Charcut University District | Calgary’s Best New Restaurants 2025

by Elizabeth Chorney-Booth

Connie De Sousa slices house-made charcuterie. Photo by Jared Sych.

Who’s behind it
Co-chefs John Jackson and Connie DeSousa

When it opened
April 2024

The dish to eat
Build-your-own salumeria and formaggio

When the original downtown Charcut opened almost 15 years ago, co-chefs John Jackson and Connie DeSousa sparked a bit of a food revolution in Calgary, helping to usher in an era of chef-driven restaurants, pop-ups, collaborations and general excitement about foodie culture in the city.

Expanding the Charcut brand would have seemed like a natural next step a decade ago, but Jackson and DeSousa waited until last year to open their second Charcut, this time in the relatively suburban University District’s Alt Hotel. The bright and cozy new restaurant has charged up the chefs’ enthusiasm for their first culinary baby, re-establishing Charcut (both the new and the old locations) as a place to indulge and have fun with food. The new location has an expanded cured meats program, including whole-pig mortadella and a prominent meat window showcasing homemade charcuterie.

While there are menu overlaps with the downtown site — including a vegetable-centric “Butcher’s Daughter” section and a selection of pastas — Charcut UD has its own personality and a few unique items, including an array of artisanal pizzas (NYC- and Detroit-style Connie and John’s pizza can also be ordered for takeaway from the Alt lobby).

UD is also home to The Butcherina private dining room, a “restaurant within a restaurant” where Jackson and DeSousa continue their tradition of hosting playful special events.

4150 University Ave. N.W., 403-804-0374 (text only), charcut.com, @charcut