For Edmonton, a Flourishing Dining Scene Continues to Get Finer

It only takes a few minutes inside of RGE RD’s Butchery to realize how fine Edmontonians have it. Blair Lebsack and his wife, Caitlin Fulton, have expanded their award-winning restaurant into a gift for gourmet shoppers that would be the envy of any city. Vancouver has the TopTable Group’s Elisa steakhouse next door to Luigi & Sons gourmet foods in trendy Yaletown and Montreal has Hoogan et Beaufort that’s a short drive from the Édouard et Léo butcher shop, both recent projects of acclaimed chef Marc-André Jetté, and the CHARCUT team in Calgary have taken good care of that city’s diners for more than a decade with their restaurants and more recently a butcher shop of their own.

RGE RD and The Butchery are in a similar mold — a connoisseur’s delight of locally sourced goodness, thoughtfully curated artisan items, and sommelier wine selections that are chosen to intrigue. Conceived by a culinary brand adored by locals and anyone else who has sampled the menu.

While RGE RD is a worthy destination restaurant, the Butchery provides counter service that sells thick sandwiches, sausage rolls, baked treats, and more for customers who want to grab-and-go. For residents or those visitors with the urge to prepare a meal, the shop specializes in whole-animal butchering, selling everything from slow-cooked cuts of osso bucco and oxtail to game meats like bison and elk to acquired-taste favourite offal. The star, unsurprisingly, is the marvellous dry-aged selection of Alberta beef, including wagyu and 100% grass-fed choices from regional farms.

It is the beef that is the main attraction at the Butchery and RGE RD. It makes up a sizeable portion of the more than 20,000 pounds of meat in the building. The most coveted of the beef is dry-aged for 180 days and retails for $110 per kilogram (about $50 per pound). The beef comes from Holstein and Angus cows that are pasture-raised and finished with grass. The pork products are from heritage breed pigs that Lebsack says have never seen a barn. Their meat is used in the Butchery’s gourmet hot dogs, mortadella, and sausages that are processed with an ultra-modern grinder sourced from Germany.

When Lebsack says everything gets used, he means everything. The beef fat, for example, is dropped into a fat wash for liquors used in the RGE RD cocktails — which is the way diners should begin their meal at the cozy, cabin-esque restaurant attached to the Butchery.

While there are a la carte options, the six-course “Road Trip” tasting menu ($115) is what foodie travellers should select. It includes a bonus amuse bouche, which when I visited was a delicious spoonful of British Columbia spot prawn ceviche with pear and fermented tomato vinaigrette. The menu is prepared by six different RGE RD chefs, several of whom are apprenticing under Lebsack, an indication of how the restaurant has grown in stature and size.

MORE ALBERTA: Eating Vegetarian in Calgary

It has evolved from a 1,700-square-foot artisan gem with nine employees when it debuted more than decade ago to a 10,200-square-foot culinary machine with 53 staff. Part of the Butchery includes an event space and there’s additional room for another venture, perhaps a wine and cocktail bar, Lebsack muses. In all aspects, the focus is on ingredients from within about 100 miles of Alberta’s capital (except for most fish and seafood on the menu, which is sourced from neighbouring B.C.).

When I dined, the Road Trip featured:

• A charcoal-dusted egg, hollowed out and filled with wagyu — a brilliantly creative twist on a Scotch egg;
• Steelhead served with cured beets and crème fraiche;
• Chicken Kyiv with an eyeopening cauliflower purée;
• Completely satiating fettuccine with duck-leg ragout;
• Petit tender of bison rubbed with sumac, green alder, juniper, and Labrador tea — a nod to Indigenous communities;
• And, to finish, upside-down pumpkin cake with a pumpkin biscoff crisp and marscapone with squash drizzle.

It’s called the Road Trip because the menu is meant to deliver you on a journey through Alberta’s central farms and woodlands. Lebsack and his team succeed in surpassing that goal. They give diners a chance to appreciate a culinary landmark and the journey it has taken on an ascent that seems endless — fitting for a restaurant within the provincial boundaries of the Rocky Mountains.

Here are other restaurants in Edmonton to put on your list:

BRAVEN: The flagship restaurant of the JW Marriott Edmonton ICE District is known for its gigantic butcher’s cuts of tomahawks, porterhouses (38 ounces) and Chateaubriand (20 ounces). It’s pricey but utterly worth it. Operated by Toronto’s Oliver and Bonacini, Braven is a buzzy and expansive restaurant that attracts crowds for pre-game meals. After seeing the NHL’s Oilers, or a show at Rogers Place, be sure to head to the fifth floor of the hotel to indulge in the lavish cocktails at Alchemy, a sleek cocktail bar with a variety of signature and classic drinks.

BAR HENRY: Part coffee bar/part wine bar, the ICE District’s intimate Italian-inspired charmer is a must-try for its food and drink. Small, shareable plates include the Millie Panino ($19), a decadent grilled cheese sandwich, split into three, made with black truffle pecorino and honey. Another finger sandwich to savour is the Maitre d’Panini, featuring a thin anchovy along the top of a sandwich ($9). The cocktails, including the Aperol Spritz, of course, evoke Northern Italy and its culinary influences.

Other Italian-focused spots operated by restaurateur Daniel Costa that you can consider are Uccellino, Bar Bricco, Costa 32, and the newest, Olia.

THE CANADIAN ICEHOUSE: The food is good for a sports bar and the craft-beer selection offers a taste of the province, but the real reason to head into the Canadian Icehouse is its layers of fun. It has video-game consoles, a sub-zero vodka bar, golf simulator, and batting cages on the rooftop — which is a wonder in itself. That 12,145-square-foot third-floor space is home to the largest rooftop patio in Western Canada and the Icehouse makes the most of it, with watch parties for the big games, dance nights with DJs, and a never-ending fun-loving atmosphere.

The space also houses the Banquet, a separate business but part of the Icehouse family. It features a “Price Is Right” wheel that guests can spin and a bowling alley, among other novelties.

SABOR: Long-time local favourite Sabor, and sister restaurant Bodega, serve Iberian cuisine with authentic flavours. Operating since 2008 in a converted early-1900’s former warehouse, Sabor brings the many tastes of southern Europe to Edmonton. Chef and co-owner Lino Oliveira honours his home country of Portugal with a menu that includes crowd-pleasing fare (cod fritters and paellas) and decadent options (Iberico ham and lobster tagliatelle).

FAWKES: Debuting in November, Fawkes is the latest addition to Edmonton’s outstanding coffeehouse scene. It specializes in vegan donuts, with loads of wild flavours. Like Sabor, it’s not within the ICE District but is only a five-minute walk away, adding to the exciting vibe in the city’s trendy downtown.

MORE ABOUT VISITING EDMONTON

Where to Stay: JW Marriott Edmonton ICE District is in the heart of the downtown’s spectacular new neighbourhood. It features the largest hotel gym in Canada and connects to Rogers Place, home to the Oilers, via a covered pedestrian walkway. Location: 10344 102 Street NW. Room Rates: Nightly stays can vary greatly depending on the event schedule of Rogers Place. A weekend night in January costs as little as $227, based on a recent search of the hotel’s booking engine.

The Westin Edmonton is a pleasant and dependable choice, particularly for business travellers. It’s a short walk to the ICE District and attractions such as the Royal Alberta Museum and Alberta Gallery of Art. Location: 10135 100 Street NW. Room Rates: A one-night weekend stay in March starts at $179, based on a recent search of the property’s booking engine.

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