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Back when celebrity chef culture was emerging in Calgary in the late 2000s and early 2010s, few chefs’ names were thrown around as often as Duncan Ly’s. A former skater kid from Lethbridge who cut his culinary teeth as a dishwasher at the Wickaninnish Inn in Tofino, Ly first became known to most Calgarians as the executive chef at Hotel Arts.

His name had enough cachet that one of the hotel’s marquee restaurants, Raw Bar by Duncan Ly, put it on its front door. His first restaurant on its own, Foreign Concept, was named best new restaurant of 2016 by Herald food columnist John Gilchrist just a few weeks after it opened.

These days, Ly’s name is as influential as ever. While many still grieve Foreign Concept’s closure in 2023, Ly, along with his business partner Rajiv Malhotra, currently runs three restaurants, as well as two food stalls in the District at Beltline food hall. This year, Ly and Malhotra formalized their partnership by launching C’est Chouette Hospitality, putting all of the businesses under one umbrella.

Part of what makes the C’est Chouette restaurants so exciting is that rather than seeking the spotlight, Ly has primarily left his kitchens in the hands of talented young chefs he is thrilled to mentor, a theme that also carries over to his work as a culinary instructor at SAIT.

“There is a framework I create,” Ly says. “But it’s important for these chefs to be able to express themselves in the restaurants and to give them an opportunity to.”

Bar Milpa

The newest restaurant in Ly’s portfolio is Bar Milpa, a rebrand of Milpa, which was originally opened by Malhotra and chef Elia Herrera in 2023. After Herrera departed, Milpa was left without a distinct identity, though the room, with its signature blue arches, remains one of the most beautiful in the city. Malhotra recently convinced Ly to come on board, but they knew they needed to position it as a new restaurant, hence the slight renaming.

Since the bones were solid, Ly and his crew (which now includes beverage and hospitality manager Franz Swinton) gave a light makeover with new murals, bar-appropriate furniture, and a few of Ly’s old skate decks on display for a more nightlife feel.

They hired André Bueno, a successful bartender in his native Brazil, as bar manager and Wolfgang Schuster as chef. Both bar and kitchen have expanded on Milpa’s original Mexican menu with a more pan-Latin bar concept, with Bueno whipping up authentic caipirinhas and other South American-inspired cocktails.

Meanwhile, Schuster developed a tasty collection of shareable plates: bright scallop crudo with rhubarb leche de tigre ($22), barbacoa beef tartare with smoked salad cream and crispy tostadas ($19), elote corn ribs with Cotija cheese and gochugaru ($15), or for something more substantial, a pre-sliced flank steak with fried onion and chimichurri ($22) that I’ve been told is acceptable to eat with one’s fingers.

1531 5 St. S.W., barmilpa.ca

Bar Chouette

Ly and Malhotra opened Bar Chouette in 2023 to focus on Ly’s love of contemporary, French-inspired food, and the restaurant won considerable fanfare under the creativity of chef Jeremy Ouellette. Ouellette left the restaurant this spring to start work on the upcoming Saint Vincent, with head chef Colby Tio and sous chef Tanner Troniak stepping in.

While these chefs’ names may not be on the front doors of any restaurants yet, they are certainly ones to watch: Troniak is a particularly gifted pasta maker, and Tio is currently one of the most creative young chefs in the city. Take one bite of new Chouette dishes like duck breast with Manhattan demi-glace and foie gras cassoulet ($42) or grilled branzino in miso brown butter ($38), and it’s obvious why this team is creating so much buzz. Don’t fret: the famed 1608 cheese souffle is still on the menu.

#130, 227 11 Ave. S.W., barchouette.ca

Maisie Eatery

The restaurant in the Stampede’s Sam Centre fell into Ly and Malhotra’s hands last year, and they now run both the cafe and the facility’s catering services. Maisie also has some serious chef talent in the kitchen thanks to Elycia Ross, best known for her Lil’ Truck on the Prairie food truck. Pop in for a lunchtime sandwich or pastry any day of the week before 4:30 p.m.

632 13 Ave. S.E., maisieeatery.com

Ly himself doesn’t cook as much as he used to, but he’s hardly letting his knives get dull. This summer, he was the champion in the inaugural Taste of Stampede Culinary Cup, beating out some of the city’s best (and most competitive) chefs. Ly will return to the Great Kitchen Party’s Canadian Culinary Championships — a competition in which he’s twice won the regional gold medal — as Calgary’s Chef of Distinction. He’ll prepare a dish for VIP guests at the local event on Oct. 28 before heading off to the national championships in January alongside that night’s regional all-star winner.

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