Years ago, when she was still in high school, Kelsey Bulmer asked her mother Jill to join her in opening a ladies’ boutique in St. Albert. Mom’s answer was pretty straightforward.
“She told me to go forth and get educated first. So I did,” said Kelsey Bulmer, who graduated last spring from the University of Alberta with a commerce degree with a major in marketing and a minor in retailing.
Three weeks ago Kelsey and Jill Bulmer opened Cerulean Boutique on St. Joseph Street in an empty shop that had been vacant for two years.
The fanciful name of the store reflects the pairs’ love of fashion and colour.
“Cerulean is the blue colour of the ocean. The colour of the sea is ever changing and so is fashion,” said Bulmer.
Bulmer spent the summer months searching for trendy fashions that she believed would appeal to her new St. Albert clientele, whether it was everyday ladies’ wear or accessories such as jewelry and handbags.
“I’ve talked to people in St. Albert to find out what they were looking for and what they wanted was mid to upper-end clothing for everyday as well as for resort wear,” Bulmer said.
She searched online and eventually travelled to New York, where she found sequined dresses for her customers’ la-dee-da moments along with some relaxed-fit clothing for everyday wear.
“I tried my darnedest to find unique things that people here weren’t able to find anywhere else,” Bulmer said.
When Anil Kumar Yadav was a boy in India, everyone in his family drank water from a copper bowl.
Copper Grain Inc., which is the name of the new restaurant, Yadav co-owns with partner and chef Gurjod Singh, hearkens back to those childhood memories.
“Everybody drank from a copper bowl because it was considered healthy and Grain is about all the grains and breads of the world,” said Yadav.
Breads of all kinds are an important component of Copper Grain, with seven different varieties, including a coconut naan and a tandoor roti on the menu. The restaurant also serves many vegetarian dishes.
In addition, there are several very Canadian foods such as bison and salmon listed as entrée items, but they are cooked in a traditional East Indian way.
“We were motivated by local Canadian ingredients but we wanted to incorporate them with our love for authentic Indian food,” Yadav said.
Desserts such as nuts in flour pastries also reflect the Indian food cultural experience shared by these two men.
Yadav and Singh are both St. Albert residents with several years of restaurant experience.
“I previously worked in an Indian restaurant in St. Albert for three years and Gurjod worked as a chef in Toronto, Calgary and now St. Albert,” said Yadav, adding that Copper Grain will specialize in providing an upper-scale fine dining experience.
Copper Grain Inc. is located at 388 B St. Albert Trail.
