As you may have heard, 2026 is apparently the year of the cabbage when it comes to food trends. Now, if you ask me, cabbage was also pretty hot a decade ago, so really, what’s old is new again. Speaking of old, cabbage is also one of those glorious ingredients that can carry us well into spring, long before anything fresh is poking through the topsoil. While we all daydream about peas and asparagus, grocery stores are still stocked with last year’s cabbages, plus turnips, rutabagas, carrots, and the rest of the root cellar all-stars still quietly doing the lord’s work.
That’s part of what makes chef Kristen Livingston’s charred cabbage agnolotti at Deane House such a smart and satisfying dish. It doesn’t just lean into the season, it embraces it fully, turning a roster of Prairie-friendly cold-weather ingredients into something that feels elegant, comforting, and just self-aware enough to be charming about it. Livingston is also the executive chef of the acclaimed River Café in Prince’s Island Park, which makes it all the more impressive to see her culinary point of view shine at both Deane House in Inglewood and at her downtown home base.
In fact, the whole thing feels a bit like a perogy’s sophisticated cousin. You know, the one who spent a few years abroad in Prague, developed impeccable taste, and then came back home to Calgary with better outerwear and a renewed appreciation for cabbage, butter, and carbohydrates. That’s this dish: it has the soul of Prairie comfort food, but with a little more polish and a lot more dramatic flair.
The filling is what really gets me. Cabbage and root vegetables are not exactly ingredients that scream glamour on paper, and yet here they are, absolutely stealing the show. The cabbage brings a deep savoury sweetness, while the root vegetables round things out with an earthy softness that makes each bite feel like a nice little hug for your taste buds.
It’s the kind of flavour profile that immediately clicks for me as someone who literally wrote a best-selling Prairie cookbook. These are ingredients and instincts I love: humble things, hearty things, ingredients that know where they’re from, all handled with enough care to become memorable.
Then there’s the rest of the bowl, which is where the whole dish really locks into place. The sauce is buttery and delightful, while tender, teeny cubes of potato and roasted mushrooms deepen the earthy comfort of it all, but nothing feels excessive. Every component seems to know exactly why it’s there.
And then, bless them, come the rye breadcrumbs. I am always going to fall for a dish that understands texture, and the breadcrumbs bring the exact crunch the bowl needs. Without them, the agnolotti would still be lovely. With them, it becomes a true textural delight, which is one of my favourite things to say when a dish genuinely earns it. Here, it absolutely does.
A finishing hit of Avonlea clothbound cheddar only pushes things further in the right direction, adding a salty, nutty richness that makes the whole bowl feel even more complete. It’s the kind of final flourish that takes a dish from very good to fully locked in.
What I love most about Livingston’s charred cabbage agnolotti is that it manages to feel both deeply Prairie and a little worldly at the same time. It nods to the kinds of ingredients many of us grew up not thinking much of, but presents them with enough finesse to appreciate them in a brand new light.
Cozy, but not clunky. Elegant, but not precious. Rooted in the season, but still a little glamorous. Much like cabbage itself in 2026, really.
Deane House
806 9 Ave SE, Calgary, AB T2G 0S2
Open Wednesday to Friday 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Saturday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Visit deanehouse.com for full menu details and to make a reservation.
