean in his beautiful chefs table @eight_cdn
What an experience this was to see such a beautiful part of an amazing country! Truly honoured 🫶🔥
Photos taken by the very talented @dqstudios
.
.
.
.
@humolondon
#chefstable #chefsroll #cheflife @michelinguide@theworlds50best
In response to the remarkable interest in our winter season, we’ve opened two additional evenings at EIGHT on December 10 and December 17. These intimate services offer a quiet opportunity to experience our tasting journey before the year comes to a close.
Reservations are now available through our bio
#EIGHTcdn #50BestDiscovery #MichelinGuide #CalgaryDining
