FOOD: River City Revival House serves rock ‘n’ roll
Rage Against the Poutine made me angry.
Instead of the expected cheese curds that squeak on your teeth (indicating freshness) was the surprise appearance from homemade Thanksgiving stuffing – which, like grandma on family holidays, dominated the otherwise perfectly-cooked house-punched French fries drizzled with rich bacon gravy, backed up by succulent flakes of pulled pork. My co-diner and I agreed that while the poutine proper was delicious, the stuffing – which we were assured is a variation common to Eastern Canada – was not entirely welcome. It was rather like expecting Rage Against the Machine and instead getting, say, Audioslave. Too much thyme in the mix.
The unusual Rage Against the Poutine is just one of the music-themed dishes at the new River City Revival House – down the once-foreboding, now-welcoming main staircase in the newly-renovated Starlite Room. Since last July, the building has been owned by local concert promoter Tyson Cale Boyd and his wife Andrea Kotylak (and others, taking over from another consortium of partners too complicated to explain). It’s the first pub restaurant in the 93-year-old former Salvation Army headquarters since “The Downstairs Steakhouse” operated there from 1965-1975, back in the original Citadel Theatre days. The Sally Ann also used to serve soup to the needy during the Great Depression.
The new restaurant is in the same space Brixx used to be. The Temple upstairs now serves as the Starlite’s small show venue; the main live music space remains untouched – complete with the weirdly-sloping dance floor that makes you feel like you’re in the villain’s lair in the old Batman show.
The River City Revival House serves an eclectic and original selection of hearty pub food on a rock ‘n’ roll menu. Dishes made fresh include Wings of Leon, CeeLo Green Bean Salad, the Emerson Steak and Palmer Sandwich, Judas Feast, Fillet-O-Phish, and for vegetarians, Quinoa Latifah, and the Tofu Fighters Platter. A selection of Wide Mouth Mason Jar Cocktails are also offered. With homegrown ingredients used wherever possible, the dishes were created by Red Seal chef (equivalent to a journeyman ticket in the trades) Felicia Winston – while the amusing menu reflects the owners’ eclectic taste in music.
“We both really like all genres of music,” Tyson says, “and like all of us who collectively put that menu together, we’re all big music fans.”
The Tragically Dip, left, and Rage Against the Poutine
Leaving the main courses – “Headliners” – for another visit, my co-diners and I stuck to “Appetizers for Destruction,” which were filling enough. We were offered a warm-up act: The Notorious P.I.G. sliders: A Southern-smoked twist on bruschetta with pulled pork and fresh green onions smothering the chef’s signature KoRn Bread, said to be her grandmother’s recipe – though it’s doubtful grandma had ever heard of KoRn, the band.
Also going over better than the poutine was the Tragically Dip: Homemade tortilla chips and fresh vegetables served with a raucous trio of freshly-made dips: Smoked eggplant (baba ghanoush), a very garlicky and not-too-salty salsa, and a savoury hummus made from pink beets. Delicious and filling.
The River City Revival House has two smokers in the kitchen, Andrea says, one for all the pulled pork, and one specifically for vegetables; we were urged to try the smoked mushrooms. The place also brews its own Kombucha, a fermented tea that tastes a bit like cider, refreshing and not too sweet. “It’s not aggressive,” Tyson says.
For dessert, there is currently only one option: the Peach Floyd Cobbler – a simple mash-up of baked chunks of pie pastry and peaches introduced hot from the oven, accompanied by butterscotch ice cream on top. My co-diners pronounced it delicious.
Tyson Cale Boyd and his partners have owned the Starlite Room building since July 2016
As for the unlikely idea of a real restaurant in a cavernous building that’s been considered Edmonton’s prime alternative music venue for at least the last three decades, Tyson says this was his plan all along. They waited until January, a down time in the concert business, to do the renovations.
“It’s a large building and we had areas that were under-utilized,” he says. “So we wanted to use the spaces without sacrificing anything.
“This is a music venue – first and foremost, but we want to tie the experiences together: great food coupled with great music.”
With plans that may include hanging prints of old Citadel building photos on the walls, Andrea says the future is wide open. “I really enjoy all types of music,” she says, adding that popping downstairs to watch hockey games is also on the wish list. “Then it’ll be everything I ever wanted under one roof.”
