On June 27th Yelpers from around the YEG came
together for Livin' La Vida
Local! It was a celebration of amazing locally owned businesses
in Edmonton. The best of them were out in full force wowing the guests with
bites, beer, bevies, a booze luge and even a braid bar! The Summer Solstice
kept the sun high in the sky, way into the night, and the crystal clear, glass encased Lexus
Of Edmonton, with its sky high ceiling, was truly a spectacular venue for hosting this smashing event!
From the moment the Yelpers and their guests walked in, they
were treated to tantalizing, tasty bites that ranged from brilliant to mind
blowing! Burrito Libre's
build your own taco/burrito stand had the crowds lining up. The delicate, hand
made ravioli with ricotta paired with asparagus in truffle oil from Cibo Bistro, showcased
the extraordinary culinary prowess of Chef Rosario, to a tee. Other tasty
treats included the truffle popcorn in oh-so adorable, take out boxes from
Century Grill. As well as tantalizing Thai from Melissa’s Thai Cooking School. The Greenhouse Salad
Experience was skewering up delicious and nutritious You Jerk chicken or tofu
salads. Sam, the man who is as
famous in town as his killer Rose Bowl
'za, wowed guests with the crushed pistachio and goat cheese covered red grapes.
While Whimsical
Cake Studio delighted with diet demolishing homemade Oreo cookies,
raspberry s'mores, strawberry lemonade cupcakes, and chocolate covered red
velvet cake pops!
What is a celebration with out fantastic libations? Well
rest assured; from Alley Kat to Yellowhead refreshments were all around.
Both local Breweries in Edmonton were on site and proved once again why We Are The City Of Champions! Kristin K
commented; “Kristin from Alley Kat Brewery made my night with her bubbly personality and
the Grapefruit Beer with real
grapefruit in it.” And the team from Yellowhead Brewing Company was pouring golden draft
crafted by Brewmaster Bryce. Local boys, Mike and Farris from 49th Parallel
Brewing Company were on hand with Craft Beer such as the Watermelon Seed
Spitter and Hoparazzi! For serious
liquor coinsures, the elegant and refined Colombian rums of Juan Santos were being
sampled from the 5 year to 21 year vintages. Monte Scroppino, based on an old
Venetian recipe consisting of vodka, prosecco and lime ice cream delighted
everyone as they came… and went! And then there was SET. Suspended high in the sky up in the SET Night Club frozen lounge, was the
enormous ice sculpture and booze luge pouring and chilling vodka in flavours like fruitloop, orange sorbet and whipped cream!
Music makes the moment and from start to finish the whole
evening had a fun, upbeat feel to it, expertly choreographed by DJ Sweetz
of 104.9FM
Virgin Radio. The girl can spin! Over on the other side of the room, Icon Hair Group was
spinning out fabulous dos in their POP-UP Braid Bar. Sporting the beautiful
braids, as well as smashing fashion, were the 11 models from Lola's Boutique on
Whyte Ave. As if all the goods and glamour inside weren’t enough, there was
excitement and fun out front with the Food Fighter foot truck limo
lounge: From snacking on Chef Paul’s fabulous Magic Mushroom crostini and bruschettas while sitting on
blow-up red couches, to swinging round the aptly placed poles in the gigantic
Blue Sky Limo. Big, bigger, biggest was definitely a theme for the night,
especially out back in the over-sized sports playroom. There was giant Jenga,
life-sized Tic-Tac-Toe and colossal badminton, just to name a few!
A huge thank you to all of the amazing businesses involved.
The night was a smashing success; we raised over $1200 for the Brick Sports
Central, which will help so many deserving children in Edmonton have a summer
full of sport and play. So, well done to all of you that donated.
To reminisce and read reviews, as well as post your own review or share a
story, check out the Event Site
on Yelp.ca. And check out the Flickr Page to see all the amazing photos from the party that were expertly shot by our 4 fantastic photogs, Miss Vicky Lau from Vivid Vision, Benjamin Sim from Benjamin Sim Photography, Wei Tsen from WTsen Photography and Mr Yu, who manned the Oh Canada Photobooth. Until next time, See You On Yelp!
Cheers, Jennie
M. Your Yelp YEG CM.
