DONNA MAC DRAWS HOMEY INSPIRATION FROM NAMESAKE
‘Grandma Mac’s’ sense of community, sustainability drive new restaurant
Donna “Grandma Mac” McMullen raised six kids in Prince George. A creative gal, she was known for her ability to make something out of very little and to do it all with style and composure. She gained skills in carpentry, butchery and cooking and, according to granddaughter Amy Turner, always had something good to eat. Maybe fried chicken or fresh baking or a simple garden-fresh casserole.
So when Turner, former general manager of Anju and operations manager with Concorde Group, and her partners were planning their new restaurant, it was Grandma Mac’s sense of community values and sustainability that came to the forefront. So the restaurant known as Donna Mac was launched at 1002 9th St. S.W. (403-719-3622), espousing the qualities shown by the grandmotherly lady.
Donna Mac resides on the ground floor of the new Versus building, a tower that houses more than 400 rental units. The restaurant wraps around the corner of 10th Avenue and 9th Street with floor-to-ceiling windows washing the room in natural light. Sarah Ward Interiors (Two Penny, The Nash, Proof) has added brightness and warmth with light hickory flooring and whitewashed chipboard wall highlights and touches of leather and cork. A long counter set in front of a copper back bar separates the kitchen from the 80-seat dining area, which is filled with booths and tables. It’s a sleek, simple, comfortable room that will work well for both groups and couples.
The menu echoes the style of room and the resourceful philosophy of the restaurant’s namesake. Sharing plates of pork salad with cabbage, pear and chilies ($16), dumplings with buttered oysters, crème fraîche and kombu seaweed broth ($14), beef cheeks with jalapeno and cheddar potatoes and greens ($35) and wild mushrooms with carnaroli rice, radicchio and apples ($24) fill the menu, with individual sandwiches lined up for lunch and a separate menu for weekend brunch. (Donna Mac is open daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.)
Prepared by executive chef/ partner Justin “Tino” Longpre, formerly of Model Milk and Proof, the menu will change frequently, keying on the season.
The beverage list is comprised of an eclectic list of wine and craft beer selected by partners Jeff Jamieson and Jesse Willis of Vine Arts and Proof. Cocktails with fanciful names such as “Standing in Fields of Winter Wheat” and “Grandma’s Cordial” have been developed by Nathan Head of Proof. Coffee is provided by the increasingly popular Calgary Heritage Roasting Co.
Donna Mac takes reservations and does corkage for $15 per bottle. And if you live in Versus — or even if you don’t — and you run out of flour or are short an egg, Donna Mac will happily sell you the ingredients you need. Grandma Mac would no doubt approve.
If you’ve wandered the streets and markets of Eastern Europe you’ve likely been enticed by the sweet, cinnamon scent of chimney cakes. These are pastries made by wrapping dough around a stovepipe-shaped spit and baking it over an open fire. The baked cake is then removed from the spit, sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon and served warm. Customers peel off chunks and eat the cake, often with a fine cup of coffee.
Now, if you’re wandering the streets around 207 13th Ave. S.E., you may sniff similar aromas emanating from Utca (403-8190257), a chimney cake, coffee house combo in the Nuera 1.0 building. Guillermo and Yadira Pineda have opened a 28-seat shop focusing on the delights of the chimney cake.
But this cake does not stand alone. In addition to the classic toppings, Utca has a slew of extra toppings and a cooler packed with Fiasco gelato to fill your chimney cake, creating a big ice cream cone. And for coffee, they have drawn on locally roasted Rosso to provide the beans. A fine La Marzocco espresso machine is set up to pull shots.
Utca is open weekdays from 6 a.m. — they feature breakfast chimney cakes with bacon and eggs, too — to 8 p.m. and weekends from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
And the name? Utca — pronounce oot-sa, more or less — is Hungarian for “street.” Guillermo Pineda, a Venezuelan, says that when he was researching chimney cakes, he got lost in downtown Budapest and the only word he recognized was “utca.” So Utca it is.
Congratulations to Matthias Fong, executive chef of River Cafe, on winning this year’s Ocean Wise Chowder Chowdown. Fong is on a roll, having picked up the silver medal at the recent Gold Medal Plates culinary competition. Taking second place at the Ocean Wise event was chef Peter Paiva of Hotel Arts Raw Bar (the Hotel Arts team also picked up the “Best Beer Pairing” award) while Jamie Harling of Deane House took home both third prize and the People’s Choice award. Great chowders!