Magpie Adventures

Transcript for Eps 03 - Dinner at Otto
Lisa:
Hello friends! Welcome to season 1 of Magpie Adventures, a show about how we feel in the spaces we share. I’m Lisa Pruden. Thanks for being here in this space, where a past version of me speaks to a future holding the present version of you. What are we up to? Maybe there’s a kettle on.
The theme of this season is Togetherness. That sense of gathering out in the world with old friends and new. And I’ve got 3 great examples - 3 episodes - each with a different vibe.
This is episode 3, and it’s about gathering over dinner. We are going to Otto, a restaurant here in Edmonton where conversation and community are what it’s all about.
Otto is located on the corner of 114th avenue and 95th street. The bus route number 5 stops just out in front.

Nat:
Hi, are you Lisa? Hi, I'm Nat. So nice to meet you. Thanks for coming in.

Lisa:
Thanks for having me.

Lisa:
Friends, this is such a warm space to walk into, especially coming in from the cold. The vibes are friendly and cozy. We are arriving early, before the restaurant is open because we get to hear how the team at Otto creates this community oasis.
Let’s start in the kitchen where we get to meet Noman and Curtis.

Noman:
Hi. My name is Noman bin Alam.

Curtis:
And my name is Curtis di Georgio.

Lisa:
Noman tells us what they’re working on.

Noman:
In every restaurant, you have to make everything ready for servicing, because service cook and prep cook is totally different. Prep cooks helps service smoothly. So whenever service starts, we have to make sure that how fast we can serve, because we don't have that time. So yeah, that's what I'm doing, the preparation for service.

Lisa:
There is a rhythm in this kitchen. Noman and Curtis have a flow that is fun and steady. They are focused and smiling as they show us this behind the scenes magic. Curtis tells us about one of the meals he’s prepping.

Curtis:
So what we have here is our pulled pork. And so, you know, I'm big on comfort food. You know, my mom was from Texas, and what we love in the south is comfort comfort food, you know, something you can feed a crowd with, and that hopefully will please everybody. So this is our pulled pork. We put it on a bun with just a little bit of coleslaw and some pickled onion, and we also put it on our mac and cheese, which is really good. Makes the carbs go down easy. And, yeah, so this, this barbecue sauce. It's really simple. It's just three ingredients. It's our house made curry ketchup, some brown sugar and some apple cider vinegar. And it's just the balancing of these, you know, these, the sweetness, the acidity, and then you just have some of the curry ketchup. So I'm a big fan of it.

Lisa:
It sounds so good. While the fellas work their kitchen magic, let’s head back to the dining space to meet Ed Donszelmann, the owner of Otto. He is sitting at the bar and is just a very welcoming kind of person. For him, creating a space for people to gather is a literal dream made true.

Ed:
Okay, so Otto is a little neighborhood cafe in the Alberta Avenue neighborhood. We have been here for eight years. We've got one large communal table that will seat 16 to 18 people, three booths that seat six each and nine, nine other tables. Our seating capacity is approximately 50 to 60. It's a cozy little neighborhood restaurant. The dream came from the Netherlands, where I fell in love with the Dutch cafe culture. The rooms are a little bit quieter, except for people noise. Music is quiet. There's no TVs. The whole idea is that people come and visit with each other. That, yeah, that was, that was the dream, and it's kind of happened. We also have seating at the bar for 10. It's one of my favorite spots to sit.

Lisa:
The bar sits at the back of the dining space, just before the hall to the kitchen and washrooms. As we sit here, Ed tells us about Otto’s design.

Ed:
Yeah, so we've got some pendant lights. I don't even know how to how to describe the orange ones that hang over the booths and the communal table. And then we've got some patio little, tiny patio lights, that you would see over top of like someone's home garden. And again, to add to the coziness, we try to keep the lights low, slightly dimmed. For flooring, it looks like wood, but it's a ceramic tile. And again, with the wood look, there is lots of wood in the space. The bar is wood. The tables are all wood. We've got cinder block wall painted a lovely shade of green, giant O T T O on the cinder block wall to let people know where they are.

Lisa:
Standing in the warm light and openness of the dining room, there is a real sense of belonging. Like I can arrive with loved ones, and just be.

Ed:
It is a gathering place. It is a meeting place. We talk about the third place, you have your home as your first, your work, maybe your second and your third place should be your little local and wherever that happens to be, whether it is auto or somewhere else. I really hope that people do have that third place, that meeting place that they feel comfortable and love to spend time with friends and family. You know, our tagline is, eat with people you love. So, yeah, that's, that's what Otto is all about. The staff are very, very welcoming. We're kid friendly. We're only open in evenings, five nights a week, Tuesday through Saturday, five till nine. So very short hours, which, yeah, I love.

Lisa:
The care that went into creating this restaurant just resonates throughout the space. Like a hug from an old friend.

Ed:
I love this space. It took about 10 months to build, and I, during that whole process, I told my two builders that it was really, really important to me that I could look back on the time that we were building Otto and have nothing but fond memories. Of course, there were some stresses, but overall, yeah, it was really important to me that lots of fond memories, and I think that the joy that we had building this place has translated into the feeling of Otto. Yeah, it's a quiet but joyful space.

Lisa:
Thank you to Ed Donszelmann and the whole Otto team for welcoming us into your space. Special shout outs to Nat Shepherd, who greeted us on arrival and made sure I had access to everything. And to Curtis di Georgio and Noman bin Alam for sharing their prep work. It was such a treat to be in the kitchen.

Friends, there will be a link to Otto in the show notes where you can see their hours and menu. I hope you feel inspired to find your third-spaces, wherever they may be.

This podcast is created by yours truly, here in Amiskwaciwâskahikan (ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ ). Edmonton, Alberta in Treaty 6 territory.
If you have ideas for vibes and locations, email me at HI MAGPIES AT GMAIL DOT COM. Or find me on Instagram at HI UNDERSCORE MAGPIES.
Thank you for listening and sharing this time together. It means alot.

I’ll leave you with the joyful sound of Otto’s full dining room.

Stay safe, keep trying out there.