Five Places to Try Indigenous Food in Alberta

Here are five places to try for your next food adventure. Each place offers traditional/traditional inspired meals or has food created by an Indigenous chef.

Homefire Grill, Edmonton

From the ambiance to the food, there is plenty to love about Homefire Grill. Established in 2005 by the Alberta Indian Investment Corporation, this restaurant on the west side of the city serves up a variety of options and uses every part of bison. The regional menu includes bannock, bison spring rolls, seafood, elk, and much more. Visit their website for all the tasty details.

Stoney Nakoda Resort & Casino, Kananaskis

Enjoy Indigenous foods with the Rockies as your backdrop. The menu at Stoney Nakoda Resort & Casino includes an elk burger, mountain pickerel, a taco with bison chili, and bannock bread custard pudding. What could be better than enjoying a meal like this with the beauty of nature just outside the window?

Pei Pei Chei Ow, Edmonton

This catering company was founded by Scott Jonathan Iserhoff. The name is from the Omushkegowin (Swampy Cree) language and means “robin.” The menu is inspired by the land, life, and seasons, along with traditional cooking methods. Catering public and private events, you’ll have choices such as bannock with crispy sage, duck liver with black currants, wild mushrooms, Nohtawey chilli, fry fish, and much more.

Graze by Creative Cuisine Catering, Rocky Mountain House

Ambitious Indigenous chef Denia Baltzer used the challenges of the pandemic on the catering industry to take Creative Cuisine in a new and… well… creative direction. After all, it’s in the name! Denia expanded her services to include Graze, which provides beautiful charcuterie food boxes to go. For dates, small groups, or just a treat for yourself there are a variety of sizes (xs, small, medium) along with a yummy s’mores kit. And coming very soon – the ultimate hunter gatherer graze box!

Chef Shane Chartrand, Enoch Cree Nation

You may have known him from his time at the River Cree Resort and Casino in Edmonton or seen him enter the world of celebrity chef stardom on Wall of Chefs, Chopped Canada, and Iron Chef Canada. What you may not know is that Chef Shane Chartrand was part of the Sixties Scoop, and for a long time, did not know where he came from. After learning he was a member of Enoch Cree Nation, he went on to put Alberta on the map when it comes to his passion – Indigenous foods and culture. Now his success includes his own cookbook, so he can bring the food he knows and loves right to your kitchen. Buy a copy of tawâw: Progressive Indigenous Cuisine today so you can enjoy the best in Indigenous cooking at home.

Please respect the latest COVID considerations

No matter where you fall on the spectrum of liking or loathing the latest rounds of restrictions, remember that all of Alberta’s hardworking entrepreneurs are struggling to keep up to the changes on short notice and are legally required to follow the rules. Please be respectful, wear your masks to establishments or when collecting your catering orders, and have your proof of vaccine or negative test ready to show, where applicable. Our local chefs work hard to feed us and give us nights off from cooking. Let’s support them in return.