Winnipeg - Places and Poker - High Stakes
Winnipeg
I won't lie to you: It was a girl. (Hey, isn't it always a girl?) If I hadn't met her by the pool at Bellagio, I might never have discovered Winnipeg: Canada's hotbed of hip at latitude 20 degrees north.
Chances are you may never get to Winnipeg. You might never meet a girl from there (or guy from there), or have business dealings with their biotech giants Cangene, Biovail, or Monsanto Canada, or get the urge to visit the birthplace of rock bands The Guess Who, Bachman-Turner Overdrive or Crash Test Dummies.
Well... your loss. 'Cause Winnipeg rules.
Okay, the winters can be a little grim. Wind is the big thing in Winnipeg, especially at the downtown intersection of Portage and Main -- the windiest spot in North America. And not for nothing, but whether the wind chill factor is minus 20 or minus 20, it's still damn cold!
But in the summer, the 'Peg blooms. Days last forever, girls wear as little as they can get away with, and the outdoor bar scene gets just sick. Winter or summer, here are my favorite Winnipeg drink hangs:
BEST BARS OF WINNIPEG
SHANNON'S IRISH PUB. No Canadian city (hell, no self-respecting city anywhere) is complete without a great Irish pub, and Shannon's is Winnipeg's place to get your Guinness on. Especially cool because it's underground -- hidden beneath the streets of downtown Winni.
COLLECTIVE CABARET. The alt-music scene in Winnipeg is a lot fresher than you'd guess. Think Seattle in the '90s. For a taste of the best, check out Collective Cabaret in Osborne Village. Bands like Hide Your Daughters and Angelic Decay will blow you away.
G'S MARTINI BAR. Also in Osborne Village, G's set me up with one of the best martinis I ever had. With sushi on the side and eye candy everywhere, it's the sort of place you can invest some serious evening hours.
WINNI EATS
Man does not live by martinis alone, so when the food bug bites, here are some joints to try.
Don't ask me why, but Winnipeg has a world class Ethiopian restaurant in MASSAWA. Beef, lamb, chicken, veggie... all done up spicy East Africa style. You'll wonder how it got here but you won't be disappointed.
If you're hungry late, or just want to check out they who are, there's no place but PAPA GEORGE'S. Pizza, Greek, great seafood (thousands of miles from the ocean -- how?) and all available till four in the morning. You'll never go to bed hungry while George is on the job.
LA VIEILLE GARE is the most must-eat restaurant in Winnipeg. French cuisine. Great service in two languages. And your host is named Linda Love. How could you possibly go wrong? Be sure they seat you in the hundred-year old train car they've tricked out for dining.
ROYAL CROWN REVOLVING RESTAURANT. I make it a rule never to eat any place that moves, because they probably sacrifice food for the view. But the RC is the exception that proves the rule. Dine at sunset -- they last forever in summer -- and you'll get the best of both worlds: a stunning view and a great meal to boot.
And let's not forget EARLS MAIN STREET, home of the hottest waitresses in Winnipeg (and yeah, V, of course I'm just saying it 'cause of you.)
THE PLACE TO STAY
You can have your Radissons and your Sheratons -- Winni has both and they're both quite fine -- but for old school Winnipeg lodging, there's really only one place to stay, and that's the Fort Garry Hotel. You get the feeling that everyone working there is doing their part to extend a reputation for "doin' it right" that goes back almost a century now. Close to everything -- a national landmark and travel destination in and of itself -- "the Fort" has everything, including, bar none, the best Sunday brunch in town.
FIVE THINGS TO DO WHILE YOU'RE THERE
THE FORKS MARKET. A restoration paradise of shops, bars and restaurants.
PADDLEWHEEL RIVER ROUGE TOUR. No better way to see the River City than from the waters of the Red and Assinboine Rivers.
MANITOBA MUSEUM. Find out what's where you are, and what's always been there, from people of the First Nations forward.
ASSINBOIA DOWNS HORSE RACING TRACK. Operated non-profit by the Manitoba Jockey Club, the Downs offers live racing only in the summer, but it's a classic, and a class act.
FORT WHYTE CENTER. Get out in it! 200 acres of virgin marshland. The whole world used to be like this.
DO THEY HAVE POKER IN WINNIPEG?
You bet your sweet ass they do. Both the McPHILLIPS STREET STATION CASINO and the CLUB REGENT CASINO have poker, but I gotta give the nod to the Regent 'cause it also has a walk-through aquarium. Guess they take the idea of card sharks literally. Anyway, it's too cool for school, and not to be missed.
FESTIVALS
Winnipeg has some kick-ass festivals. Here are a few of the best.
If you happen to be in Winni in the winter, make sure it's during LE FESTIVAL DU VOYAGEUR, western Canada's largest winter festival. For ten days each February, Winnipeg's French quarter celebrates the era of the Voyageurs: the French Canadian fur traders who explored this part of Canada 300 years ago.
WINNIPEG FRINGE THEATRE FESTIVAL. No one does Fringe like the Canadians. For staged weirdness that's off the scale, check out Winnipeg's Fringe -- North America's second largest -- in late July.
Also in July, July first to be exact, are the CANADA DAY celebrations, that sprout like mushrooms all over town. Check out the Canadians being Canadian. Who knows? You might even learn the words to O Canada.
FAMOUS WINNIPEGGERS
- Magician DOUG HENNING
- Yummy actress ANNA PAQUIN
- Let's Make a Deal's MONTY HALL
- Comedian DAVID STEINBERG
- And the one and only NEIL YOUNG
AND SOME WINNIPEGGERS YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF
- ROD BRUINOOGE, founder of Abject Modernity Creations
- BETH TORBERT, edgy alt-rocker known as BifNaked
- Chess champ ABE YANOFSKY
- Curling champ DON DUIGUID
- And CHARLES THORASON, who designed and named Bugs Bunny
Yeah, it was the girl. It's always the girl. But who knows? Maybe you'll meet the girl, too. If she's from Winnipeg, she'll be sensible and wholesome... and hot. And if she takes you home to meet the 'rents, you'll know what to do while you're there.
