EDMONTON, CANADA, MODERN ART CAFE & 32° BELOW
The second most challenging project that I accomplished as Vice President of Food & Beverage Operations with the Florida-based Management Corporation was the opening of Modern Art Cafe in the West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Canada in 1996.
THE ENGINE BLOCK BLANKETS = ELECTRIC CARS!
When I arrived in Canada with my assistant Bryan at this amazing Hotel, The Fantasyland Hotel in the West Edmonton Mall, at that time the largest mall in North America and Canada, (now the largest one is located in Minnesota, USA), it was 32° below, and I never forget as I was walking into the hotel parking garage I saw cables coming out of the hoods of all the parked cars, they were all plugged into electrical outlets along the walls, I said to myself “Wow, Canada has a lot of electric cars”! Later in the evening found out that it wasn’t electric cars at all, but heating blankets wrapped over the engine blocks under the hood to prevent the motor oil from freezing so engines would start up easier in the freezing temperatures.
The highlights and benefits of staying in the hotel at the mall were that we never had to go out into the 32° below climate, we enjoyed the huge indoor pool with its own sandy beach, huge water slides, and rides, all indoors! See the pictures below!
Each floor of this hotel had a completely different theme from a Luxury Truck, to Hollywood, Western, Arabian, Polynesian, Igloo, African, OuterSpace, Canadian Cabin, and Roman-style!
MODERN ART CAFE ALIAS CAFE PICASSO
Most people reading this blog probably won’t know the story behind Modern Art Cafe, this concept started out originally as Cafe Pablo Picasso with the first unit in Guadalajara, Mexico (that experience/story in another blog)
The entire concept was based on an Homage to Pablo Picasso, the restaurant was like a museum dedicated to the famous Spanish painter, from the replicas of paintings on the walls, the ceramics on display, the clothing & jewelry in the gift shop, the art designs on the dinnerware to the Picasso signature stitched fabrics on the chairs and banquettes in the dining room, his name appeared everywhere.
Four weeks prior to the opening a Canadian Federal Judge placed an Injunction against our company to prevent us from opening under the name of Picasso, due to a lawsuit by the Picasso estate, because of a disagreement with the royalty fee arrangement, but that is a whole other story itself!
Anyway, we managed within a 3-week period before the opening to change, eliminate, and erase all Picasso names in the restaurant & boutique and opened on the planned target date as Modern Art Cafe, instead Of Cafe Picasso!
After hiring the crew, the training, trial cooking, and plating demos had to be established and implemented before the opening, which was a relatively easy process with the crew we had hired, they were great to work with. My son Alexander,13 years old at the time, joined me in helping set up the pizza station in the kitchen.
EDMONTON TO BANFF
After the opening, as the restaurant was running on its own, I took the time with my wife and Alex to see a part of Canada, driving from Edmonton to Banff to the Banff National Park where we witnessed whole families of bears walking around freely and lots of Groundhogs everywhere. Arriving at Lake Louise we heard a familiar sound of music in the air, arriving by the hotel on the lake, we realized that it was a Canadian Swiss Club celebrating 1. August, the Swiss national holiday, a Swiss folkloric band plays “Ländlers,” the traditional Swiss music, I felt like I was back home in Switzerland for a minute.
On the way we stopped somewhere around Banff, I don’t remember the name of the restaurant, but we had Champagne Belgian waffles with fresh berries and whipped cream! We are still today talking about those! The second memory I will never forget was when I opened the curtains in my hotel room one morning, it was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky, and overlooking a residential part of Edmonton I saw thousands of snow-white, cotton-looking strings coming out of thousands of chimneys all over town, it was an unbelievable sight that just got stuck in my mind! It was the steam produced by the heating systems of the homes being almost congealed in the 32° below temperature outside!
Well, for a guy living in South Florida for 20 years at that time, this was a very unusual sight.
My Canadian stay came to an end after being there for two months on and off. It was back to Miami to work on the next opening of Modern Art Cafe in Coconut Grove, Florida.
I had a great time in Canada, the staff was very efficient, helpful, and professional to work with. I wonder where they all are these days??
Your Blogging Friend Ulrich Koepf
Links: ° West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton, Canada
°Fantasyland Hotel, 1770087 AVE NW
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