This New Japanese Restaurant is Inspired by Fly-Fishing

by Chris Landry

A few restaurant dishes sit on a counter. — The grilled beef tongue (front) and nasu age-bitashi from Curtis Creek Japanese Cuisine. Photo by Chris Landry.

Walk into Curtis Creek Japanese Cuisine and you may feel like you’ve been transported to a secret fishing hole that no one knows about.

That’s by design — the Beltline restaurant was inspired by owner and chef Tetsu Mori’s love of fly-fishing, with walls adorned with fly-fishing memorabilia like fishing rods, fishing flies handmade by Mori and a custom piece of artwork by local painter Matt Pollock depicting the scales of a brook trout. The restaurant is also named after Mori’s favourite fly-fishing book, The Curtis Creek Manifesto, which details the idea that keeping your favourite fishing spot a secret always leads to a good catch. Mori wants Curtis Creek to feel like that secret fishing spot, a place you can keep coming back to and always know you’re in for a great meal.

A busy chef behind the counter of a restaurant. — Owner Tetsu Mori behind the counter at Curtis Creek Japanese Cuisine. Photo by Chris Landry.

Artwork of a brook trout hangs on a wall. — The custom artwork by Matt Pollock. Photo by Chris Landry.

The menu features a variety of homestyle dishes courtesy of Mori’s upbringing in Sendai, Japan that are made with a unique Alberta touch. Sendai is particularly known for its beef tongue dishes, and so Mori sources his beef tongue from Alberta-based Gemstone Grass Fed Beef to use in dishes like the Japanese-style beef tongue curry or simply grilled served with tsukemono (salted vegetables).

The menu also includes dishes like nasu age-bitashi (an eggplant dish marinated in dashi and sweet soy), grilled lamb chops and more. There are plenty of options for sushi as well, but Mori’s homestyle dishes are what truly set this restaurant apart.

“I wanted to do more specific Japanese traditional food,” says Mori. “And I want to educate everyone that it’s more [than just sushi and ramen].”

Notably, Curtis Creek is the only Calgary restaurant with beers from Lundbreck brewery Oldman River Brewing on tap, a partnership that stemmed after Mori met the brewery owner while fly-fishing. It’s just another way Mori’s passion for fly-fishing has shaped Curtis Creek Japanese Cuisine.

1256 12 Ave. S.W., @curtiscreekyyc