New restaurant a step above

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/06/2017 (3065 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ELEVATE YOURSELF: New in the heart of Corydon patio land is a family restaurant called Elevate Eatery, popping up at 720 Corydon Ave., right across from Bar Italia. They’re serving up “elevated comfort food,” boast a giant screened picture window, and some lively family karaoke entertainment on Wednesdays.

“We’re a mom-and-pop restaurant and want to be known as such. We’re not a nightclub,” says restaurateur Tyler MacPherson, although the restaurant does have a side bar and a friendly bartender called Rocky.

MacPherson has worked his way up through the Winnipeg restaurant world, including Gringos, Chi Chi’s, two Grapes restaurants, two Earl’s and the Round Table. “The last 10 years I was general manager at Moxie’s on Regent and Lagimodière,” he said. MacPherson is clearly tickled to finally have his own place, with partners Mark and Christopher Buller.

“Life’s been nothing but awesome,” MacPherson says, hugging his wife, Crystal, and kids, nine-year-old Cassidy and seven-year-old Hunter, on the karaoke stage. The kids had just sung Justin Bieber’s Sorry, followed by a silver-haired fellow crooning Sinatra.

Elevate has a small patio in the works for this season and hopes for a rooftop patio next year. Along with its elevated comfort food, the restaurant’s name refers to the patio in the sky (one day).

Their menu is intriguing, with four featured dinners — lamb lollipops (you hold the chops by the bone), candied salmon, roasted red-pepper hummus and a big seared tuna salad. Plus, there are fancy sandwiches and a big burger, and a dozen shared plates. They’re open 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Their number is 204-615-9797.

 

BE A HERO: Starting today, you can book one of the best deals in town. For only $5 per person, you and your friends can take a guided tour of 15 huge West End murals, with a refreshment break in the middle. What a deal to show off Winnipeg when entertaining groups of family, friends, visitors or wedding parties.

“Two people be better, but we’d even set a tour up for one person,” says Joe Kornelson of the West End BIZ.

They’re even flexible about start times, but set aside two hours for the tour. So what does the West End BIZ get out of it? Executive director Gloria Cardwell-Hoeppner says the tour excites people to come back to the neighbourhood. “Mural tours are a great introduction to the West End’s unique offerings such as popular ethnic restaurants, specialty shops.” Call 204-954-7900 for more info.

 

RCMP MUSICAL RIDE AND RAY ST. GERMAIN CONCERT: Although it’s not a live horse racing day at Assiniboia Downs, June 11 will still have an afternoon of talented horses and their riders starting at 1 p.m. That’s when the RCMP Musical Ride will perform intricate figures and cavalry drills to background music.

Then, multi-award-winning singer Ray St. Germain takes the stage for a 75-minute country show along with fiddler Clint Dutiaume and his band. “Saint” warns he will also be doing impersonations such as Tom Jones, Hank Snow and Johnny Cash. Plus, he’ll be yodelling. “That stirs ’em up!” he says, laughing. “The horses will be jumping around when I start yodelling!”

St. Germain turns 77 this summer, but still has a perfect three-octave range, and can hit the top note for Elvis’s hit It’s Now or Never and can extend it so long everybody responds by cheering and stomping. Entrance fee is $17.95 for adults and free for kids 12 and under. The Terrace Dining Room brunch, which runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., is $39.95 plus tax and gratuity and includes the $17.95 admission price, plus you can keep your seats for the afternoon. For ticket information, go to http://wfp.to/EWl.

(Here’s a hot tip: St. Germain’s booking students for singing/entertaining lessons in the fall, giving away his best secrets to motivated singers who want to perform from open mics to formal stages. Call 204-832-3800 for more information on lessons.)

 

TEO’S TUNES UP: With the beautiful weather finally arriving, Teo’s bar and nightclub shootout patio is loaded! Live music and regular singers are attracting a crowd at 691 Corydon Ave. On Wednesdays it’s guitarist Joel Waldie serenading diners and the beautiful people parading by. Thursdays, it’s Acoustic Soul (Mal Magorel and AJ Noon) from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m.

This bar attracts an 18- to 30-something crowd, so Friday-Sunday the DJs start at 10 p.m. inside the bar with the back party room. “Sometimes, depending on the vibe, we’ll have a dance area. It gets really busy on Saturday and Sunday nights on the dance floor,” manager Charles Garcia says.

 

OUTDOOR VINTAGE MARKET: WildWoodRose Vintage Market — the 2017 version — opens Saturday, June 10 at Old Market Square. They invite you to “satisfy all your cravings” with music, food, clothing and more. More than 50 vintage, antique and eclectic-styled vendors feature clothing, home decor, jewelry, hats, soaps and more. The best addition to this market? Exchange District BIZ presents live music on the Cube stage with Sol James (2:30 to 3:30 p.m.); Lanikai (4 to 5 p.m.); Scott Nolan (5:30 to 6:30 p.m.); and Red Moon Road (7 to 8 p.m.).

 

DREAM COMING TRUE: A little more than two months have passed since defence lawyer, musician and Vinyl Revival store owner Darren Sawchuk died of cancer. His dream was to have his vinyl record store at 10 McGillivray Pl. grow into a big, lively open mic spot that included a grand piano, guitars and drums for players and singers from 14 to 84, plus a jazz open mic, a songwriters’ club and a music school with teachers.

Amazingly, his dream is becoming reality. Yours truly dropped in and Sawchuk’s right-hand man — former international rocker Hiromi Osawa — had a growing signup list and yet another fine crowd gathered for open mic. “Sometimes I sit by myself here, and I think Darren is smiling. We just have to keep it going. It was Darren’s dream,” Osawa says.

For the summer, Cody Buhler and Geoff Woodcroft will co-host the songwriters group, Sundays from 7 to 9 p.m. “We usually get around 10 people coming,” Osawa says. And for jazz, every second Monday night they have a standing three-piece house band — and then jazz players in the audience trade off with those onstage. Wednesdays is still the big open mic night for singers and players of all instruments. “Otherwise we’re always open for vinyl sales daytime Wednesday to Saturday.” For more info, call 204-615-8886.

Got tips? Know of cool events happening in your world? Been rubbing shoulders with the stars? Email Maureen’s Tips at mscurf@shaw.ca.