The Out of Bounds Restaurant, located on Cattail Crossing, is bringing in non-golfing diners, thanks to a menu originally designed by Larry Stewart of Hardware Grill fame. The head chef is Brooke Babyak, who worked under Stewart for two years at Hardware Grill.
“We’ve kept a lot of Larry’s classic dishes, we’ve updated some, like the chicken sandwich, and we’ve added some new, fresh ideas,” says Babyak.
And, both her and Mark Beck, a partner in the course and restaurant, have noticed that the restaurant, located in Sturgeon County, near the Edmonton city limits,
is attracting diners from the nearby Edmonton Police Northwest Campus and the Namao military base. Edmonton diners may remember that Beck was once a partner in Red Star.
Looking at the menu, you can’t help but notice some Hardware favourites, like the flat-iron steak, braised short ribs and Korean fried cauliflower. When the restaurant concept was launched, Stewart was brought in on a contract basis, and Babyak ran with those ideas. She makes her own ricotta and uses her own recipe for making brisket. She makes smoked deviled eggs, and has introduced a Sunday family-style menu, which includes old favourites like roast chicken, Yorkshire pudding and roast ribeye.
“Even I wondered: How are we going to get people from the area to come and eat here on the golf course?” she says. “But the owners had a plan, and we are seeing people from the community come here.”
Beck says he’s even met customers who came to Out of Bounds to eat, and didn’t realize till they got there that it was on a golf course. When they arrived, after eating, they looked to see if they could get out and swing the clubs.
And, if the concept is to work, it has to keep bringing in people when the clubs are put away in storage for the winter. Beck says a live music space is opening, and there will be pond hockey, curling and cross-country skiing trails open in the winter. Open-air seating, with fireplaces, will also be available. The idea is to transform the golf course into a winter wonderland experience.
24427 Township Rd. 542, Sturgeon County, 780-973-6696 outofboundsrestaurant.ca
This article appears in the November 2021 issue of Edify
