One St. Albert fine dining restaurant has made local culinary history by being listed in the prestigious Where to Eat in Canada restaurant guide.
The River House Grill is the first city restaurant to be reviewed and listed in the guide’s 41-year history.
“It’s very nice for a little restaurant in St. Albert to be recognized along with some of the better restaurants across Canada,” says owner/chef Willie White. “Some people on our staff had never heard of it. But they’re all pretty pumped.”
The guide also recognized White’s work in the 1990s when he served as executive chef for the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald.
An additional seven restaurants in Edmonton received the nod of excellence. They are Hardware Grill, Red Ox Inn, The Blue Pear, Numchok Wilai, The Unheard Of, Wild Tangerine and The Marc.
The anonymous reviewer described River House Grill’s cooking as “daring and highly innovative, and the prices are moderate.”
The reviewer goes on to describe the salads, one made with grilled red pears and roasted pecans and the other with sausage.
“Main courses feature bison rib-eye steaks and lamb sirloin with a rubbing of spiced coffee. Both are amazing,” the reviewer continues.
Printed by Oberon Press in Ottawa, Where to Eat in Canada is published annually and hits bookstores in June. Each year they list 500 restaurants in about 200 cities, towns and villages across the country.
Neither White nor his staff was aware a reviewer for the restaurant guide had dined at River House. But judging from past experience, White believes reviewers “look for scratch cooking, creativity, a good wine list and consistency.”
Oberon Press’s website says, “Nobody can buy his way into this guide and nobody can buy his way out. We tell the truth exactly as we see it. We believe this is a book no traveller can afford to be without.”
For more information visit www.riverhousegrill.com.
