At age 64, Chef Michael Noble is thinking about his legacy.

From Canada’s only participant on the cult television series Iron Chef, to four times on Canada’s national culinary team, to having trained personally many of the chefs that now make up much of Calgary’s culinary scene, to owning and operating both Notable and The Nash what a legacy it has been.

It is the later, Notable, that has recently preoccupied Noble. After 15 years Notable the Restaurant has become a mainstay of main street in Montgomery, and a much beloved dining experience for regulars.

But now, undertaking something that few other restaurateurs would, Noble has re-branded and refocused a profitable restaurant with a new moniker and a new focus as Notable the Steakhouse.

“I think at some level that’s kind of bred into chefs, we were never afraid of change, that is for sure,” said Noble.

“In this industry is that you know, the shine does wear off of concepts, whether you like it or not. I think, you know, restaurants are a little bit like cars when they’re all shiny and new. Everyone thinks they’re shiny and attractive and they want to check it out… I just feel like at some level, the dining public, a certain percentage at least, [Notable] has lost its shine.”

The change to become an outright steakhouse has been a long coming one, as the steaks, beef, and prime rib that have become all but in name major focuses of the menu and for customers.

But with what Noble said was an increasingly sophisticated public, knowledgeable about beef and cuts of meat, it made sense to fully rebrand as a steakhouse.

“There’s no question that social media has become a very powerful agent in our industry. And I think really, anything that the public want information on, it’s right there. That sophistication of dry age of A5 wagyu, which has been a big thing over the last five years or more, because in the old days, you had to go to Japan to find it,” he said.

Steakhouses are back in vogue

The somewhat stodgy reputation of steakhouses has also been shed in recent years, with major names in the culinary world opening new steakhouse style restaurants across the United States and Canada.

La Tête d’Or was opened by Chef Daniel Boulud in New York City in November of 2024, and was his first steakhouse. It opened featuring a theme based around combining New York steak traditions with French culinary techniques and flavours.

The steakhouse has even become a trendy pop-culture marketing trend, with The Wynn’s Executive Chef David Middleton working with Paramount Televsion on their Yellowstone television brand for a pop-up experience called the Four Sixes Ranch Steakhouse.

That restaurant, which ran last Sept., offered the quality of waygu that Noble was working with during his experiences in Japan, although he said that in Canada at Open Catch decades earlier, he was serving Canadian waygu beef to be ahead of the curve.

“I wanted to feature something that people could talk about and that they could learn about, and now here it is. It’s everywhere,” said Noble.

Seafood, also now a staple of the modern steakhouse experience, has played a supporting role on the new Notable the Steakhouse menu.

Noble said that he wanted to bring back classic recipes, but in new ways that would make the seafood exciting for diners.

“I was like, wait a minute, what if I did like a Rockefeller that was built into a half shell that had this like one of our core ingredients here is this delicious chili garlic butter so that a little sauteed spinach, the oyster on top, and then to sink the shells into live red hot charcoal for two minutes where the Shell literally becomes a saute pan?”

“The butter melts, and then it gets all bubbly and spitty and starts to brown, and the oysters get hot. And then we set that into a little garnish, salt and a little Bearnaise on top. So the excitement for me was conceptualizing that in my mind, and then we ran them as a feature before we even launched the steakhouse.”

Those embered oysters became an instant hit with the staff when Noble presented them, and became a hot in-demand dish by customers.

“I have them all the time at the end of dinner service, because I’m like ‘give me those embered oysters, those are amazing.’ I’ve seen the sales of them start to grow, because servers get them in front of people, and then they look at the server and go, ‘holy… that was incredible.'”

Shrimp cocktails and iceberg salads have also been given the same touch, turning those dishes into plate clearing must-orders with the addition of simple and fresh new flavours.

“It proves that some of these time honoured recipes are still awesome,” said Noble.

The best cuts of beef, from one of the best butchers in Calgary

The beef, arguably the star of the show for any steakhouse, is being dry aged between 40 to 45 days—a first for any restaurant that he has run said Noble.

“I understand dry age, but I’ve never done it, and it’s been really amazing to just observe that whole process, and to personally butcher all of those strip loins and rib eyes, and to really see how that how that steak evolves without that amount of dry aging.”

The steaks are being grilled at the bone, with in bone 16 ounce strip loins being provided by the Angry French Butcher in Calgary.

“I think there’s more on the bone possibilities where we might be able to take like a like a bone in short rib, almost do a little sous vide treatment on it first, and then finish it over the fire. I can see that happening in the winter months. It’s a spectacular cut to look at as well.”

“It’s going to be a constant conversation, but I think people really love the strip loin cuts, the New York cuts. I know I do. The ribeye has been flying out of here, and I can see us maybe expanding to maybe a larger ribeye for two for instance, and an evolution of how we present that.”

That evolution, said Noble, will come with feedback of guests. But, he said, the recipes that have come to be fan favourites on the Notable menu will remain.

“I’ve spent quite a bit of time reassuring people the rotisserie chicken is still here, the Greek salad still here, all those dishes that you’ve loved for 15 years, you’re going to find them. And then come on down and try out our new offerings, and give us some feedback on that too, because that definitely helps in our evolution.

“I want to give people what they what they’re looking for. I’ve started with what I think is great, and I think the feedback has been amazing. But I also want to continue to evolve this. And as people start to say, ‘yeah, give us more big chops give, us more big stakes, give us the rack of lamb,’ I’m all for that.”