The restaurant business is fickle. Today’s hot spot where everybody goes can be shuttered the next day.
But every city has its local icons, restaurants that evolve to suit changing public tastes without losing touch with what they do best. Restaurants where you’ll find something new and exciting, and the classics you know and love. They are the restaurants where you go to dine, and not just to eat.
In Edmonton, one of those restaurants is Normand’s, a dining fixture for a quarter century. There really is a Normand of Normand’s downtown restaurant. In fact, on any given night Normand Campbell is likely to greet you at the door. And while he’ll answer to the formal Normand, his longtime customers are more likely to just call him Norm.
Norm has been in the restaurant business since he was 16, and had his sights set on owning his own place since he was 18. The Peace River-country native learned the trade at “the school of hard knocks,” from bus boy on up, working mostly as a waiter at a number of Edmonton’s better-known restaurants over the years. In 1988, he married his life and business partner, Lezlie, and, on March 15, 1989, they opened the doors to Normand’s. Initially a small bistro perfect for a quick bite, it evolved into a true dining room as patrons began to spend hours enjoying his unique menu and extensive wine selection.
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This downtown restaurant has a special section of the menu titled ‘Wild Game Specialties’ including options such as roast duck, pheasant, bison and wild boar. It’s the ideal place for those searching for something beyond the usual cut of meat.
View this Smart ListThe restaurateur behind Normand’s is Normand himself, co-owner of two other restaurants in the city. This is his only spot along Jasper Avenue, and it’s easy to drive right by it – but that would be a mistake. The food is classic French, the atmosphere manages to be both elegant and unpretentious, and the vino is always flowing.
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