PRIVADA wine+tapas

Pros:
Small and cozy
Fantastic bar
Great atmosphere
Friendly staff and owners
Ever-​changing menu so there’s always something new to try & fall in love with
Decent patio in the summer
Cons:
Pricey; can spend $ 100 and leave feeling hungry
Not open every night of the week
No parking lot, although ample parking through the area

Given our previous experience into «Tapasland» food experience, I wanted to try again and hope for the best. Thank goodness we did!
On a nice and easy spring night, we drove to St. Albert to have dinner at Privada. At first glance you think it can get quite noisy because of the size of the space (a la Canteen, Corso 32, Woodwork). NOT so :-) In fact, there is a nice buzz of chatting, but nothing to make you need to lean over to hear the person sitting across from you. As well, it definitely is a «neighbourhood gem» as I looked around the room and noticed many folks sitting who knew each other across tables.
Our hostess was quite nice and was very helpful with the menu for a few things. We ordered the small Chef’s Board, the mussels dish (LOL…and they were actually ;-)), the small tomato and mozzarella salad (with peaches and pesto… no, the combination was actually quite nice because the early season peaches are not so sweet, rather have a bit of a less sweet taste to complement the pesto), the small dish of fried octopus and the larger size green salad with soppressata. The preparation and plating was very good and there is attention to detail. Also, and it is something I do pay attention to, is the salt content. Salt is good when it brings out the flavour of a dish, NOT so good when it hinders the flavour of a dish. In the case of what we ordered, the only place where I feel it was over salted, was the green salad… there was too much balsamic vinegar with the saltiness of the Feta cheese used.
The sauces used in the dishes all seem to have a creamier base than what I expected, which means that when you dipped your food into it, it stuck to the food versus dripping off (hurrah!). The sauces also didn’t overwhelm the dishes with which they were served, another plus so you can taste the food with the sauce versus the sauce with the food.
We also ordered desserts. Here, my companion picked better than I did which is funny since I am usually the one who picks the crème brûlée. He did, it was chocolate, and it was quite good :-) I ordered the apple tart tatin which was also good, however, here I feel it was too much «tart“and not enough apples and a bit too sweet (which was fine for my companion but not so much for me). Again, it was enjoyed and each palate is different.
My only «real» critiques are: (1) that for the Chef’s board there were only two small wedges of cheese and the rest was meat. I feel it would be better balanced if there were two more small wedges of cheese and perhaps a little less of the meat and maybe one extra slice of bread, one for each person :-) and (2) that there are a few more fish selections since most are meat based. The hostess did indicate that they hadn’t gotten in any Sturgeon and they usually have it, however, it would be nice to see a few. Aside these, it was a delicious evening with very nice service.
If I can, I hope to return and enjoy the food and the space again soon :-)

Privada Wine &Tapas… «Tapas» are a wide variety of appetizers, or snacks in Spanish cuisine according to Wikipedia.
In Privada, in St. Albert, it’s of Argentinean cuisine origin. Doesn’t that sound so Old World, so romantic…
Not only the type of cuisine sounds romantic and adventurous… the experience is absolutely amazing to the taste buds.
I’m Vegan and this review is from my experience and perspective. Though I did come along with my trusted carnivore companions to tell let you know what they thought of the food as well. Truth be told were not so far off from one another.
The Menu is a one pager. No specific gimmicky names but the specific components of the dishes. Which in itself is very beautiful in its simplicity… cause what you get is what you get.
«Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication» — Da Vinci
It’s vegetarian friendly but vegan is a little trickier. And of course, absolutely caters to the carnivore.
Our server, the beautiful girl with the blue eye shadow was so friendly and helpful, I couldn’t help but feel she was a long lost friend. Told me she will ask the kitchen staff if they can do something for a veganite. My long lost family in the kitchen said yes and accommodated a long lost relative into dishes they were able to make vegan.
That is the ultimate in customer service!
I have pics but no names of the dishes. The ones I ate was wonderful and my trusted ones told me the same.
It’s a plate sharing thing. To which many agree ‘sharing is caring’.
My carnivore family told me their oysters were divine and the house-​made butter tasted like Christmas.
The vegan dishes they made were elegant which were a bounty of flavours.
The Privada staff was wonderful!
The atmosphere felt like some place where grape vines nap and where old friends come to unwind to have a laugh.
It’s where one enjoys the comforts of that nice warm feeling you get in your stomach… a meal shared with those you care about most in the world.
Definitely a place to come back too!
It’s an indulgence you won’t forget.
Parking found along the the street in downtown St. Albert. Easy to find.

I really should not review this amazing tapa and wine bar as I would like to keep this hidden gem a secret. This place has a cool atmosphere and great vibe happening. The food, presentation and wines are all so tempting. They source local ingredients and make fresh baked breads. The sharing plates are so delectable, I can’t name all my favourites. You can check their website for the current menu. The staff are very friendly and professional and are happy to help with pairing a wine or explaining the items on the menu. This St. Albert wine bar which is located in the heart of downtown has become quite a hotspot so be sure to make a reservation. A great place to eat either before or after a performance at the Arden Theatre. If you have a passion for food and wines you really should visit Privada. Perhaps I should be quiet now, so I can still get in for a date night.
The short version: A YUMMY SECRET hidden in St. Albert.

Honestly this is the best place to eat in St. Albert. Food and service are exceptional. We are regulars here and it feels like a second home as you are treated like family.
I encourage you to stop in and try it out for yourself, you won’t be disappointed.
We have tried everything on the menu and have yet to find something we didn’t love.
They have opened for brunch in Sunday’s and again they didn’t disappoint, what a great experience!!!

Privada is so amazing! The staff are incredible! The only thing better then the lovely atmosphere is the food. Oh man! I could live on the bread, dairy and charcuterie from there. The brown butter is to die for and the condiments on the bread board are delicious! It’s such a treat to get to mix all the different meats and sauces with the homemade breads! I can’t wait to go back!

Every time I come to Privada, I know it’s going to be a great night whether I’m coming in for a glass of wine with a girlfriend or a group dinner party.
The menu is always changing and focuses on fresh, local, and sustainable goodness!
Popped in yesterday during Rock’n August Nights to a completely full restaurant and patio. Luckily, I was meeting a girlfriend who had space saved at the bar.
Bartender, George was quick to come up with a sour mojito for my request of bubbly and sour and it did not disappoint.
The look and layout of Privada makes the most of the relatively small restaurant. With wall length and corner windows, you get a good view of what’s going on downtown and plenty of light. The patio outside wraps around the block (L shaped) and easily seats another 20ish people. I love the dark colours inside and the hanging lights strung above.
I ordered the sous vied octopus which was AH-​MAZING! So tender, so flavourful, just perfect with housemate tomato sauce, salsa verde, and chives.
I also nibbled on the house made breads, smoked meats, and cheeses offered on the bread plate and charcuterie board. The house made brioche was outstanding! The house cured meats were fabulously paired with artisan cheeses. I was quite surprised by the honey and food grade pollen on the board — phenomenal!
You can check out their current offerings here:
As always, a great night. Looking forward to my next visit. Thanks Privada!

I hope this place stays in St. Albert! amazing little place and the service is fantastic. any wine and cheese places I have high expectations and this one blew my mind! will be back forsure!

I love everything about Privada! A lovely personal space, great staff, and amazing food. Every time we have visited Privada we were warmly greeted, and served promptly! They always offer great recommendations, and every recommendation has been top notch. The service really speaks to what a locally owned business represents. On our anniversary, we visited and this night they were very busy with a very large reso and it appeared a little short staffed, and for the delay we experienced they gave us our duck entrée on the house! We will always return and you should check this downtown gem out!

One of the best charcuterie boards in the Edmonton area! Our favorite St. Albert spot!

Refreshingly unique for St. Albert. Unique tapas and the chef really puts outs unique dishes.
Food: One memorable dish was the fish head: fried and tossed in a sweet chili sauce. Delicious and not something I’ve had in a «Canadian» restaurant. Oysters were fresh, bread plate was really good (especially with the brown butter), pasta, prawns, charcuterie was well done, mushrooms on toast were delicious.
Wine: very good but I was hoping for some higher end wines served by the glass.
Atmosphere: quaint, fun little spot.
Will be back… surprisingly not as soon as I thought I would be.

The waitress was very good at describing the food but to a point where she over-​sold some of the dishes and the food under-​delivered. There was a limited selection of tapas. I had several dishes:
–The brussel sprouts were not exciting and rather plain; I wouldn’t recommend it unless you need to get some greens in your diet
–The charcuterie board was good; had several assortments of cured and aged meats. It was nice to know all the meats are made in-​house. If you’re getting other tapas dishes no need to buy the $ 5 bread for the board because you’ll get plenty of bread with the other dishes
–The tartar turned out to be lamb meat (menu didn’t specify and I had assumed it was beef); I’m generally not big on lamb but the truffle oil masked a lot of the usual lamb taste so it turned out to be good
— I love bone marrow so I was pleased with the bone marrow here as there was miniature diced pickled vegetables to garnish the bone marrow and absorb/​break through a little of the fatty taste
–Escargot was good but simple; seems like it was mainly the butter that made it taste good
— Cassoulet (I think it’s French-​style chili) was good; I wouldn’t have ordered it had the waitress not sold me on it. Felt like a good home-​cooked dish
–Clafoutis for dessert was made to order; it took long (almost 30 mins) to come out but you could see it sinking as it sat and cooled at your table because it was freshly baked. Could’ve used a more generous side of ice cream to go with the portion but overall a nice ending to dinner

I’ve been in to Privada quite a few times in the last year (I actually thought I had reviewed them already) but recently I came in for dinner with 2 very important people: My retired Aunt and my Vegan cousin from Van… Now, that’s when you actually see if a place is 5 stars; can it please everyone? Would we all love it? 100% YES!!!
From the excellent service, phenomenal wine list, quaint patio, it was just amazing. And then there is the food… Chef Tony and his SO soux chef Chelsea rocks my culinary world! The food is always unique, avant-​garde, and most important: delicious! The breadboard is a must. Four fabulous loaves with 2 in house made butters — including a sea salt encrusted brow butter that never fails to give me the «O» face… And I have never written that about any food, ever. Other must haves are whatever meat Tony is currently curing in-​house. As well as the cheese board, which features local Alberta cheeses, from 4 or 5 different spots. As well as the outta-​this-​world apple tartin for dessert.
St Albert, you definitely have the Patron Saint of Culinary Creativity and love in your backyard. Edmontonians, get out to St Albert. NOW!

I was so impressed by Privada that I had to come back and experience it all over again.
With the sun out, we came around the dinner rush and were quite pleased to be seated on the patio. I really enjoyed having a front seat infront of St. Albert’s main street; there was a certain charm of main street’s building that you would be hard pressed to find in Edmonton. My only compaint was the loud trucks that like to tell you how their mufflers work but that really isn’t the fault of Privada.
We started off with some flavored citrus and grapefruit beer which is refreshing when on the patio. For entreés we got the bread plate which had the always great fresh in house baked foccocia and other in house bread samples. The salted butter gave the fluffy spread an extra graze of flavor enough to make the mouth water. The double charcuterie board had pork sausage, duck prosciutto, pork belly bacon, and cured pork shoulder: all of which excellently sliced.
The meat was extremely light with savory dancing on your lips and the bread added that extra comfort.
For small plates, we had these fried potatoe pastries which gave more of an earthy taste. The texture albeit starchy was still smooth and mixed well with the harder crust. We also ordered a plate of asparagus wrapped with parmesean and thinly sliced cured meat drizzled with a butter aioli. It literally is a party on the plate which wants to move to your mouth. I forgot to mention that a perfectly balanced 65 degree egg was sitting nicely on top of everything. Such consistency! Such Flavor!
We had a chance to speak with chef Tony and he also presented us with a tomato tartare with a cream that defied gravity because it was so fluffy and light. I was glad this came out last as it gave our mouths a chance to ground itself instead of being further beaten into flavor overload.
Service was again very good as we had excellent suggestions and were checked up on to ensure we had a great experience. I would love to return again to see what other magics chef Tony will conjure.

I had the opportunity to attend a private event at Privada recently. They have a new fan!
They try to source all of their ingredients locally. This shows immediately in the quality and taste of the food. Fresh is always best.
The patio is lovely with the chrome heaters and a nice view of downtown St. Albert. They are located very near where the Farmer’s Market sets up.
Inside is comfortable, cozy and clean. Great for an intimate meal for two, or small groups.
I highly recommend the Charcuterie Platter. All of the meats are hung and cured in house.
The menu is always changing to keep up with the trends and the fresh, seasonal ingredients. A nice variety and some great pairings available.
Plating and presentation is beautiful and imaginative.
Privada would make a great date night. The Chef and staff make it an experience rather than just another visit to a restaurant.
Try them, you just might like them!

I like finding little restaurants with intimate settings. This place doesn’t disappoint. I had the privilege to partake in the UnilocalofThrones event and was absolutely amazed at the food presented to us.
What we were served I hope will be put on the menu at some point. But if this is any indication of the Chef’s skills, you are in for a treat when ordering food here.
They make their own breads, cure their own meats and feed you well. If you are looking for a cool spot to take your special someone for drinks and some eats, I highly suggest going here.

For a special event, we had the pleasure of trying Privada for the first time this week. The décor at Privada was an ideal space for the event. The staff were friendly, attentive, and helpful. The space was clean and cozy with a nice mix of rustic and modern. I hear their patio will open soon with their propane heaters, which is an added plus. They are in a great central area of St. Albert with nearby walking and shopping.
The chefs at Privada know how to cook and the meat was all excellent! The presentation was perfect and I couldn’t have had a better time.
I am back at work today and can’t stop talking about the amazing fresh bread, the mushroom and apple spread, the charcuterie board, the kale salad with fried garlic, wild rice, and mushrooms — with just the right amount of vinaigrette dressing.
And the Pièce de résistance was the amazing crown roast of pork, supplied by D’Arcy’s Meat Market and cooked to absolute perfection by the Privada chefs! Tender juicy and not a moment overdone!
I wish we could have stayed for desert, which I’m sure was equally as amazing.
We would gladly return to Privada if in the area and will surely recommend them to others.

Wow. Outstanding wine bar in St. Albert. Kalyan is a great host. Had the Gazela Vinho Verde for half price on Wednesday. A very interesting wine.
Had the Duck Confit Cassoulet. Absolutely outstanding. It worked incredibly well with the toasties.
Then the Bahn Mi as a follow up. Saigon never had it so good.
As an appy, Iberico Ham. Good luck finding it somewhere else in the Capital Region. Holy imported, Batman.
Bring a first date here. You’ll get a second one…

A tiny little bistro with room to barely sit 50, Privada is stylish, comfortable, and homey — everything you want in a tapas restaurant. With low lighting and beautifully ambient music, the atmosphere is delightfully charming — enough so that even the TV’s insistence on showing the fireplace channel can’t dampen the mood. The wine selection is excellent; even the ‘lower-​end’ malbecs are full-​bodied and smooth — perfect to pair with a charcuterie plate.
Taner and I started out with the seared maple scallops, served with white wine corn purée on marinated roma tomatoes, as well as the prosciutto-​wrapped asparagus. The scallops were perfectly cooked, with the purée acting as a hollandaise-​esque sauce that complemented them nicely.
The asparagus — oh, the asparagus! I would return to this restaurant simply for the asparagus. I read several reviews before visiting Privada, and almost all of them (the smart ones) made mention of this amazing dish. Please go there. Please try them. You won’t regret it. Also, several of my friends tried the Asian Chicken Skewers, served with wasabi dressing, and pronounced them delicious. However, the Garlic and Artichoke dip (served with the Chips and Dip) wasn’t the best we’ve ever had, and the chips tasted too much like the oil they were cooked in. Oh well, can’t win them all, right?
I’m completely obsessed with cured meats and gourmet cheeses (thanks to my fantastic UK MA friends, who showed me the way) and it was my birthday, so I went Double Butcher. The charcuterie plate can work three ways: select three cheeses, select three cheeses and two meats, or have one of everything. The Double Butcher, as you may have guessed, was a smörgåsbord of all the tasters Privada has to offer. Our plate consisted of:
Dairy: Le Triple Crème (soft), Sir Laurier (soft beige), Bleubry (blue), Le Cendrilon (ash-​covered goat), Contonnier (semi-​firm), and Le Saint Raymond (soft).
Butcher: Westfalin Ham, Prosciutto, Pepper Salami, and Coppa.
Our tasting plate was accompanied with crackers, breads, chutneys, and spreads; my only regret was that we didn’t get one tasting plate each!
The dessert shots — served in shot glasses — were delightful. At $ 2 a pop, you can try a couple of different ones without breaking the bank or having to eat a mammoth-​sized cake, as is too often the case. I tried the Lime Cheese Cake, a mini-​dessert perfect for lovers of key lime.
All in all, I would definitely visit this restaurant again. The food, the wine, the atmosphere, even the service — all perfect. In fact, writing about it now makes me think I should book myself a table again sometime soon…

Privada adds style, variety, and late night wine/​dine to St Albert downtown.
Don’t let Privada’s curb appeal fool you because everything changes when you walk in the door. The 44 seats are a mixture of regular tables, hightops and bar stool and the faux brick walls give it a warmth that reminds me of Montréal. Located right on the corner of Perron and St Anne at the heart of downtown it’s surrounded by many other dining options but none can offer what they have. Tapas has grown in popularity and is one of my favorite ways to eat since variety is the spice of life (and food). I wanted to order many different items but were told that the charcuterie board (called the Butcher Board) was large enough to act as a meal for one so we split this and each had a feature entrée.
The Butcher Board was so full of goodies that a cracker fell off just as he set it down at our table (5 second rule). Four types of cheese, 3 types of cured meats, 3 types of crackers, 5 types of fruit and 2 jams topped off with micro greens and edible flower petals all arranged beautifully will ensure eye-​gasms for any diner. There were so many possible combinations that every single bite was unique. This is true variety and I will probably order this every time.
For our entrees we chose the weekly features: Turkey Burger and a Flatbread. Both come with a side salad and were $ 20/​plate. Two new features are introduced bi-​weekly so there’s always a new dish to try and more variety! The Turkey patty was handmade in house and had good flavor. The flatbread was also handmade and the toppings were tasty yet balanced.
Now I couldn’t go to a wine bar without having a glass and they offer 5oz or 8oz options. I asked for a French Bourgogne and they had a Bourdeaux which is from the same region. I was told that they had a bottle that hadn’t even made the menu yet but was recommended by a regular. I’m happy they take recommendations because it was a great blend.
Finally being open till midnight may not be considered late in some cities but for St Albert it’s huge! This is probably the only place open that late without counting the sports bars.
Great food, excellent service, variety in food and wine and open late makes this my new favorite spot! Try it out for yourself if you don’t believe me.