You read the word kommune, and you probably think communal, or community. And you’d be right — Google translate detects it as a Norwegian word meaning municipality. But the owners of Kommune Snack Bar — which recently opened on Jasper Ave a few blocks before it turns into 124 street — want it to be much more than a good place to snack in the city. “We’re building a space where people gather, share, and engage in something beyond just food and drink,” says co-owner Richie Dimitriou.
Dimitriou grew up in St. Albert, and started his hospitality career at the age of 12 by making pizza for a family friend’s restaurant. When he came of age, he bartended at places like Savoy, New City Likwid Lounge, and the U of A’s Power Plant and Room at the Top. His corporate career took him to places like Munich, Berlin and London, where he “studied how spaces bring people together, how flavours tell a story, and how atmosphere shapes experience.”
Co-owner Kevin Jepson grew up in St. Albert too (the pair became best friends in their early 20s), and he brewed up a career in Edmonton’s late-’90’s coffee scene at places like Café Le Gare and Sugar Bowl. Then, a one-year teaching job in South Korea became a two-decade journey to nearly every continent on Earth, during which he experienced “everything from underground Tokyo speakeasies to avant-garde dining in Istanbul,” all along refining his vision of what a great gathering place should be.
While living in Berlin, Dimitriou learned about wohngemeinschaften, or communal living arrangements in homes with more than three unrelated adults, and says “the alternative social structures they created, that spirit of shared experience, radical hospitality, and breaking conventional molds resonates with us.”
The word also references casual, Berlin-style snack bars with savoury flavours, diverse influences, and bread. To reflect that spirit, Kommune serves really good bread in the form of Zaatar bread (sourced from The Happy Camel, a local mediterranean pita bakery) topped with Lamb Tartare. As for choosing lamb tartare, Dimitriou says “That came from chef Christine Sandford and plays on the classic Gyro dish in Greece. It’s also a late-night staple throughout Europe.”
Along with the St. Louis Side Ribs, the tartare is the closest thing to a main-course dish on the menu. So, we supplement with Crispy Potato Cake (with crème fraîche, salmon roe and chives) that looks dense but is actually very light, and Marinated Sheep’s Feta covered in cold pressed canola oil, chili, garlic, oregano and sumac — which ends up being the most flavourful dish on our table.
So at the end of this wintery work week, we’ve successfully gathered in Kommune, and shared a snacky meal. But as for the “something beyond just food and drink” the owners wish to impart — that comes from things like the classic records on the wall behind the bar (only the coolest Kommune kids can name them all), and the expert staff who know just when to gently butt in on a conversation they couldn’t help but overhear. Because in the wrong atmosphere, a server eavesdropping on your conversation about the correct pronunciations of famous directors’ names would be a faux pau, but at Kommune, it’s welcomed (apparently it’s “skor-SEH-zee,” not “skor-SAY-zee”; “COO-brick,” not “CUE-brick”…and no one on Earth knows how to correctly say Ralph Fiennes).
Whomever you end up talking to, you’ll find a chat-friendly atmosphere here. Because after separate, continent-spanning adventures, these co-owner comrades have channeled their lived experiences into Kommune Snack Bar, blending global influences with a deep-rooted love for hospitality in the city they call home.
Kommune Snack Bar
Wîhkwêntôwin | 11931 Jasper Ave, Edmonton | 780.244.3594 | kommunesnackbar.ca
