Downtown Dining Week is in full swing, the culinary festival encourages Edmontonians to discover new restaurants and menus at special prices until Sunday night.
But that’s not the only exciting thing to happen to our city’s central food scene lately. Thanks in part to the Ice District’s ripple effect – a boom of new boutique concept restaurants are promising fresh tastes and new culinary experiences.
Steven Sandor is the editor of Avenue Edmonton, his magazine’s annual Best Restaurants feature recently hit newsstands.
“We’re not as steak and red wine as we used to be,” said Sandor at Baijiu Bar, the Mercer Building’s most recent eatery.
“I think now [Edmontonians] have become far more adventurous, and actually look for new experiences and try new things downtown,” Sandor explained.
He still thinks there’s a place for the much loved food institutions that speckle places like Jasper Ave, or 124 St – but Sandor agrees a food revolution has occurred in our city’s core.
“We want different experiences when we go out, we want to try new things,” Sandor continued, “and I think it’s really important that we have that kind of diversity represented in our dining scene.”
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And restaurateurs are betting on being different.
From the gourmet Asian and fine cocktails being prepared at Baijiu Bar, to casual fast dining at Grandin Fish & Chips, in the past three months, five boutique diners have appeared within a five block radius of each other.
“There hasn’t been anything like them in Edmonton before, and a lot of people are going to these restaurants not really knowing what to expect,” said Ben Staley of Alta – serving hyper local small plates on Jasper Ave and 103 St.
At 25-years-old, Staley is one of the many young chef entrepreneurs taking part in the transformation.
“We can put our print on the identity of the restaurant scene in our city which is really exciting to me,” Staley said.
Instead of viewing all the new hot spots as stiff competition, Staley thinks they’re a perfect compliment to each other.
It’s this philosophy that will ensure diners receive a surprising and unique experience each visit, and will ultimately cement downtown as the preferred dining destination in the city, according to Staley.
“Rising tides raise all ships kinda thing,” Staley said.
When asked if there’s good reason for Edmontonians to be excited about the changing reputation of the area, “I think for a consumer, they can try all these new places and watch it grow.”
Sandor agrees it’s a time to start looking at Edmonton’s downtown food culture as healthy, vibrant, and creative.
“Here we’re starting to discover that you can build your own scene, you really don’t have to really feel like you have to keep up with Toronto, or Vancouver,” Sandor said.