Reviews

Calgary Herald

Restaurant serves up yarns on the side

by Stephen Hunt

Spotlight

1001 Arabian Nights at The Sultan's Tent (4 14th St. N.W.) Friday at 6: 30 p.m. Info: 403-244-2333.

Everyone has heard of dinner theatre, where audiences enjoy food and drink with their romantic comedy.

Would you believe storytelling dinner theatre?

That's what they've been doing Thursday nights at The Sultan's Tent, the Moroccan restaurant on 14th Street N.W., where a trio of storytellers have been serving up yarns culled from 1001 Arabian Nights to enchanted diners. Thursday night in The Rabat Room (of The Sultan's Tent), Mary Hays, Gina Mullen and Maria Hopkins, three members of Tales, the Alberta storytelling organization, will tell a few of the ancient stories of 1001 Arabian Nights, while Calgarians nosh on a meal of B'stilla Royale (an appetizer with layers of crushed almonds), chicken simmered in ginger and saffron with a whipped egg sauce and spices, couscous kebab and Moroccan mint tea. Read Complete Review

Where 75

Top 5 Spots for a Valentine's Dinner

by John Gilchrist

1. Moroccan: Sultans Tent Relax in a cushioned booth behind hanging tapestries at Sultan's Tent. Delve in to the sultry world of lamb-and-prune tagine or couscous Royale and sample a cinnamon and icing sugar dusted b'stilla pie. Then relax some more (4-14th St. NW). Read Complete Review

Swerve Magazine

A Culinary Twofer

by Catherine Caldwell & John Gilchrist

A few years back, after a fine dinner at Jo Jo Bistro, then in its 17th Avenue location, we exited the restaurant through the back door. As we walked past the kitchen, we bid goodnight to the sous-chef, a smiling Moroccan man we knew as Ismaili. Then, stepping into the parking lot behind Jo Jo, we ran into the same white-clad man. He waved and said hello. We stopped in our tracks. It was Ismaili. Again.

Or so we thought. It turns out Calgary is home to two Ismailis: Hassen and Houssine, 52-year-old identical twins born in the city of Meknes, Morocco.

At the time of the dinner, they were working in kitchens next door to each other--one was making French food at Jo Jo, the other, Moroccan at Sultan's Tent. Now, for the first time since leaving Morocco decades ago, they are cooking in the same kitchen, the sparkling setup at Sultan's Tent's new 14th Street location.
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Fast Forward Weekly

A Feast to Remember

by Tara Mackinnon

After a long week at work, I was in need of a relaxing night out. Combing through my list of potential restaurant reviews, I settled on Sultan’s Tent. It turned out to be the perfect choice for cozy surroundings and luscious dishes. My boyfriend and I were treated to a night of great service and mouth-watering Moroccan cuisine.

While determining our evening’s selections, we opted for the best of all worlds and went with the Sultan’s Feast ($51 per person). Incorporating nearly every aspect of the menu, this is a surefire way to go.

Moroccan tradition dictates that a guest’s hands are to be cleansed tableside before a meal begins. Keeping with tradition, our hands were treated to a warm rosewater bath from an ornate basin and pot, prior to our first dish.
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CBC Calgary - The Calgary Eyeopener: John Gilchrist

Download this reivew John Gilcrist did for the CBC Calgary eyeopener from the CBC website by clicking here. This is a audio file that requires RealPlayer. Download RealPlayer at the RealPlayer website.

John Gilchrist has reviewed restaurants for CBC Radio One since 1980, teaches Food and Culture programs for the University of Calgary, and is a contributing editor to Avenue and enRoute.

MartiniBoys.com

by Sylvonna Beech

The Sultan's Tent recreates Morocco with music and food. You can enter and leave at your leisure, and the people require little more than a tip. Isn't that better than actually being a Sultan? We all saw how it turned out for Jafar in Aladin- not so good.

Owners Coby and Martin Heikoop and Jackie Olsen have finally found a new spot for this Sultan's tent- inside Kensington Mews on the east side of 14th street. The resto has the same Moroccan artifacts as before, making you feel like you've actually entered a Sultan's tent somewhere in the desert. Booths are perfect for bringing a large group of people, so come one, come all. The tables are either wood or brass, which ups the rich-Sultan feel. Tapestries and other Moroccan paintings/artifacts are meticulously placed in an attempt to recreate the former location's aura.
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Calgary Herald

by John Gilchrist

The Berbers and Tamasheks of North Africa have used camel trains to traverse the Sahara for centuries.

After a long day on the trail, tents are pitched, small fires are lit, and meals are cooked before bedding down for the night. In the morning, tents are folded and packed and the train continues with barely a mark left on the desert.

But in Calgary's construction quagmire these days, tents take a little longer to move. There are permits to be acquired, building codes to be met, and tradespeople to hire. So perhaps a 16-month timeline to move the Sultan's Tent about a kilometre is understandable. That's how much time has passed since the Sultan's Tent, a mainstay of 17th Avenue dining for almost 17 years, fell to the wrecking ball. In the months since, owners Coby and Martin Heikoop and Jackie Olsen have worked diligently to find a new spot for the tent.
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