Jared Kichula didn’t intentionally set out to build a restaurant empire. But, as a guy who loves restaurants and is full of good ideas, one restaurant turned into another and then another. Before they knew it, he and his wife Aja found themselves running a collection of restaurants, including the very popular Block family of barbecue restaurants (Comery Block, Hayden Block, and South Block).
Kichula’s newest venture, Stable Palms Club, is the most ambitious one yet, with two more bars and restaurants scheduled to open in the same building this year. Together, they definitely secure Kichula’s status as one of the most visionary restaurateurs in the city.
From La Vita e Bella to Block Hospitality
Block Hospitality’s growth started slowly almost 20 years ago with La Vita e Bella, Kichula’s first restaurant, which was rebranded as Cardinale in 2017. It took 10 years after opening that first spot for the next restaurant, Hayden Block, to open. While Kichula was hesitant to evolve more quickly, restaurant spaces started calling his name. When the old Fiore’s location on 17th Avenue S.W. became available, Comery Block was born. When Wurst in Mission didn’t reopen after the initial pandemic closures, Kichula couldn’t resist taking it over to turn it into South Block. Those latter two restaurants had basements perfect for semi-clandestine bars, making room for the Prickett Richard and Blue Rock Swim Club cocktail lounges.
“It’s all happened without us really trying,” Kichula says when I suggest he’s now operating a full-fledged restaurant group. “Out of needing a name, when we opened the Blocks, we called ourselves Block Hospitality. That hospitality part is the one thing we live and die by.”
Stable Palms Club: A Mid-Century Oasis
That credo, and Kichula’s enduring eye for finding the perfect building for each concept, bring us to Stable Palms Club. This one lives in the Kensington building most fondly known as “the old Molly Malone’s,” but most recently occupied by Free House. The building was getting a bit rickety, so Block Hospitality enacted a full-scale renovation that took the better part of 18 months.
The ground floor of Stable Palms Club is completely unrecognizable in comparison to the building’s previous tenants. The 150-seat restaurant is an explosion of cool mid-century design, comfy low lounge seating, and buzzy bar vibes. The aesthetic is both timeless and very in-the-now, evoking a glamorous 1960s California desert escape.
Menu and Culinary Highlights
While Block’s barbecue restaurants are all about meals that will give you the meat sweats, and the underground bars are cocktail-driven, Stable Palms Club sits somewhere in between. The kitchen, led by chef Jordan Mayo, who migrated from Cardinale, is set up for full meals using an impressive open-fire grill. Guests can opt to nibble on plates of bread served with smoked mushroom butter ($10) or crispy dill pickle-marinated, Southern fried chicken ($18), but it’s also reasonable to come in for a full dinner.
Stable Palms Club is located in the heart of Kensington, Calgary. The restaurant is open for dinner service, with plans to expand to lunch and brunch in the coming months. With its glamorous decor, innovative cuisine, and signature cocktails, it is poised to become a favorite among locals and visitors alike.
