I have sipped espresso in Little Italy, priced shark fins in Chinatown, dined on roast goat in the African Village, caressed fine silks in Little India, perused the Qur’an in Little Lebanon and inhaled the fragrance of superior cheeses in the French Quarter before turning the corner to feast at a Korean restaurant and have a pint at an Irish pub.
Edmonton is a multicultural marvel, and not just during the Heritage Festival, or as I like to call my favourite local event, “meat-on-a-stick” days. If you are looking to challenge your worldview and push the boundaries of your taste buds, an exotic experience can be had any day of the year in this city; you just have to look for it.
In New York City, ethnic districts have clear geographical boundaries. Not so much here. It’s mixed up. Central Edmonton and Mill Woods are very Asian, while the city’s northwest boasts a vibrant Arabic community and the northeast has a visible Latin, Filipino and African presence. A large Latin American community exists, but is linked more by an arts and culture scene than any one location; the same goes for the Caribbean community. Ukrainians have been here longer than Edmonton has been a city. Ditto the Polish. Eastern European Jews arrived in large numbers in the wake of the Second World War, settling mostly in Glenora and the west end. Have I left anybody out? Probably. The city’s diversity is amazing, and growing all the time. In my travels throughout the city, I found that the heart of a neighbourhood can be anything from a grocery store — our lives revolve around food, after all — to a house of worship, a nightclub, or all three. It’s clear that the more distinct a neighbourhood’s character, the more fellow countrymen will feel at home — and the more fun it will be for someone looking for a taste of the exotic within 20 minutes of home.
LITTLE INDIA:
An impromptu and unexpected oasis of South Asian delights is nestled among car dealerships in the industrial section of Mill Woods, around 34th Avenue and 92nd Street. It consists of three adjacent shopping plazas packed with merchants selling three basic types of wares — food, clothing and jewellery for the city’s 27,000-strong Southeast Asian community. It’s hard to comprehend how a dozen fabric stores within such a small area can thrive, but they do. Within walking distance are the Sri Sri Radha Govindaji temple and, on 38th Avenue, the Bhartiya Cultural Society’s Hindu temple. The Spice Centre in Plaza 34 sells every imaginable form of curry and vegetables you would never find in Safeway, statues from the large pantheon of gods and the largest stock of Bollywood products in all of Alberta, according to owner Amrit Bindra. “We are the ones responsible for Little India,” he says proudly, claiming the signing of his lease 11 years ago prompted dozens of Indian businesses to gather nearby. Just like a little bit of curry packs a powerful punch, Little India is small but full of flavour.
PORTUGUESE ENCLAVE:
Portuguese cuisine is famous for its light, flaky bread buns and fine pastries, so bakeries are as abundant as Catholic churches around here. The custard tarts are delicious; the communion wafers less so. “We have all the Portuguese on 118th (Avenue), almost,” reports Maria Soares, owner of the Popular Bakery, one of at least three Portuguese shops along Alberta Avenue. If you are looking for an authentic pork and clams dish, a Portuguese specialty, go to Spago’s at 124th Avenue and 97th Street. With a population hovering around 7,500, there is barely enough of a Portuguese retail presence on Alberta Avenue to qualify as an ethnic neighbourhood, yet there’s still plenty of character if you know where to look. They need an Amrit Bindra to pull it all together.
THE FRENCH QUARTER:
There are people in Quebec who refuse to believe this place exists. Meeting a francophone who claims Albertan ancestry, Quebecers are likely to imagine their hapless kinsmen ended up here because of the job market, not by desire, and can’t get their head around the fact that Franco-Albertans have been thriving in Edmonton for generations. A stroll into La Cité Francophone, an expanding community complex located on Rue Marie-Anne Garboury (91st Street) and 86th Avenue, is like walking into another world. Everything is in French, from the conversations to the signage. A quaint café, Le Café Entre Amis, sells crepes and meat pies. There is a bookstore, a library, a theatre and three floors of offices serving the Franco-Edmonton community. Across the street there is the French language college, which is surrounded by several French-immersion grade schools, an art gallery, Roman Catholic churches, four convents — called sisters’ residences now — and The Cheese Factory Restaurant. Vive la différence!
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