Backstairs Secret Vegan Cafe

Oh, the facebook fan page. It can really get asses in the seats, if you know what I’m saying. Because, you know, one friend of yours declares themselves a fan of say “Your Mom,” and then, one by one, it spreads like wildfire, as it pops up in everybody’s news feed.  My favorite example of this was when Jeff recently (and accidentally) declared himself a fan of Canadian country supergroup Doc Walker.  He quickly deleted it, but for days after, my news feed informed me that Jeff loved Doc Walker, and maybe I would too?

Anyway, one page I recently became a fan of, after seeing a bunch of my friends do the same, was the Backstairs Secret Vegan Cafe, “Edmonton’s Culinary Speakeasy.”  It’s been quite the facebook phenom, rapidly accruing over 350 fans.   Basically how it works is you visit their website, check the posted menu and then e-mail to reserve your spot.  Be warned, IT’S POPULAR, and therefore tough to get into, but based on some of the previous menus they’ve posted, it’s well worth the wait.  It’s $15 a plate, and you will receive further details via email.  UH, RAD.

I sent off an email to see if I could find out more about the mystery organizer(s,?) behind the Backstairs.  And I did.  I met someone who for the sake of not wrecking the secret-ness I will call “Kevin.”

Kevin is a charming, affable guy who is clearly really passionate about food.  He informs me that this whole “culinary speakeasy” thing is going on all over the place, and that he recently came across a place to live that was so big and inviting, it was pretty much begging him to serve food in it.

“Probably about a year ago, I read this zine called ‘A Chef’s Tale’.  He tours like a band.  He was mostly telling stories about the adventures he had,” explains Kevin.   “[For] part of it,  he included how he used to run a café out of his apartment.”

“I was like, that’s the greatest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Kevin, who doesn’t have a background in food beyond “classes in high school and teenage fast food jobs,”  plans the menus out early in the week, posts them to the website, and invites people to claim one of a limited number of available seats.

“I started out by doing these brunches,” he explains.  “I’ve been doing [them for]2 years. That’s been a really grassroots sort of thing.”

The brunches had Kevin preparing 5 or 6 dishes for larger groups of people.  He says the transition to doing a limited dinner menu for a smaller crowd has been fairly easy.

“It’s much more laid back than brunches are.  I found myself actually standing around waiting to serve.”

Kevin sees the popularity of his underground establishment as a golden opportunity.

“My goal for a long time was to have a place of my own, like a restaurant or café,” explains Kevin.  “This just seems like such a perfect testing ground.”

If you’d like to get in on the eatin’, checkout the Backstairs Secret Vegan Cafe blog. Also worth checking out is Kevin’s personal food blog, Tofuligans, which features a lot of food porn, how-to’s, and other things that are, quite frankly, making me hungry.