Edmonton Restaurants and bars in the 80's

[stovetop]

Claude's

claude buzon

10112 107 street

edmonton

great french food

won an award from the french government

Amandine

royal le page building

103 street downtown

fine french cuisine

croissants and ice cream

Le petit marche

stony plain road

catering

john daigle

Restaurant la suisse

werner merlo

111 street downtown

swiss food at its best

Phillips

convention center

between friends-another restaurant

jasper ave

fine dinning-continental

cafe bijou

109 street

casual dinning

vincent roy

Waldens

104 street downtown

Avanti

patsa ristorante

104 st

two small rooms

jean louis danguy

101 a street

Victors

fine dinning

standard life building

downtown-2nd floor

Carvery-westin

downtown

wow best food for years

beans and barley

81st ave

old starthcona

Armoury

fine dinning in a beautiful armoury

jack fuller

henry bachman

104 street

old strathcona

Bella pasta

81 ave old strathcona

Italian

[merlin]

That is quite a stroll down "memory lane" Steve

Claude's

-what a spot - Claude Buzon what a character! - wasn't he at the Great Escape? - now in the Toque Blanche manufacturing business - best spot in town during its day - great waitstaff including Brian Welsh now f & b at the Mac - Claude always remembered your name and the wine you had the last visit - incredible Bastille Day celebrations under the tent in the adjacent parking lot - round table with all the provinical bigwigs - a lot of stories [do you remember Ernst Eder and La Boheme - that is where I first met Claude]

Le Petit Marche

-nice funky place - now there is the Dish and the Runaway Spoon - serves equally good food and caters - that High Street [should be in BC] area has boomed with a number of good spots to eat at.

Restaurant La Suisse

-never went - although heard good things - I was too busy swiggin' back ouzo and retsina at the adjacent Cosmos.

Victors

-Standard Life Building - plates on the wall - oh so pretentious - Edmonton lawyers wanting to think they were in Toronto - good for a laugh

Carvery

-outstanding French food - great table side service - then they went the steakhouse route complete with "Jim Bowie" steak knives and the terrific prime rib cart - quality remained excellent until Brian Welsh left and the Westin "bean counters" completely changed the dining rooms

Beans and Barley

-solid fare - I lived just a stumble away for many years closer to the southside Keg

Phillips

-never worked for me although Philip Joy was a bit of a media celebrity - was it Philips before or after Claude moved there from his original location?

Waldens

-yikes - what a gasp from the past - ferns and wood everywhere - I think an Edmontonian must have got drunk in a "fern bar" in Manhattan - sure was popular

Avanti

-way ahead of its time - all that chrome and white tile - asian cooks doing Italian fusion - Edmonton with its affinity for spaghetti and red sauce just was not ready for it

Two Small Rooms

- is that where Sherlock Holmes Pub now is?

Don't think I was in the original Cafe Amandine location and do not remember Cafe Bijou nor Bella Pasta. We have "spoken" about the Armoury before.

Saw you mentioned Between Friends which was a favourite of mine before it closed.

How about Peter and Lynn Johner's Boccolino's which expanded and expanded before unltimately ending up on the southside in its current state as Packrat Louis'?

When you think of Edmonton in the '80's you have to recollect...or maybe you don't depending upon ones consumption of red wine...Bruno's just north of Whyte on 109th. Downstairs, plush red aka New Orleans' bordello red shag...rich sauces.

Of course at least the early '80's before the oil boom burst were synonmous with the Steak Loft upstairs, the Old Bailey on the main floor and Lucifer's in the bsmt.

What Pierre Bourgeil's [sp?] Anjou...now the Blue Pear [husband and wife team who formerly were at Jack's Grill]..speakeasy door...all nite dining....good Loire red wine

Come to think of it, quite a number of decent spots came and went during that time period.

[stovetop]

Restaurant La Suisse

-never went - although heard good things - I was too busy swiggin' back ouzo and retsina at the adjacent Cosmos.

So were a lot of people

Victors

-Standard Life Building - plates on the wall - oh so pretentious - Edmonton lawyers wanting to think they were in Toronto - good for a laugh

My friend made very good money at victors, it went out in a big way, the cost being so high to run, when the big guns stopped coming and making big money and the gov took away the ability to right off entertainment, it killed the business instantaneously.

Phillips-never worked for me although Philip Joy was a bit of a media celebrity - was it Philips before or after Claude moved there from his original location?

Yes it was phillips before Claude and phillip joy was also chef partner at between friends out there by the big water tanks, back in the day when it was out there in the middle of no where, near 630 ched. Now it is in the middle of the city.

Waldens

-yikes - what a gasp from the past - ferns and wood everywhere - I think an Edmontonian must have got drunk in a "fern bar" in Manhattan - sure was popular

Actualy it is based on a novel called Walden Pond by Henry Thoreau.

Hans Kuhnel and Ernst Dorfler of Pan Pacific fame in vancouver made some of the best chow in Edmonton and made it into the top ten restaurants in Canada.

remember Pagliacci it is what became bones, I think it was co owned with Hans Oglevie(sp)

Two Small Rooms

- is that where Sherlock Holmes Pub now is?

yes

When you think of Edmonton in the '80's you have to recollect...or maybe you don't depending upon ones consumption of red wine...Bruno's just north of Whyte on 109th. Downstairs, plush red aka New Orleans' bordello red shag...rich sauces.

I was going to mention Brunos, glad you brought it up, that place rocked.

[merlin]

I had not realized that Joy was at Between Friends. We had our wedding photos taken in the atrium of the building adjacent to it and drinks in their lounge. Just a few weeks ago I ran into the fellow who had been managing it. He is back in Edmonton after having been...like so many Edmontonians in the trade...several years in the Cayman Islands.

Pagliacci? Sure do. Small plates and tapas style dining WAY before it was trendy and certainly before most Edmontonians were ready for it.

Hans Kuhnel, Ernst Dorfler...or as my chef acquantances usually almost snort it out, "Dorfler this and Dorfler that" and Hans Voegli...those 3 have been into so many restaurants and things in this city.

[stovetop]

Hans Kuhnel, Ernst Dorfler...or as my chef acquantances usually almost snort it out, "Dorfler this and Dorfler that" and Hans Voegli...those 3 have been into so many restaurants and things in this city.

Hans Voegli, thats it, thanks

what is he doing??

steve

[merlin]

Steve:

I may be getting my "Hans" mixed up but Hans Voegeli is maitre d' at the revolving La Ronde restaurant which in itself is an Edmonton landmark but not in the R.I.P. category....then you have Hans Kuhnel is operates The Creperie in the same Boardwalk/Revillon building that housed Avanti, Waldens, Pagliacci's, Bones, The Boiler and many others over the course of time.

[stovetop]

Merlin there was a partner in Pagliacci's --Hans oglevie(sp)? or it might have been the bocalino(sp) people?? what was his name?

steve

Edited February 10, 2005 by stovetop (log)

[merlin]

Steve:

Could very well have been Hans Voegeli...I am sure that my buds who were in the "biz" at that time would know. Peter Johner [sp?]...another one of the "Swiss-German culinary Mafia" [smile] that so dominated the landscape here in the 'chuk was with his wife the driving force behind Boccolino's in its various forms and now Packrat Louie's.

Another flashback Peter Lai's Chef's Table...lamentably long gone.

[stovetop]

Thanks merlin

Oh chef table, that was a great place.

There was a lot of restaurants in downtown Edmonton in the 80's when the floor dropped out, they dropped like flies, Boccolino's I believe was one of few downtown restaurants that survived, they were also one of the first to do the micro brew thing in the west. The one in Victoria was first and Boccolino's was like second or third.

Although the dozen or so restaurants that made out of the eighties make up the solid base from the business in Edmonton. They are a solid group.

steve

[James Kendal]

Wow,

My first job in the industry was at 2 small rooms. We had a juiced (polite for stuff he put up his nose) up manager named Frederique Domoloff. This restaurant was designed by Gene Dubb. Very cool place except the door frame to the kitchen was just shy of 6 feet so I used to bang my forehead on it all the time. I remember sabering champagne there on the patio.

There also used to be a very good (for the time) Italian Restaurant on the corner of 82 Ave and 109 street. It was in the basement. I remember always being so stuffed after eating there.