Everything’s rosy at Dolly’s
From florally pink-papered walls to full-length, rosy sheers and cotton candy-coloured everything, Dolly’s Cocktail Bar is a bold-faced study of all things pink.
The name has nothing to do with Dolly Parton, although with how everything is exaggerated, frilly, and fantastically feminine, most everyone assumes that’s the case.
“Mimi was our first choice for a name because that’s Emma’s nickname,” explains co-owner, Kyla Kazeil referring to managing partner, Emma Frazier, “but there’s already a place in Edmonton called that so we had to choose something different.”
Dolly’s works. It’s fun with a bit of 60s flair. Throw on a muu-muu and you’ll fit right in.
This is the third restaurant that Kazeil and her husband, Justin Der have opened. Investing in employees by offering partnerships to those with the “right-stuff” is standard operating procedure. It’s not hard to understand why their staff remain deeply committed to their bosses.
With Dolly’s, this power couple can claim yet another winning concept. They’ve aced the decor, the food and the drinks, just like they have with Fu’s Repair Shop and The Common. Every Kazeil-Der project is unique with intriguing decor, interesting food and rock-solid cocktails. Dolly’s is no exception.
The culinary program comes courtesy of Josh Nhan who creates dishes inspired by his Vietnamese-Peruvian ancestry. “I was nurtured by the women in my family,” he says of the guidance (both in and out of the kitchen) he received from his Peruvian mother and her sisters. “And Winnie gave me a lot of confidence,” he says, referring to Chef Winnie Chen, managing partner of Fu’s who guided Nhan in bringing his creative ideas to life. “She told me not to bend too much in my vision.”
Nhan’s vision is to represent the maternal side of his blended heritage and do justice to the cuisine by offering foods like Andean corn nuts, patacones (fried plantain), and empanadas made from his mother’s recipe. “Peruvian food is pepper-driven. I use different types, but the aji amarillo is the beloved pepper of Peru.”
If you order the chicarones (fried chicken with sweet potato and squash doughnuts), that particular pepper is responsible for the yellow hue, mid-level heat and underlying raisin-like sweetness in the accompanying aioli.
The cocktails at Dolly’s follow in the footsteps of Fu’s, which means creative, boozy concoctions with fun names.
The passionfruit-laced Love Hangover is highly recommended as is the blackberry-infused, mezcal-based Dolly’s Dreamhouse, or any cocktail that comes with a tiny umbrella or piece of Double Bubble clothespinned to the side. The hottest seats in town are out back on the patio, a midcentury modern grotto where drinks are served from a pink-and-coral vintage camper draped in miniature disco balls.
“It’s hard to have a bad time here,” says the bartender as she slides a Pornstar martini our way.
Empanadas and cold drinks sound pretty good for August, no matter where you find a seat—outside under a sea of paper lanterns, or inside beneath a sea of fuzzy pink tassels in a room bathed in a rosy glow.
Come for the food and stay for the fun. Find Dolly’s at 9902 – 109 Street, Edmonton.
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