If you’ve ever watched the FX show The Bear, the word hospitality might stay simmering in your brain. The show is about a fine-dining chef who returns to his home city to take over his family’s sandwich shop. In a scene from the second season, two characters discuss the word “hospitality” and its connection to both hospitals and restaurants. They realize that at their core, both are about taking care of people.
Indeed, the essence of true hospitality isn’t just about service — it’s about care. It’s about the connections you form with the people who tend to your needs, and the energy you and your fellow diners exchange over a meal. It’s about the way a restaurant makes you feel at home. And Golden Sparrow embodies that feeling so effortlessly, it’s impossible not to be swept up in it.
A large golden sparrow perched in the floral wallpaper greets you into the swanky yet intimate and inviting room. Warm, moody lighting bounces off cozy banquettes made to feel more lively by well-placed greenery, while plush and stylish stools along a green tile bar offer the option of lingering over cocktails crafted with as much care as the decor.
Head chef Mirza Taimoor is at the heart of Golden Sparrow, a new cocktails and tapas joint on 124th Street. Born and raised in Oman, near the coast of the Arabian Sea, his culinary experience bridges the country’s spice markets with the seafood traditions of P.E.I., where the self-taught chef migrated in 2017 to start his culinary career. He moved to Edmonton last year with plans to bring his international expertise to the city, which manifested in Golden Sparrow in January.
“Sparrows actually thrive in environments around the world by building communities. So the vision was to create a place with a concept where everyone can come together to share incredible energy, connections and experiences over shareable plates and cocktails,” Taimoor explains. “We have a very diverse dinner menu to make sure everyone feels like (they have) something from back home.”
To that end, the dinner menu is a thoughtfully selected map of global flavours, each creation an invitation to explore and indulge. The chicken momos, a set of tender, soft dumplings paired with a smoked tomato dip, fuse East Asian and Italian flavours. Golden Sparrow also makes a great migration to South America in the form of zesty chimichurri grilled shrimp paired with plantain chips, and then to southeast Asia with crispy Korean fried chicken with a spicy yogurt marinade.
His sense of fun, diverse innovation also carries over to the drink menu with offerings like Sparrow Sangria, made with a velvety peach purée and fresh berries. Beverages were curated and crafted over rounds of trial and testing, Taimoor says, and he was mindful to include quality zero-proof offerings like Golden 75, a ginger beer complemented with pineapple juice and sparkling water.
Open for dinner six days a week and brunch on the weekends, the menu boasts three varieties of eggs benedict: sautéed mushrooms with truffle hollandaise, short ribs with caramelized onion, and a unique chicken curry with poultry patties and cilantro.
Craft is key for Taimoor, a hobbyist woodworker and aquascaper (that is, he designs fish tanks). He brings a sense of playfulness and presentation to his dishes. But Golden Sparrow isn’t just about what’s on the plate and how it’s plated. True magic lies in its service — a genuine, unhurried care that turns a simple meal into a restorative experience.
“We really try to build good friendships with our customers,” Taimoor says. He wants his menu to forge connections between diners, servers, and global cuisine.
This article appears in the May 2025 issue of Edify
