YEG restaurant seen more diverse – and exciting – than ever
It’s become a little bit rock and roll to work in a restaurant.
“I think the direction we’re moving in is terrific,” says Mary Bailey, editor-in-chief of The Tomato, which has cataloged and commentated on food in Edmonton for 23 years.
“It’s become a little bit rock and roll to work in a restaurant. It’s a different cultural vibe—it’s no longer déclassé—which I think is very positive.”
One of the local restaurant trends most notable to Bailey is the ongoing explosion of ethnic cuisines, which reflects Edmonton’s demographic diversity.
There’s a through-line here from the Italian Centre (a perennial Readers’ Choice favourite), which was founded in 1959 by Italian immigrant Frank Spinelli, to newer eateries offering food from elsewhere. These include Ethiopian restaurants like Langano Skies and Zambaba, and Brazilian places like Pampa’s Steakhouse.
The most recent wave of ethnic cuisine to arrive in Edmonton is Filipino, with places like Jollibee and Palabok House winning the affection of many customers, joining Readers’ Choice favourite Manila Grill Express.
Bailey is particularly excited by one Filipino eatery that just opened its doors: Filistix, which started as a family-run food truck in 2008 and opened a sit-down restaurant downtown this May. Filistix offers a diverse menu of Filipino and Southeast Asian cuisine, along with Japanese highballs.
Filistix is also emblematic of Edmonton’s restaurant scene in another way, according to Bailey: it seats fewer diners than some older restaurants and uses self-serve dining for its lunch service (dinner still runs full service). Both of these are signs of things to come, she thinks.
For proof, she points to the closure of the Hardware Grill, which closed this year after its 23 years in business.
“It’s very sad,” Bailey says. “That place was absolutely beloved. But they didn’t find it viable anymore, which says a lot about where dining is going.
“It was a big restaurant with lots of people in the kitchen and lots of people on the floor. Going forward, restaurants aren’t going to look like that—running that payroll, needing that number of customers to show up. It’s just not going to happen.”
But the future of the city overall is far from dim. In the wake of the Hardware’s closure, Bailey enthuses about a profusion of restaurants that opened this year.
“Lots of the newer places are smaller, with lots of personality,” she says. “They say: this is who we are.
They’re finding their tribes, in a sense.”
Examples include Smoky Bear, which opened in late November and cooks seasonal ingredients over an open flame, and Wilfred’s, which sits on the edge of the Brewery District in a beautiful heritage building.
Many of the city’s favourite eateries are also still going strong, like The Lignan, Dadeo’s, and The Marc. Bailey is particularly effusive about Biera, the combination brewery and restaurant in Ritchie.
“Christine Sanford, the chef there, is amazing,” Bailey says. “Biera has completely changed the landscape of its neighbourhood.”
There’s also a special place in her heart for the downtown trio of Italian restaurants founded by Daniel Costa: Bar Bricco, Uccellino, and Corso 32, which is the oldest of the three.
“Daniel Costa really put downtown back on the map when he opened Corso 32,” Bailey says. “It’s still the best pasta you can find in the city.”