Coming Home to Eat at Uncle Ed’s
Sandi Senko has been with Uncle Ed’s Restaurant for more than 12 years now. Like many of our staff, she wears a lot of hats, such as cooking, cleaning, baking, repairing, and supervising a team of more than 10 people. Like the rest of that same staff, she cares about what goes into our meals because it is important for her to stand behind what we serve to our customers. She wants their culinary experience to be more than just eating at a restaurant. In fact, she wants them to think of it as coming and visiting in Baba and Gido’s kitchen.
“I like to think that every meal triggers some of those warm memories of childhood, and that with a simple bite we are able to bring some of the past to the present,” she says and smiles. “Creating a welcoming atmosphere has always been one of our family values, starting way back with Wotyko, then with Ed, and is still living well to this day. We serve food that we are proud of, and for many of us, food that is a positive reflection of our Ukrainian culture.” Sandi Senko
Senko goes on to explain that Uncle Ed’s is the ideal environment for families to sit down and share a meal of authentic Ukrainian foods. Most plates cost less than $12 and are so jammed with large portions that two children can even share the same plate. She laughs and says we must be doing something right because we are consistently rated as the best Ukrainian restaurant in Edmonton.
She goes on to say that most people don’t know that Uncle Ed’s is more than just a restaurant, and that it also has a deli. Edward E. Stawnichy wanted an eating experience that didn’t begin and end with sitting down for a plate of Ukrainian food. He gave clear directions that the deli showcase was always stocked, no matter the time of day, so customers could grab the same food they just ate for later on at home that evening or the next day. You never know when that craving for comfort food might hit.
But her favourite thing to do for her customers is definitely baking pies in the kitchen. “Oh, I love baking,” she says with a twinkle in her eyes. “My Baba was a cook and baker, so I inherited a natural knack for making a pie crust from scratch. It’s almost an art form because it has to be both flaky and tender so it melts in the mouth. And true to my Ukrainian heritage, when the season is right I go and pick berries from my Dad’s farm, and freeze them for some of the pies. It’s not something I can do all the time, but it gives me extra happiness knowing the berries are fresh!”
From growing the berries to picking them and baking them in the pies, this is what we are as a family at Mundare Sausage – we put all of our passion and love into our ingredients and only serve a sausage that we proudly call world famous. So come visit us again or for the first time, and bring your family in to see us for an authentic Ukrainian meal just like Baba used to make. Hopefully you slip away into memories of the smell of pies baking in the oven, perogies boiling on the stove, sausages sizzling in the pan, and the sound of laughing as you bounce on Gido’s knee. One bite and you’ll agree that we’ve got your Ukrainian culinary experience covered.