The Pulse: Sept. 8, 2023

A recently graduated chef is leading his first kitchen at the new restaurant concept from The Common.

Joshua Nhan graduated from NAIT's Culinary Arts program this year and is already running the kitchen at Dolly's Cocktail Bar. With guidance from executive chef Winnie Chen, he built a menu that honours his Peruvian heritage.

"Learning from my mom, and learning all these different dishes, really makes me feel much more connected to my roots and much more of an individual in this Western world," Nhan told Taproot. "One of the main focuses for me was, how do I turn Peruvian food into plates that are cute and colourful?"

Dolly's opened at 9902 109 Street NW in August, replacing the exceptionally popular past occupant, Fu's Repair Shop, which moved to a bigger space on Jasper Avenue in July. Chen is the mind behind Fu's and now serves as executive chef for both that restaurant and Dolly's. She helped Nhan turn his creative vision into a robust menu that has profitability and different dietary needs in mind.

"I was already trying to shift into more of a culinary director (role) for The Common group," Chen said. "I know Josh is immensely talented and the flavours he creates are amazing. I want him to flourish creatively. But then also … we need to commercialize it."

The resultant menu includes high-tea-inspired canapés, seafood-heavy cold plates, and hot dishes such as empanadas, which riff on a Nhan family recipe. They are perhaps his signature menu item.

"They started with my mom and then they kind of evolved. They're just the recipe that I do have a lot of fun with," he said.

Nhan, 32, spent much of the pandemic as one-third of Nena's Empanadas, a takeout-and-delivery operation that he ran alongside his mother and father, Raquel "Nena" Nhan and David Nhan. In 2022, he and pal Richard Wood released an Edmonton Heritage Council-funded documentary on how Nena's immigration journey from Peru intersected with her culinary life. The empanadas on the Dolly's menu were named in her honour.

• TransEd, the consortium building the Valley Line Southeast LRT, says it is done replacing the hundreds of oxidized copper cables it discovered in June and is now anticipating an opening date this fall. The cables were replaced with higher-quality cables expected to improve safety and reliability for the next 30 years, TransEd said. Over the next few weeks, testing will imitate regular passenger service along the route as independent certifiers complete their audit. The $1.8-bilion line was originally supposed to open in December 2020.
• The University of Alberta announced the 2023 Alumni Award recipients, who will be celebrated at an event at the Citadel Theatre on Oct. 25. Among the recipients are former Alumni Association president Mary Pat Barry, Edmonton Public Schools superintendent Darrel Robertson, Inuk writer Norma Dunning, criminologist Temitope Oriola, novelist and poet Thomas Trofimuk, Kemet Group founder Morẹ́nikẹ́ Ẹniọlá Ọláòṣebìkan, Areto Labs co-founder Lana Cuthbertson, and former Chief Medical Officer of Health Deena Hinshaw.
• Residents of Castledowns Pointe, a northwest Edmonton condo that was evacuated this week after engineers discovered it was at risk of collapsing, are facing an uncertain future and must continue to pay condo fees and mortgage payments. In its inspection, engineering firm Read Jones Christoffersen discovered the building's construction didn't follow original architectural and design drawings and was inappropriate for the load. Property manager Simco Management is exploring legal action against the parties involved in construction. Coun. Erin Rutherford, whose ward includes the condo, said she wants to see those responsible held accountable to ensure public trust in builders and city processes.
• Parks Canada has added more speed bumps and signage in Elk Island National Park to protect wildlife from motorists, who have killed six bison in the park since 2020. Park superintendent Dale Kirkland told CBC's Edmonton AM speeding has become a big issue throughout the area, including in the evenings. Elk Island has recorded 534 deaths of frogs, rabbits, squirrels, coyotes, and other creatures since it launched an initiative in June to monitor road-related animal fatalities in and around the park.
• The Canadian HIV/AIDS Black, African and Caribbean (CHABAC) Network, a national organization based at HIV Edmonton, and the Sexuality Education Resource Centre in Manitoba are receiving a combined $1.3 million from Health Canada's SRH Fund. The money will support projects that improve access to sexual and reproductive health services in underserved communities.
• Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid asked the team to be in Edmonton two weeks before the start of training camp for informal skates at Rogers Place. "Everybody is dialed in, everybody is super motivated, everybody is determined, and everybody is in it together," said McDavid, who wants the team to get a jump start on the 2023-2024 season after their playoffs loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.
• The 2023 inductees to Canada's Sports Hall of Fame include wheelchair basketball player Danielle Peers, who was born and raised in Edmonton, along with Edmonton-born curler Randy Ferbey and his team. Ferbey said he hopes the honour will lead to more recognition for Canadian curling teams in the future.

Submissions to the new Edmonton Edge Fund will be evaluated based on the degree to which they make Edmonton a better place to live.

"The fund gives local business owners and entrepreneurs the support they need to not just grow their businesses, but transform our community," Mayor Amarjeet Sohi posted after the fund's launch. His campaign platform included the creation of an innovation fund, though what has launched is less venture-focused than the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund that he cited as a model.

Expressions of interest are due on Sept. 18 for the long-anticipated (and occasionally questioned) fund, which has a total of $5 million to grant in its first phase. Up to $100,000 is available per applicant in the Start Stream for early-stage companies to develop and commercialize their innovations; $250,000 to $1 million is available in the Scale & Grow Stream to help more established businesses increase export readiness, expand into other markets, and diversify.

"While we expect to support some large-scale projects, I am particularly excited about the Start Stream," Sohi said at the Aug. 28 launch event.

Proposals will be evaluated based on the degree to which they create jobs, generate benefits for other businesses, strengthen Edmonton's economy, and/or generate outcomes that benefit Edmontonians.

"We're not targeting specific industries or sectors, per se. We want to keep the net wide," program manager Nik George said at the launch. "But when we're looking at applying specific assessment criteria, we're looking at growth potential (as one component)."

Non-profits are eligible to apply. "We could look at non-profits that run social enterprises, wherein they do have revenue streams and business streams, but they still do ultimately function as a non-profit," George said.

This weekend's activities include festivals for mountain bikes, wildlife, and murals, a bicycle donation drive, celebrations of food and art, and a community listening session.

• Sept. 8-10: Edmonton Mountain Bike Festival at Queen Elizabeth Park
• Sept. 9: Sport Central Bike Drive at various locations
• Sept. 9: Edmonton Wildlife Festival
• Sept. 9, 5pm: Edmonton's Caribbean Community Engagement Session on the proposed African Multicultural Community Centre
• Sept. 9, 3pm: Party in the Park with the Edmonton Mural Festival at Alex Decoteau Park
• Sept. 9-10: Strathearn Art Walk
• Sept. 10: Savour Strathcona in Sherwood Park

Find even more things to do in the Arts Roundup and the Food Roundup.

Photo: Mountain biking enthusiasts are hosting three days of group rides, races, and live music at Queen Elizabeth Park. (EMBFest)