Food can become such a major source of concern when one travels as much as I do. Spending time in remote locations increases the challenge of finding decent food, being a vegetarian makes it next to impossible to eat well at times. There have been days when my only sustenance has come from vending machines and small regional airport coffee shops so when I find myself lucky enough to land in a real city I tend to take full advantage of the abundance of grocery stores, restaurants, and food vendors. Edmonton is a city full of fine restaurants and so it happened that a lot of the time I spent, outside of shooting guns and plunging on impromptu hikes down ravines, in the city revolved around the hunt, and subsequent enjoyment, of good times and good meals in good restaurant.
The West Edmonton Mall has a wing known as 'Bourbon St' that is essentially a super-sized food court (this is in addition to the two main fast-food courts and separate Chinatown food court). Bourbon Street is a collection of a dozen full sized restaurants, both chain restaurants as well as a piano bar and comedy club. We settled into a table at Hudson's Canadian Tap House and it didn't take long before we had engaged the entire wait staff and surrounding tables in conversation. Constantly finding myself in strange places, often alone, has forced me to develop an extroverted personality that has not always come naturally to me. By nature of the job I and my colleagues are as classic a group of Type A personalities as you could find and when we get together we often find ourselves dominating the room and tonight was no exception. It didn't take long before we were laughing and telling stories of our travels and we spent the rest of night eating and drinking, exchanging rounds with the waitresses and new friends that had pulled tables together to join us.
(Another sign I'm getting old.. seven straight hours of pints and shots wouldn't have phased me not so long ago- this hangover lasted two days. I can still live like a 25 year old but it seems as though the price to be paid is a helluva lot bigger than it used to be..)
Earlier in the week a cabbie had told me the 'Taste of Edmonton' festival would be worth checking out and F. and I drove downtown one night to see what the city had to offer. About 40 restaurants from around the city were represented and we bought a stack of tickets and started to wander the aisles, at first just absorbing the aromas of dozens of house specialties. A simple Italian pasta whetted our appetites and we followed it up with Polish perogies, and incredible Ahi tuna salad and an amazing dessert of strawberries soaked in Gran Marnier. We wandered around the downtown core for awhile checking out the beer tent as well as some public spaces around the art gallery and city hall before heading off in search of a real meal.
The 100 Club was an upscale restaurant/lounge/nightclub that F. and I discovered downtown Edmonton, not far from the food festival. We were one of only a handful of people in the place but the atmosphere was cool and the music was supplied by a DJ spinning dance and hip-hop records while we ate. We ordered calamari and oysters and a cheese and fruit tray and F. did his best to pick up the waitresses, but mostly we just chilled out, enjoying the next to last night in town.
Ten days in Edmonton had passed and I had certainly enjoyed my time in a 'real' city, exploring and enjoying the streets, creeks and eats. Flying home, flipping through pictures of my time in the city I really felt I had made the most of the time there. I sat on the plane with a smile on my face until the stewardess came by and informed me that they had run out of veggie sandwiches (which i had pre-ordered). I settled in to enjoy my lunch of pringles and a chocolate bar, thinking of the good times and good eats I had just left behind.
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