The Tomato celebrates 30 years of community

The Tomato is celebrating its 30th anniversary, but the party it's throwing with its September-October issue is more about the community than the publication. The lead feature, called Game Changers, includes 55 entries on people who have taken Edmonton's food scene where it is today. "Take Daniel Costa (of Corso 32 Group)," publisher and editor-in-chief Mary Bailey told Global News Morning. "When I first met him, I think he may have still been in high school, and he was working in the deli at the Italian Centre Shop, and even then, you knew he had something special."

Some Game Changers have been at it nearly as long as Bailey, or longer. Siu To, aka the Green Onion Cake Man, started his first restaurant in 1980, though he's as likely to be found on the golf course as in the kitchen today. The Spinelli family opened the first Italian Centre Shop in 1959, and Game Changer Teresa Spinelli has grown it into a mini-empire while supporting the original shop's community since taking the reins in 2000.

Game Changers of more recent vintage include Winnie Chen, the visionary behind the award-winning concept Fu's Repair Shop. She has also had a hand in The Common, Dolly's Cocktails, and Boa and Hare, the latter being an effort to be a catalyst for Chinatown. Also on the list are Scott Iserhoff and Svitlana Kravchuk of Bernadette's for raising the profile of Indigenous cuisine; Ben Staley for his work on Next of Kin, named one of Canada's Best Bars for 2026; and Taylor Falk for Sea Change Brewing Co., which has become a big name in craft beer and spirits.