Corduroy Suites
For the modern-B&B charm
Edmonton
YEG
Dubbed Canada’s Festival City for its year-round abundance of events, Edmonton always seems to have a party happening, even during its famously glacial winters. Shiny new attractions, including the ICE District – a multibillion-dollar sports and entertainment hub – and the recently opened Royal Alberta Museum, make the list of must-dos even longer.
Eat & Drink
Baijiu
Designed to resemble a Shanghai speakeasy, this restaurant serves up inventive drinks – like the Baijiu Barbie, made with coconut tequila, baijiu and pineapple – to pair with chef Alexei Boldireff’s creative Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese fusion dishes. Ask nicely and the staff will show you to Little Hong Kong, the hidden bar within the bar.
Bar Henry
It’s handsome here at the latest from Daniel Costa, a modish offshoot of menswear destination Henry Singer. Servers don V-necked white coats in the style of Northern Italian barmen. The chairs are sinuous rolled chrome around tufted velvet. We nibble on potato chips from a silver dish. They’re more bronzed than golden, dusted in fennel pollen, rosemary, salt and a suggestion of sugar. We follow with a pink-on-pink-on-pink ensemble: crisped rounds of cotechino (sausage with pork and rind), flattered by a veil of pickled Treviso radicchio and lucent cherry mostarda. To end, frosted tumblers of Cardamaro and spoonfuls of tiramisu. Longlisted as part of Air Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2024.
Bernadette’s
With pinkies out, we pincer Spam pops from vintage English china, the wink to a res staple gratifyingly fried crisp with panko and garnished with strands of lemon zest and sprigs of flat-leaf parsley. A carryover from Svitlana Kravchuk and Scott Iserhoff’s trailblazing Pei Pei Chei Ow, the brisket with Saskatoon berries is a standout, now on shareable rounds of grilled bannock. In another elegant play on tradition, charred octopus coils upon dandelion greens and white navy beans, both puréed and whole. For after-meal tea, a sentimental taste of Red Rose and sweetgrass in the latte. Longlisted as part of Air Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2024.
Fu’s Repair Shop
The glass front door of Fu’s Repair Shop sports the motto “We Fix You,” and in a way, the joint delivers on its promise. Inside, the vibe is Chinese hip hop speakeasy, with an aughts playlist and a red-lantern-hung ceiling that gives the bumping room a vaguely illicit orangish glow. Amped-up riffs on Guangdong dim sum (tender cheung fun rice rolls filled with shellfish or heat-radiating wontons in chili oil) restore, while sharp cocktails (the hot-pepper-spiked Enter the Dragon is a creamy mai tai with a mule’s kick) leave those broken in spirit patched up and satisfyingly sated. Longlisted as part of Air Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2022.
Hayloft Steak + Fish
The concept at this high-ceilinged wood- and leather-clad Cameron Heights establishment is simple. To utilize the whole cow and waste nothing, Hayloft takes up the fine-dining side of the operation, offering prime and underutilized cuts like tri-tip or skirt steak, while a branch of Woodshed Burgers takes the ground beef – all of it sourced from nearby Lakeside Farmstead. Exemplary cocktails like a smoked grapefruit margarita rimmed with a secret blend of tongue-tingling spices give way to expletive-worthy oysters, steelhead salmon and more from Effing Seafoods. Longlisted as part of Air Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2022.
Little Wolf
The sign reads Three Boars, but this veggie-forward abode is Little Wolf’s little house now. We pick the front porch to enjoy Shaun Hicks’ smart and compact menu, built with uncommon creativity. He piles cremini mushrooms, glossy with salsa macha, on toasted sunflower seed butter, flecked with the juicy bite of pickled raisins. Black cod belly is balanced on fermented chunks of tomato and cucumber, set in their collected juices and makrut leaf coconut oil. We tip our bowls to spoon out the last sip. It blows the house down. Longlisted as part of Air Canada’s Best New Restaurants 2024.
Woodshed Burgers
This is next-level Alberta beef: premium Holstein, cooked to order and served on fresh-baked buns with housemade condiments. The crispy chicken burger deserves a nod, too, as does the hefty Effing Fish Filet, featuring Icelandic cod sourced from Edmonton’s popular (and gregarious) fishmonger, Effing Rob.
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What to Do
Royal Alberta Museum
At the new RAM, opened in 2018 and now Western Canada’s largest museum, you’ll find galleries chronicling the history of Alberta’s people, wildlife and landscape, with Indigenous stories woven throughout, as well as 18,000 artifacts of Indigenous origin, some dating to the mid-1800s. (An Indigenous advisory panel gave input on caring for items in a culturally sensitive way.) One gallery showcases just one object: the Manitou Asinîy (Manitou Stone), a sacred and ancient 145-kilogram meteorite.
Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market
Open Saturdays year-round, this indoor market is a local haunt for baked goods, just-picked produce, handmade jewellery, art and textiles. Take home raw honey from Meadow-Sweet Apiaries or try freshly made green-onion cake, Edmonton’s quintessential festival food. Once you’ve browsed the 130 vendors here, you’re a half block to the shops on Whyte Avenue, the main thoroughfare in trendy Old Strathcona.
Edmonton Brewery Tours
The local craft-brew scene has been growing ever since government rules on minimum production were relaxed in 2013, allowing small makers to get into the game. Book a guided tasting with Edmonton Brewery Tours, where you’ll learn Ingredients 101 (all about yeast, malt, hops, water) while sampling suds at popular spots like Situation Brewing, Blind Enthusiasm and Yellowhead Brewing.
Bamboo Ballroom
A destination for the city’s style set since 2005, this Old Strathcona boutique specializes in spotlighting Canadian labels. Find West Coast casual womenswear by Vancouver’s Gentle Fawn, vegan-leather bags by Montreal’s Matt & Nat, and kiddie clothing by Lil’ Rascalz Shop (its own in-house brand).
Art Gallery of Alberta
Contemporary Canadian abstract canvases and sculpture make up a great deal of the AGA’s permanent trove, but fans of historical photography, prints and paintings will have plenty to peruse, too. The three-floor structure is also a work of art: Architect Randall Stout drew inspiration from both the aurora borealis and Edmonton river valley.
Gravitypope
This indie fashion institution has locations in Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto, but it’s a native Edmontonian. The original Whyte Avenue space is entirely devoted to shoes – from hipster sneaks to designer heels – from more than 100 brands, including its own made-in-Italy/Portugal label. A sister clothing shop, Gravitypope Tailored Goods, is just a few doors down.
Get Cooking
Along with some of the city’s finest guest chefs, Le Cordon Bleu (London) graduate Kathryn Joel will school you in cooking modern and classic dishes from around the globe. The three- to four-hour classes, from Italian date-night dinners to Mexican taco parties, are always fun, and come with wine or drink pairings included.
Spotlight Cabaret
At this Roaring ’20s–themed venue just off Whyte Avenue in Old Strathcona, comedy, theatre, live bands, burlesque and drag are on show. If you’re ready to take the mic yourself, Sunday nights are for karaoke parties.
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