Page 24 - 04_May-2025

Dining
“
 We have a very
diverse dinner menu
to make sure every-
one feels like (they
have) something
from back home.”
–Head chef Mirza Taimoor
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 tradi-
tions 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 inter-
national 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 in-
credible 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
24 EDify. MAY.25