Suggestions for the best grocery, deli, bakery, butcher and liquor stores in Edmonton and area, or REAL food at REASONABLE pricees!
Latest update, November 22, 2013.
Please pass on tips to me at graham.hicks@hicksbiz.com, or on Facebook, or Twitter @hicksonsix.
We need more cheese shop and butcher recommendations!
Recommendations so far:
Groceries/deli: K and K Foodliner (German) on Whyte Avenue, Sayah Meat + Pie, Saccamanno's, Italian Centre South Side, Little Italy and West End, H+W Produce (several stores); El-Safadi Market (113A St. and 134 Ave).; Ben's Meat + Deli (Stony Plain Rd.).
Fish: Fin's Seafood in Sherwood Park, Lucky 97 on 97 St. Billingsgate on 104 St.
Beer, wine and spirits - Little Guy Liquor in Sherwood Park, 270 Baseline Rd. near Broadview, Baseline Wine in Sherwood Park, 11 Athabascan Ave. (off Broadmoor, south of Baseline), DeVine Wines downtown, Aligra in West Edmonton Mall, Select on 149 Street near the Whitemud, Sherbrooke Liquor (118 Ave ...
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May 17, 2013
The greening of the oil sands
Presentation to the Sunrise Rotary Club of Edmonton
by Graham Hicks
Thanks so much for the invitation to speak to your club this morning.
Since retiring from the Edmonton Sun as “Hicks on Six” two years ago, I embarked on a second career, of business journalism.
That new focus rapidly read to a new obsession: Studying and reading everything I can get my hands on about the oil sands, pollution and technology. Given the oil sands are the single greatest driver of our economy, the obsession has been a good fit.
I think there’s a crying need out there: To have non-partisan, independent, plain-speaking journalists not only defending the oil sands, but extolling its virtues.
In short, I hope to be an evangelist for the GREENING OF THE OIL SANDS.
Our detractors, such as the Keystone XL pipeline protesters who call our oil sands bitumen the “dirtiest oil on the planet” or Al Gore claiming there&rsqu ...
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There was more relief than joy on Wednesday, when city council, by a 10-3 vote, approved the deal for the new $480 million arena, as if, by some miracle, the mega-project comes in on budget and on time for the Oilers’ opening game of the 2016/17 season.
It was more reminiscent of a triple-overtime Stanley Cup playoff game, the winners lacking the energy to even touch foreheads with their goalie.
Thank God this debate is over.
Serious design and construction plans can begin, with shovels in the ground by next year.
Mayor Stephen Mandel is right. The investment in the city-owned, Katz Group-leased arena is ultimately the right thing to do, part of a greater vision: Creating a lively, vibrant, wealthy city that our children and grandchildren will be proud to call home, creating a quality-of-life that, despite our long winters, attracts much-needed professionals to our city.
As for the deal itself, the mayor nailed it: Not the best, not the worst. The Katz Group, as owners of lead t ...
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The Duchess Bake Shop
10718 124 St.
780-488-4999
Duchessbakeshop.com
Sandwiches $8
Food: 4.5 of 5
Ambiance: 4.5 of 5
Service: 3.5 of 5
Café Tiramisu
10750 124 St.
780-452-3393
Cafetiramisu.ca
Pastas (loaded) - $14
Food: 4 of 5
Ambiance: 3.5 of 5
Service: 3.5 of 5
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The Duchess Bake Shop has a most wonderful and deserved reputation as a top Canadian patisserie (pastries and sweets) bake shop. In that department, it wins in all counts.
From the outside of the shop on the ever-transforming 124 Street, one wonders what the fuss is all about.
Inside, the answer is clear. The sight, smells and general ambiance suggest something special.
The interior is tea-shop exquisite, as clean as a whistle, larger than one would expect with 14 or 15 antique or marble topped tables. Patrons, having waited patiently in line to purchase those exquisite treats, sit down to snack with real chinaware and real cutlery.
My visit ...
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The cycle is depressing, and usually inevitable.
A local entrepreneur starts a company. Defying the odds, the founder builds it to a decent size with excellent employees and service, plus competitive pricing.
The founder decides to sell. A national or international chain has the best offer. The founder rides off into the sunset. Said national chain moves in, re-brands and strips the once-local company down to nothing more than a sales force, inventory and a weekly flyer. Edmonton loses creative energy, brainpower and wealth. Profits don’t stay in town.
The sale of Edmonton’s Allwest Commercial Furnishings Ltd. has been the polar opposite of that norm.
Founder George Smith built his company from nothing, treating customers and staff with dignity and respect. When it came time for him to sell, he insisted on waiting for the right buyer to build on, not destroy, the Allwest legacy.
On entering the Allwest showroom near the TELUS World of Science, something is different. It&rs ...
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In the Saturday, May 11, Edmonton Sun Hicks on Biz Column, the subject of passing the torch from one owner to another was explored through the sale of Edmonton’s Allwest Commercial Furnishings from George Smith to the like-minded Colin Eicher.
The story earned its keep, given how difficult it is these days for any company to change hands and yet retain its legacy and business culture.
This story has a happy ending. New owner Eicher is cut from the same entrepreneurial cloth as Smith, recognized the qualities and corporate culture that made Allwest so distinct and successful, and is soon to embark, with Smith staying on as his CEO and Lorne Wight as President, on a business expansion.
The secondary question I had was what made Allwest such an successful company in the first place? How did it thrive and grow in a world where, more often than not, established local stores are bought up and integrated into national chains.
How did George Smith find the cash to renovate Allwest’s showroom and ...
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The Soul Collector
Directed, written and scored by Jonathan Christenson
Design by Bretta Gerecke
A Catalyst Theatre production,
ATB Financial ArtsBarns, to May 12, 2013
matinees Saturday and Sunday, May 11 and 12.
Tickets $17 to $42, online at Tix on the Square
Review by Graham Hicks, Hicksbiz.com blog
For Jonathan Christenson fans, there’s an irresistible pull every time the brilliant writer, composer and director teams up with designer Bretta Gerecke for another Catalyst Theatre world premiere.
The Soul Collector, at the ATB Financial Arts Barns through May 12, 2013, is truly a world premiere, as are all Christenson and Gerecke (CG for short) Catalyst productions. Catalyst has rock-band-like legions of international fans. Its shows tour for years, across North America, Europe and Australia. As far as made-in-Edmonton cultural exports go, Catalyst is up there with Tommy Banks, kd lang and Corb Lund.
The pull, the must-attend factor, is the unique style of any C/G production. For wan ...
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Review by Graham Hicks
Monty Python’s Spamalot
A Citadel Theatre Production,
Citadel Theatre, Edmonton, Alberta Canada – Shoctor stage
Until May 19, 2013
www.citadeltheatre.com
It’s as much fun as Grease, back in 2003.
It’s as zany as Rocky Horror Show in 2011.
And it’s as silly as The Drowsy Chaperone in 2009.
In other words, The Citadel Theatre’s own production of Monty Python’s Spamalot is as funny a show as has ever graced the Citadel’s main stage.
You do know what you’re getting – given Spamalot is a loose stage adaptation of Monty Python’s Search for the Holy Grail movie, and the show itself was one of Broadway’s biggest hits of the past decade. Who doesn’t know The French Taunter’s “I fart in your general direction” or the Black Knight’s “tis only a flesh wound“ as King Arthur hilariously lops off his arm?
As was the case with the Citadel’s renditio ...
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What is there about Edmonton, Alberta, Canada that represents the best of Canada, North America or world-class?
Here's the start of a list below.
If you'd like to add to it, please e-mail me at graham.hicks@hicksbiz.com or Facebook (Graham Hicks) or add a comment.If you have the source of your statistic, please include it.
I'd like to make this the "go-to" list for Edmonton's points of pride.
Last updated, April 27, 2013
PCL Construction, Canada’s largest construction company and sixth in North America, is headquartered here.
Stantec is a Canadian architecture, design and engineering giant, closing in on its goal of being in the top 10 North American construction service firms.
North American’s second largest energy park is Leduc-Nisku with 4,650 acres and another 3,000 acres in reserve by the airport. Its 600 companies are leaders in adaptive technology for oil extraction. Three-quarters of them sell internationally.
The deep bitumen extraction technology of choice, Steam Assisted ...
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BY GRAHAM HICKS ,EDMONTON SUN
There's little point in questioning the wisdom of automobile automation.
Technology is taking us, by leaps and bounds, into a future that the best of science-fiction movies cannot conceive.
On display at the Edmonton Motor Show this weekend, through April 21, is automotive technology we didn’t dream of 10 years ago. It has moved, in the blink of an eye, from proof-of-concept to full commercial production.
Even more astounding, the cost of technology comes down so rapidly as to be part of a “normal” sticker price.
“Self-parking cars are now priced in the $20,000 to $30,000 range” says show manager Bob Vilas. “Within five years, a technology that was confined to a top-line Lexus is now in a Ford Fusion.”
Automotive industry futurists suggest the "self-driving" car, the one Google is already playing with, will be a reality by 2025. The hold-ups will be regulatory, legal and consumer resistance, not the technology. Insuran ...
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