New Williams-Sonoma a Mouth-watering Experience

I spent a giddy hour this morning at the newWilliams-Sonoma, the American gourmet food and housewares chain set to open Saturday at the West Edmonton Mall. I left feeling lightheaded and slightly drunk as I wandered back to the parking lot, although nothing alcoholic had passed my lips.It was just intoxicating, being surrounded by so much good taste. Now that I am back at my computer, though, my pulse has quit racing and I am thinking more practical thoughts, such as, should I make a car payment this month Or buy aCuisinart Multicooker Know this will be your dilemma, too, if you venture inside the 7,000 square feet of divine dreams (located right across from the Apple store, where people were lined up to purchase the new iPhone 5 before the store had even opened. We Albertans know how to consume.)Shannon Gomes, public relations manager at Williams-Sonoma head officein San Francisco, says that this, the seventh Canadian store, was opened in response to consumer demand."People were driving all the way to Calgary to visit our store," says Gomes, on site to help open the new shop.Thank God that's all behind us now. Now we need only head a teeny bit west to discover what Gomes calls a "curated selection" of the very finest in kitchen and dining tools and accessories, plus a wide variety of exquisitely niche foods. Many of the items are exclusive to Williams-Sonoma, or are co-branded in conjunction with the best manufacturers in the world, including the emerald green line of Le Creuset pots and dutch ovens.Gomes walks me slowly through the store, which carries 4,000 products, gesturing gracefully toward the French porcelain (white, naturally), and the harvest-themed table ware (from pie plates to linen napkins). There's a demonstration kitchen in the centre of the store, and something fresh is always coming out of the oven. It smells like cinnamon, which, as everybody knows, isa scent designed to lift money from your wallet.Numerous shelves are devoted to cookbooks and canning accessories, including tiny chalk-board style labels that you could affix to your homemade apple butter, if you were so inclined. Knives, Japanese or German, are sealed behind glass, but an expert in cutlery is at the ready to provide pertinent details. A Vitamix Blender the size of a fire-hydrant made me briefly wonder if I had thesort of nerve required to make a smoothie. And don't get me started on the gourmet eats. Celebrity chef Thomas Keller (The French Laundry, Per Se) has a line of mixes and ingredients (including gluten-free flour) so that even people who can't cook at all, can. I very badly wanted the Osso Buco braising base.It all takes a little getting used to for a simple Prairie girl, but here's the thing. Chef Casey Bond is there to help. The Red Seal chef and Edmontonian is now onfull-time at Williams-Sonoma, and already overseeing an impressive regime of cooking classes, and guest chef demonstrations.(Cute story. Bond, a NAIT grad who has cooked at Zinc, Von's, Chop, and Healthfare, began a letter-writing campaign several years ago, trying by sheer force of will to talk Williams-Sonoma into coming to YEG. She was at the mall with her mom when the hoarding went up outside the new store, announcing its pending arrival. FirstBond teared up, then she applied for the store chef's position, and got it.)To its credit, Williams-Sonoma is making a big effort to embrace the local culinary culture. Saturday, when the store opens to the public,chefs and bakersfrom Edmonton food shops and restaurants will be on-site in Williams-Sonoma, demonstrating their products and services from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.. Sunday, demos run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Watch for Bon Ton Bakery, The Art of Cake, CraveCupcakes, Lux Bar and Grill and Greens, Eggs and Ham."I'm trying to promote local as much as I can," says Bond.