GOOD SHOW!
Next Act has a hit with brunch
New York has Sardi’s and London has The Ivy, but fans of Edmonton’s vibrant theatre scene know that if they want to hang out next to their favourite actors, they should grab a table at The Next Act Pub.
For a quarter-century, this Old Strathcona institution has been a go-to spot for cast, crew and audience members connected to the city’s close-knit artistic community.
Is that Citadel mainstay John Ullyatt by the window with his aerialist wife, Firefly Theatre cofounder Annie Dugan? Did playwright Stewart Lemoine just drop in for a snack?
The proximity to several nearby playhouses and the annual Fringe Festival is part of the draw. The burgers — with such names as The Drama Queen and The Critic — sandwiches and other casual lunch and dinner dishes are consistently good, too.
Brunch might seem less of a thing in a restaurant popular with the stereotypically late-hours performing arts crowd, but the place was hopping during a recent visit, a mix of toddlers, their attentive parents and bearded guys in ball caps and the occasional man bun.
The large, bright picture windows look over five small picnic tables on the sidewalk outside, a perfect spot in nice weather to watch the shoppers wandering along 104th Street.
Inside, a changing art show adorns the walls — a series of colourful circles and dots by Maril Murray was on sale, with half the proceeds going to the Edmonton Food Bank — and old black-andwhite movies play soundlessly on TVs overhead.
If the friendly, chatty servers aren’t the cliched unemployed actors, they could certainly act the part.
The brunch menu tends toward the tried-and-true, featuring such standbys as steak and eggs ($16), French toast ($13) and the eggs-bacon-hash browns-toast Hangover Breakfast ($13), which fortunately only one person at our table really needed. But she opted instead for the veggie eggs Benedict ($14), substituting sauteed mushrooms,
avocado and tomato for the traditional ham, salmon or bacon.
It was a good choice, lighter and without the grease that fried meat can create in a benny, while still leaving a creamy mouth feel from the avocado.
A friend from southern Ontario raved about his huevos rancheros ($14). He delighted in the redgreen-yellow colour palate produced by the house-made salsa, guacamole, green onions and runny fried eggs in a nicely spiced dish that wasn’t too salty. As he put it, “for me, it was the layering of the taste.”
The pulled pork melt ($15) was less satisfying. The pork, served topped by a poached egg in a bowl over hash browns baked in a cheese sauce, was tender and had a good smoky flavour, but the combination of heavy ingredients created a bit of a stodge that not even the pea shoots could save.
Another cavil is the lack of fresh juice, although, as our server brightly pointed out in a pub known for a good selection of regionally brewed draft, “we have fresh beer.”
Overall, The Next Act produces a brunch that sticks to the script for a satisfying weekend event without soaring to the peaks of high drama.