Monsoon Bistro’s Goldie Hazrah opens Goldie’s in Leduc’s new senior living complex, Telford Mews
by Mary Bailey
Goldie Hazrah never set out to be a restaurateur. “I didn’t even like to cook until I got married,” she says. “We were partners in Haweli (downtown) with another couple, we sold in 2011. When Ricky’s downtown came along it was perfect. It was a morning business—our kids were young and in sports. Then Ricky’s offered the Ricky’s on Gateway, and the opportunity to open a restaurant in the other end of the property.”
Goldie opened Monsoon Bistro and Bar in 2021 in that space. Curtis Comeau, the photographer, told me about this fantastic Indian restaurant with a really nice owner. He was right.
Goldie has a knack for making friends. Greg Christenson of Christenson Development used to meet friends for breakfast at Ricky’s. “Greg was a customer on Saturday mornings,” says Goldie. “I would grab a cup of coffee with them—all good friends.”
When Christenson got involved in Telford Mews—a beautiful new building in Leduc for independent senior living, designed by architect Doug Sollows, built by Fillmore Construction and managed by Christenson—he saw an opportunity to bring Goldie on board.
“We’re finding that integrating (the outside) more broadly is what people want,” says Greg. “We rarely have the opportunity to take a dining room and make it public. But here, the ground floor is all amenities, more than a regular apartment or retirement home has. It’s on a main street and has visibility. It’s fun, uplifting and financially viable. The magic is public and residents mixing.
“A good developer understands the importance of creating community. Not any restaurant can just be slid in, you need a Goldie—she’s curious and chatty—an owner who has the appetite to build relationships.”
A good restaurateur also understands the importance of creating community.
“A lot of seniors go to the Ricky’s downtown and I made a lot of senior friends,” says Goldie. “More than the food is the company. When we open to the public visitors can come have lunch here. Residents can meet their families here.”
Sonny Sung (long-time exec chef at Sorrentino’s, now consulting) joined forces with Goldie to create the menu and train the staff. Goldie met Sonny through Bryan Hall, another member of the Saturday breakfast group.
“It’s my first time working closely with the seniors and I learned a lot,” says Sonny. “I listened to what they wanted, then made the menu.”
Goldie’s is open to residents only for now, but expects to be open to the public later in the summer. The current menu is straightforward, not gourmet, and it was a steep learning curve.
“Some of our clients were accustomed to packaged food, and here we offer a healthier cuisine. Our soups are made in-house, less sodium—minestrone, mushroom, beef barley. Mulligatawny. We make the salads and sandwiches— chicken or salmon or Italian cold cuts— every single day. We make the dressings. We don’t buy commercial 1000 Islands, for example. My goal is to help them understand good food, using good product.
“They love the fresh vegetables, steamed and roasted and they love the mashed potatoes.”
“I love it,” says Goldie. “It is a really good project for me and a good collaboration with Greg’s company. The seniors get variety and a social space where they can meet family and friends.
“Those seniors, they are a gift.”
The print edition of this story has the wrong name for Fillmore Construction. We apologize for that error.