Art Gallery of Alberta: Free for All

Following brunch, Mack and I made our way to the Art Gallery of Alberta to visit the “Free for All” exhibit. According to the website, over 1300 artists, from amateur to professional, brought in a total of 2863 pieces of art to be displayed in the gallery free of charge.

Walking in, I was overwhelmed by the spectacle of creativity; it was literally a visual assault of color and images. Due to the sheer number of submissions, I had to wonder how difficult it must have been to curate. There was some coherence in places (e.g. tigers, the outdoors), but the majority of walls were adorned with a seemingly random assemblage of pictures.

The variety of representations was amazing – from collages to comic sketches, shadow boxes to 3-D models – it would be easy to spend a week just taking the time to look at each of the pieces individually. I was pleasantly surprised that there weren’t a noticeable number of landscape portraits or religious depictions among the bunch.

My favorite pieces included:

Calendar (which to me speaks of how our experiences are quite literally worn on our sleeves)

Peace Map (with its interesting detail)

Title unknown, but darn clever

Honorable mentions go to Shrine, a smile-inducing ode to Bill Gates

And Hugh Laurie as House

I loved how alive the gallery was – kids and families wandering the halls together. The odd time I have been there, the patrons were few and far between, so it was a nice change to see the energy and excitement pulsing through the space. I remarked at one point how easy it would be for so-called “real,” marketable art to be placed among “amateur” submissions unbeknownst to the casual viewer. So, on that note, what to make of this giant Q-tip?

The free exhibit runs until March 24.

A Tad Too Welcoming: Barb & Ernie’s Old Country Inn

Some of you may remember an obscure cooking program on Shaw Cable Channel 10 in the 90s featuring a German couple named Barb and Ernie. Well, I remember watching it, and though I can’t tell you anything specific about the show, I do recall much butter being used in the dishes produced. Anyway, I’ve passed by the Bavarian facade of Barb & Ernie’s Old Country Inn (9906-72 Avenue) too many times to count driving southbound on 99 Street, and I thought it was about time I went in and actually tried the food. Mack joined me Sunday afternoon in my quest to satisfy my morbid curiosity.

I had tried to make a reservation for brunch earlier in the week, but the gentleman on the phone told me they didn’t accept reservations for the morning. He advised that I try to come either before 10am or after 1pm to avoid the rush. As neither Mack or I are early birds, we decided on the latter suggestion, arriving just before one o’clock. We were pretty lucky, as we were seated almost immediately and with Ernie’s special brand of hospitality: he pointed to the table at which we would dine. After we were settled, he approached us to play out a cheesy but well-worn and likely popular bit, handing me the menu with a “For you, Beautiful,” while to Mack, he said, “…And you.”

It’s difficult to judge Ernie, as his intentions are pure, and there’s no doubt his restaurant is popular in part because he is so ingrained in the Old Country Inn experience, but as someone who appreciates a low key brunch of quiet conversation, this wasn’t the place to be.

The restaurant did have extensive breakfast offerings, however, including a page of “healthy choices.” I decided on a Barb & Ernie special of one hotcake, eggs, and sausage, while Mack chose the bacon and mushroom omelet. I actually should have asked for the menu back in retrospect, as I hadn’t finished reading the chronology of their business and family life in Edmonton detailed on the front page.

The food arrived after a limited delay, and suffice to say, the portions were huge! The meal itself wasn’t spectacular (even being less greasy than I expected), but as the prices are comparable to Denny’s, this is a better bet if you have the stomach for it (tried as I might, I could only finish half of the hotcake). On the downside though, this isn’t a place to linger for coffee refills, as Ernie was eyeing our table soon after our plates had been cleared.

Barb & Ernie’s isn’t for everyone, and actually, come to think of it, besides those who personally know the family, I wonder how most people aren’t intimidated by his over-the-top gregarious nature. While I realize a restaurant is more than one person, he’s undoubtedly the face. And because of this, it’s hard not to think of the Old Country Inn as just that – a stopover, a tourist attraction, and a living museum for Ernie’s hospitality.

Tabletop kitsch

Bacon and mushroom omelet with potatoes

Hotcake with scrambled eggs and sausage

Exceptional Service: Pradera Cafe and Lounge

As I had mentioned last week, Friday marked the start of Edmonton’s Downtown Dining Week. After mulling over the options, May and I decided on Pradera Cafe and Lounge, situated in the Westin Hotel (10135-100 Street). Although I’ve been to other hotel restaurants in the area, the Westin’s attention to detail and personable service blew me away.

Upon entering the hotel, I noticed the partitioned off groupings of tables and chairs to the left, and figured this was the restaurant. But after approaching the host, he brought me to a secluded dining room in the back. With neutral-toned walls and classic furniture, it wasn’t remarkable by any means, though the fireplace was a nice touch. Whomever designed the layout of the room really should have rethought the placement of columns however, as though their intention may have been to create private spaces, really ended up disrupting the flow and prevented an initial feeling of welcome.

Aesthetics aside, starting from remembering my dining companion’s name (May was taken aback that they called her by name when she asked about our reservation), to having our coats checked, chairs pulled out and napkins laid on our laps, it was a level of service that was nice albeit a bit disconcerting (“We can do it ourselves!”).

As per the Dining Week menu, we were each able to select three courses. We both chose the more uncommon cream of roasted pumpkin soup with a cinnamon cream swirl to start (as opposed to salad). For the main course, I opted for the pan-fried chicken breast accompanied with portobello mushroom herb cream sauce served with chefs’ seasonal vegetables and potatoes, while May went with the poached filet of atlantic salmon with a lemon scented hollandaise sauce accompanied with chefs’ vegetable medley and potatoes.

The pumpkin soup was delicious – smooth, with a nutty, squash-like flavor, it made a great fall/winter appetizer. Before moving on to the entree, we were given a small scoop of blood orange sorbet. I must say I’m not used to the idea of a palette cleanser, but this was definitely better than the tart coconut concoction I had at the Harvest Room a few years ago.

The main course was fabulous – the pan-fried chicken was the best I have had since an apple wood smoked chicken breast at Flavours on Whyte. The portobello mushroom sauce was delightfully creamy, and if they bottled it I’m sure could be marketed as the new HP sauce – good with everything.

On to the dessert – and because I couldn’t pass up the Belgian chocolate mousse in a raspberry shell accompanied with a raspberry sauce, May was left with the banana fritters complimented with vanilla ice cream and maple syrup. The mousse was light and airy, but a tad too rich for my taste, particularly with the overdose in solid chocolate already. I much preferred May’s dish of cinnamon and sugar-coated fried banana pieces, something I should learn to duplicate.

At the end of the night, we were both well-fed and tickled with the service. The host, waiter, and busboy all made us feel special. And though it isn’t something I want to get used to, on occasion, it’s nice to be pampered.

Restaurant interior

Cream of roasted pumpkin soup

Blood orange sorbet

Poached filet of atlantic salmon

Pan-fried chicken breast

Belgian chocolate mousse

Banana fritters

Tidbits: Notes from Edmonton’s Epicurean Scene

In the months since I started this blog, I’ve developed the desire to showcase what’s good in Edmonton. As I’ve had more spare time to experience events and venues, I have found that I now truly appreciate what the city has to offer. Obviously for me, a part of that is dining options around town. So here is hopefully the first of many entries about culinary developments in the City of Champions:

  • TZiN (10115-104 Street) is finally open! I have been waiting with bated breath for the former Whole in the Wall space to come alive since November last year, as the opening kept being delayed. While I’ve never been to Bin 941/Bin 942 in Vancouver, I would expect this hip tapas bar to at least strive towards their flair and flavor.
  • I’m sure Mack would look forward to dining at a restaurant called Skinny Legs and Cowgirls (9008 Jasper Avenue). I stumbled upon a review of this 3-month old bistro in See Magazine a few weeks ago, but wasn’t too interested until I read in City Palate that the place only has five tables. Hmm.
  • Also from City Palate – who wouldn’t want to eat at a nearly-vegetarian restaurant named Bacon (6509-112 Avenue)?! Opening later this month.
  • I had no idea until I read in today’s Edmonton Journal that the same proprietor runs both the Manor Cafe and Urban Diner. I wonder how many other unknown connections exist between local eateries?
  • Passed by the Lucky Saloon and Eatery (9855-76 Avenue) the other day. And just like the picture I saw in Vue Weekly, it does resemble a house. It’s apparently worth checking out if you’re a vegetarian.
  • Can’t remember from where the information came, but Calgary staple Good Earth Coffeehouse and Bakery is launching its first Edmonton location on campus (8623-112 Street) in mid-April. Someone said to go for the scones.

Happy eating!

Quotable Women: Installment Two

To follow-up on last month’s post of memorable quotations taken from my page-a-day calendar (which thus far has an overrepresentation of thoughts from Marilyn Monroe and Coco Chanel), here are a few more gems:

  • “If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?” – Anonymous
  • “When women go wrong, men go right after them.” – Mae West
  • “People shop for a bathing suit with more care than they do for a husband or a wife. The rules are the same. Look for something you’ll feel comfortable wearing. Allow room for growth.” – Erma Bombeck
  • “Perhaps all human progress stems from the tension between two basic drives: to have just what everyone else has and to have what no one has.” – Judith Stone

And though I don’t want to disrespect the sentiment of International Women’s Day, I found it too ironic that of all days, I came across this definition in this month’s Alberta Venture magazine today:

  • glass cliff – an important project or senior job given to a woman with a high risk of failure (cf. glass ceiling, e.g. Rona Ambrose)

Revolutionary Speakers’ Series: Art Spiegelman

Sometimes an event is witnessed that shouldn’t be reduced to text because it deserves the sensory justice of an in-the-moment experience. This was one of those nights.

My APT English professor first exposed me to the work of Art Spiegelman, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus. It was my first brush with graphic novels, and it amazed me how the visuals collided with the text to produce a piece more poignant than simply using either or. In the classroom, I found that students in both streams of English responded exceptionally well to it, as comix supplied a non-threatening base for discussion. Moreover, it allowed for a seamless transition to the more widely-recognized Eli Wiesel’s Night. Needless to say, when I heard Spiegelman was coming to town as a part of the Students’ Union’s Revolutionary Speakers’ Series, I marked my calendar straightaway.

I was simply awestruck – Spiegelman was eloquent, witty, humble (he only ever wanted to write a “long comic book that needed a bookmark”) and exemplified the perfect balance between gravitas and humor, of which the latter enhanced the former by way of personable credence. Though he spoke much faster than I could process, he had the endearing quality of a brilliant-but-rambling professor who embraced what teachable tangents arose.

While his main focus was on the theme of “forbidden images” (in particular the Muhammad cartoons printed in the Danish papers), the talk in part became a “brief history of comics.” He has a phenomenal knowledge base, and with names sprinkled throughout, I had to strain back to the recesses of my brain to resurrect what threadlike remembrance I had of Francisco Goya, the Chapman Brothers, and Roy Lichtenstein (and those were the only artists I recognized). Spiegelman effectively made use of slides during his “performance” (as “performers are allowed to smoke”), with pictorial representations of everything he addressed. The New Yorker had always been in the periphery of politico-cool to me, but I never really paid attention to the satiric punchlines delivered by their pot-stirring cover art.

In addition to discussing the importance of trusting the artist, a split between what’s forbidden being grotesque versus sensational, and the media’s confusion of symptoms and causes, I liked that he addressed that the artist cannot control the interpretation of images where meaning could be warped by the brain’s almost primal, knee-jerk response to visual stimuli.

I also appreciated the insight he provided into his creative process (how both Maus and In the Shadow of No Towers came about), and the snitches of personal anecdotes he shared (how a Neo-Nazi documentary showed a young German with a Maus poster on his wall, citing that that was the only image of a Swastika he could obtain, and how second only to cocaine how his series of “Garbage Pail Kids” trading cards have been illegally shipped to Mexico).

I guess I didn’t expect a comix genius to be such a great speaker as well, so though I highly respected Art Spiegelman before tonight, after listening to his presentation, I am now hold him in wondrous regard. I look forward to his next engagement, or at the very least, his next great work.

“Solo Mish”: Blue Plate Diner

I watch movies alone at the theatre once in a while, and have been doing so for as long as I can remember (sad but true fact: there was a period where Bridget Jones was probably as much of a friend as anyone I knew in person). Inspired by an episode of Sex and the City where Carrie has lunch on her own at a sidewalk café, I wanted to get over the fear of eating alone at a restaurant.

So tonight, before attending a speaking event, I headed to the Blue Plate Diner for the ultimate in comfort food – meatloaf.

Walking in, I found it incredibly empowering just uttering the words “for one, please.” While I admit this could very well be one of my disillusioned soapbox moments, I could appreciate the feeling of freedom that comes with not having to dine with another, or select the always inspiring food court alternative. The hostess discriminatingly sat me against a wall (as opposed to a window), I’m sure to discourage the thought from pedestrians passing by that Blue Plate was the sterling choice for loners and workaholics. In that vein, I did haul out some writing to do, so in a sense masked my solo meal in a cloud of acceptable busyness. Perhaps that is my next step – to do as Carrie did and not hide behind books or stacks of paper.

As for the food, I’ve had the Herbed Meatloaf enough times to know what to expect – the best grilled vegetables in the city (maybe it’s the charcoal?), homemade mashed potatoes, and a hearty slice of ground beef heaven. I know I’ve complained in the past about the tomato sauce smothered on top, but I’ve come to like it as a sweet additive to the dish along the lines of last week’s Chicken Cannoli at Moxie’s.

So I can now cross off “eat at a restaurant alone” from my list of 43 Things. Hurrah!

Restaurant interior

The eternally cute “Drinking Jar”

Herbed Meatloaf with Grilled Vegetables and Mashed Potatoes

Random Weekend Notes

  • Millwoods finally has its first stand-alone Starbucks (2331-66 Street)! Though “finally” is a misnomer in this case, as its been in operation since August of last year. I guess I just haven’t paid enough attention when passing by the south side of the Mill Woods Town Centre complex. Anyway, to help ease the pain of phonetic transcription exercises this morning (I naively thought my days facing the evil schwa were over), I bought myself a vanilla cupcake. I must say it wasn’t bad – moist, and topped off with creamy, buttery icing, I even pardoned the oily paper cup as a byproduct of forced freshness. So at $1.95, and more accessible than the few and far between specialty cupcake shops, it’s a worthwhile indulgence.

Vanilla cupcake, coffee, and homework

  • Speaking of Starbucks, Mack told me about a novel documentary called Starbucking that will be out on DVD in April. The movie focuses on why a man has made it his personal mission to visit every Starbucks in the world.
  • Yesterday afternoon, I decided to make like my coworker Anna and walk home after a seminar at the Grey Nuns Hospital (if you were wondering, as I was, Youville Drive, the street the hospital is on, is named after St. Marguerite d’Youville, the first native Canadian to be elevated to sainthood). It was one of those perfect pre-spring winter days with sunshine, fresh, cool air, and active, visible wildlife. The trek was a modest 45 minutes, and particularly after a meandering stint in the Mill Creek Ravine (I wish I had my camera!), made me wonder why I don’t do this more often. Like withdrawn new year’s resolutions, the answer to that is simple of course, but I hope to be more “active” as the weather shifts, and perhaps blogging this will make me more accountable for such grand visions.

OpenTable.com

Before heading to Vancouver, as I mentioned in my previous post, I made sure to make a reservation at Feenie’s for brunch. The restaurant’s website had the option to connect to an external portal called Open Table. I had seen the name before, but hadn’t used the site before this instance. I figured it was worth a shot.

Signing up with for a free account was straightforward, as was subsequently searching up the availability of seats. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to secure my desired table for 5 for the time period (including two hours earlier and later) that I had in mind. Though my initial thought was to split up our dining crew, I figured as a last shot, I’d just call Feenie’s directly. And it worked – table for 5, 11am.

So why use Open Table at all? It turns out they offer a Dining Rewards Program – standard reservations garner 100 points, and the redemption chart for Canadian members is as follows:

  • Redeem 2,000 points and get a $26 OpenTable Dining Cheque
  • Redeem 5,000 points and get a $65 OpenTable Dining Cheque
  • Redeem 10,000 points and get a $130 OpenTable Dining Cheque

Not bad, I suppose, but even the first level of redemption requires 20 outings at participating restaurants. This would be difficult for the local diner, as there are only 16 places that currently utilize this service. It might be quite easy for those who dine out for business or travel often, but likely not so for casual diners. Moreover, the restaurants on the list are fairly high-end, so the Dining Cheque presumably wouldn’t be economical or worth the initial expense for this latter group.

Based on my Feenie’s experience, I’d be hesitant to use the service on the basis that receiving an e-mail confirmation isn’t as reassuring as speaking to a live person on the phone, as well as knowing that restaurant personnel can fudge seating where software can’t. I’d be willing to try Open Table for kicks, but I wouldn’t depend upon it for my reservation needs.

Edmonton’s Downtown Dining Week

It’s back! Edmonton’s 4th annual Downtown Dining Week starts this Friday, March 9, and goes until March 18. All menus for participating restaurants (with the exception of tapas bar Tzin, which may or may not be open yet) are up on the website for your viewing pleasure. Warning: do not attempt to read on an empty stomach.

I’m leaning towards Hotel MacDonald’s dinner special (wild mushroom bisque/braised veal cheek/caramel creme brulee), despite the Confederation Lounge versus Harvest Room setting, though I can’t deny the appeal of Pradera’s offering (roasted pumpkin soup/atlantic salmon/belgian chocolate mousse).

Well, if you do head out for a sampling, be sure to let me know what’s good!