• Noorish is hosting a speed dating night for vegetarians and vegans! Check it out on February 9, 2012.
• I had heard that The Common would be hosting a series of guest chefs, and it sounds like their first will be the fine folks behind Filistix. $30 will get you a seat at the table on February 18, 2012 for a five-course family-style dinner of Filipino favourites. There will be a seating at 6pm and another at 8:30pm.
• It might still be winter, but spring really is just around the corner, and the time is ripe to think about farm tours – such as this one of four local farms being organized by Slow Food Edmonton in May.
• Valerie and Karlynn attended Brittney Watt’s most recent pop-up dinner at the Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market. She held another one tonight, themed around raw food – did anyone attend?
• Nello’s, a St. Albert Italian favourite, opened a location in south Edmonton back in December (2820 Calgary Trail).
• Famoso continues its Neapolitan reign over the local pizza scene, with another location at West Edmonton Mall.
• Liv reviewed the java and food at Cafe Tiramisu – looking forward to checking it out myself.
• Good luck to Jan Trittenbach of Packrat Louie at the upcoming Gold Medal Plates competition. Represent!
• Speaking of representation, I was sad to see that there is only one competitor from Alberta on the second season of Top Chef Canada (and from Calgary, at that). If one of the ten chefs who work in Ontario isn’t crowned the winner, it’ll be an upset. The show debuts on March 12.
• This “food truck court” in the World Financial Centre in New York seems to be a little more exciting than the semi-permanent pods in Portland. I love that the carts change on a daily basis – isn’t that the point of mobile vendors?
• Mercer Tavern just put up a “coming soon” sign in the window (they will be one of the ground floor tenants in the Mercer Warehouse on 104 Street and 104 Avenue). Make sure to follow their progress on Twitter.

Mercer Tavern

• Mack checked out Public House last week, the latest offering from the Oil City Hospitality Group. He appreciated the local beer options of Aprikat and Yellowhead on draft, though ultimately chose to try Labatt’s “local” brew of 780 Lager. In terms of the interior, he found it to be pleasing, if not predictable – the usual dark wood and standard bookcases (remarking that it must be big business to furnish the “pub look”).  Mack commented that the music selection of Top 40 didn’t quite seem to match the decor, however.

Public House

• As soon as we heard that the next Pecha Kucha would be held at the Garneau, we knew where we’d be heading for our pre-show dinner: La Poutine.

Quebecois and pizza poutines

• Jill and I took in Asani at the Blue Chair Cafe over the weekend (great show; such amazing harmonies). It was a good excuse to try out some of their specials, given their new-ish head chef has been encouraged to make the Mexican food so near and dear to her heart. Jill really enjoyed her fish tacos (the salsa verde in particular was great), while my pulled chicken enchiladas were flavourful and comforting. We shared the pavlova for dessert, and though the accompanying fruit was colourful and visually appealing, it was far from “seasonal”, as claimed on the menu. The meringue itself was great though, not too sweet and with a lovely, crumbly texture.

Fish tacos

Pulled chicken enchiladas

Pavlova

• I was Mack’s lucky guest at the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce’s Chamber Ball, which took place at the Shaw Conference Centre last Friday. It was one of the swankiest events I’ve ever attended (though a full-length gown was optional!). The standout dish was the beef tenderloin (cooked to a medium rare perfection – amazing considering the number of plates turned out), with a smoky, sultry mole sauce. The entertainment was also great – the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra was en pointe, as usual, and though we missed Tom Cochrane’s “Life is a Highway” finale, he managed to get people boogying out on the dance floor!

Beef tenderloin with mole sauce

With the symphony (even though we look like we were photoshopped in)

Have a great week!

• Everything Cheese is hosting an open house on February 8, 2012 (there’s a 10% coupon at the end of the e-mail as well).
• Liane announced that Highlands Kitchen has been sold to Darren Zwicker and Maria Chau of Cellar Door. Hopefully some of the menu items that were featured on the recently filmed episode of You Gotta Eat Here will be preserved!
• Chris pointed me to a CBC piece about De Dutch, a popular BC-based breakfast chain that is set to move into the Cambridge Lofts this June.
• Maki and Liane posted reports of how the first ever Dishcrawl event in Edmonton went. While it looks tasty, and I like the idea of a food crawl (especially one that encourages pedestrianism), the fact that Sabzy was only given $4 to cover food costs, one has to think the profit margins for the organizer are unbelievably high.
• Liane had a feature on the trend of restaurants merging philosophies of lifestyle and food.
• New Level Pizza sounds an awful lot like an underground supper club – invite- and members- only, it is a way for Chad Moss and Jeff Johnson of Transcend to share their love of pizza.
• Also from Kevin – a video montage of what you missed at the latest pop-up dinner from Nomad Mobile, in celebration of Robbie Burns Day.
• Wanted a second opinion on Vivo? Here’s one from Liv.
• Phil posted on an easy-t0-miss family-run eatery, Lan’s Asian Grill.
• Hot on the heels of City and Dale’s list of restaurants to try in 2012, Cream and Sugar put forth their favourite places to eat in Edmonton.
• Love macarons? Then you have to take a look at Valerie’s recap on Mirabelle Macarons’ Taste Tripping class that happened earlier this month.
• I was sad to hear about Saxby’s bankrupcy – it will affect small businesses like Van Os Dairy (who will not be at the City Market for the next few weeks, and until they secure an alternate manufacturer).
• Sounds like Calgary had a great event over the weekend called Calgary Eats, featuring a panel discussion about some of the issues that chefs trying to source locally face. Jennifer Cockrall-King recaps it here.
• In a related story, the Calgary Herald asks: does Calgary have food deserts? I’d be interested in seeing similar data in Edmonton, cross-referenced against the current restrictive covenants.
• Have you seen the recent McDonald’s campaign, targeting parents by using mommy bloggers as their spokespeople? I can imagine it is scarily effective.
• While in the neighbourhood for a meeting on Friday, I stopped by Battista’s Calzones to pick up some of their frozen, pre-baked calzones ($6 each) for supper that night (they also have other take-home products, including marinara sauce, mama’s meatballs and homemade dough). We popped them into the oven on a pizza stone for about 15 minutes at 350F, and they came out hot and crispy. An easy but tasty solution to the question, “what’s for dinner?”, especially since Battista’s isn’t open late!

Frozen calzones

• I was on hand for the Groundhog Day festivities at the City Market on Saturday, with an inspired poetry reading, among other things. I also came across a new vendor, called 100km Kitchen, based out of Drayton Valley. They make preserves from locally-harvested fruit and vegetables. Their jars are particularly lovely, and the apple butter I brought home to try was great on toast, but I think will be even better with some pork! They’ll be back at the City Market on February 25, 2012.

Can you see the groundhog made of balloons?

Margarita and Patty of 100km Kitchen

• I met up with Annie and May at Gama Cafe (10418 82Ave) on Saturday to catch up and try the intriguingly named green cap milk tea ($5), featuring a layer of salted cheese (you can see the menu here). The drink itself was actually pretty good, less salty than we expected, with a creamy effect when combined with the tea. The green tea itself was delicious, and something I would consider going back for, sweetened just right. We also tried the Taiwanese red bean ($2 for 2) and melting gold cakes ($4 for 2), made fresh to order. I preferred the sweetness of the latter, but the fluffy cake shell was tasty. So although we enjoyed the food and drink, we couldn’t fathom why they took forty minutes to arrive. The hard wooden benches were also not particularly comfortable, so we probably wouldn’t have lingered if our order had arrived sooner. In the future, I think I’d opt for a to-go order instead.

Green cap milk tea

Annie with her melting gold cake

• Fork Fest is on! It runs January 15-19 and 22-26, 2012. Ten restaurants are participating; check out their menus online.
• On January 25, 2012, Nomad is serving up a Robbie Burns supper, complete with haggis of course! The three-course dinner is $40.
• Save the date: the Slow Food National Conference will be hosted in Edmonton this year, and you know what that means – good food! The gala will be taking place on May 5, 2012 at the Enjoy Centre, with dinner being overseen by Chefs Blair Lebsack and Paul Schufelt. Tickets go on sale March 1 – for more information, e-mail Valerie.
• Bernard Callebaut announced the location of their new flagship chocolaterie this week, at 124 Street and Jasper Avenue. Although I think it will complement what is already in the area, a part of me wanted it to be closer to Kerstin’s – chocolate district, anyone?
• From CBC: a whisky bar is forthcoming to 104th Street, and a sneak peek inside the Mercer Warehouse, where Roast Coffeehouse and a restaurant will open this year.
• I had no idea you could get hand-pulled pretzels in Edmonton – check out Schneckels Pretzels!
• The Queen of Tarts is now officially Dauphine.
• The Journal loved Cibo Bistro.
• I missed this last week, but it’s worth checking out if you love Mediterranean food – Vue Weekly reviewed Cafe Amore Bistro.
• Is the concept of a Sunday night family dinner coming back in style? D’Lish has started offering it, Sundays from 5-10pm, and the Next Act and Ruth’s Chris have been serving it up for some time.
• Liane had a great story about the “rise” of knives – it’d be great to see a specialty knife store open up in Edmonton.
• Food Network is in town to film segments for its newest show, You Gotta Eat Here. It’s always great to see Edmonton presented on television – look for the episodes some time in the spring. Check out this Global interview with host John Catucci.
• Marlow Moo went macaron making!
• A bowl of homemade wonton soup would be perfect for a night like this – get Ming’s recipe here.
• Love pie? Karlynn does too – and she will be sharing a new pie recipe with her readers every Friday.
• Maybe we could bring the idea of a “coffee common” to 104th one day, given all the coffee shops we have brewing.
• Speaking of coffee, Tim Horton’s is jacking their sizes up – their new extra large holds 24 ounces of coffee.
• Does Paula Deen have diabetes?
• Though we’ve never tried Papa John’s before, it’s always great to have another food option close by – this location opened next to MRKT on Jasper Avenue and 105 Street recently.

Papa John’s

• I attended the City Market AGM last week – it looks like a focus this next year will be on increasing the foot traffic to the winter portion of the market at City Hall. Although the street market attracts an average of 17,000 visitors every week, they’ve only averaged 4,000 shoppers this winter.

New City Market insulated tote bags

• On Saturday, I tried the Red Piano for the first time, for a friend’s stagette dinner. It’s clear entertainment and drinks are the focus, and not the food, given the average price of an entree and the fact that our food took over an hour to arrive. The short rib sliders were all right, but definitely needed the flavour boost from the au jus.

Short rib sliders

• One of my teams at work had a belated holiday lunch at Sorrentino’s in Little Italy today. I enjoyed my pollo parmigiano and soup, but even more noteworthy was the service. Our server was exceptional, and handled our large group with ease and charm to spare.

Pollo Parmigiano (the roll was excellent)

• Mack has been itching to go back to Mucho Burrito for some time, so I made sure to tuck one of their gift cards in his stocking this Christmas. We used it on Sunday, for a quick dinner before heading out to the Legislature grounds.

Happy with his burrito!

Something’s cooking…

• We stopped inside Cafe Tiramisu (10750 – 124 Street) to take a peek – the space is bright lovely, and features a separate playroom for children. Mack and I will be back to sample the menu (which a coworker has told me is quite good).

Interior

Playroom

• On the way back from the City Market, we stopped inside the food pavilion at Metropolis on Saturday. Both Molly’s Eats and Eva Sweet were there – nice to have the presence of food truck vendors even in the middle of winter!

Eva Sweet at Metropolis

• Mack and I had lunch at Joey’s two weeks ago while shopping in South Common (it was a good excuse to use up a gift card we received two Christmases ago!). It’s been quite some time since we’d been there, with the menu having changed quite a bit. It was interesting to see a miso ramen on the menu – perhaps this speaks to the ramen really becoming a mainstream dish?

Mack’s lobster grilled cheese

My mushroom soup and Caesar salad

• Although Mack’s already had half a dozen (if not more), I really enjoyed my first Credo coffee of 2012 last week.

Vanilla latte

• Liane posted about the newest arm of the L’Azia group of restaurants – East (16049 97 Street, 780-457-8833). It offers “Authentic Modern Chinese with a Malaysian twist.”
• Twyla reviewed Cibo Bistro this week. Looks like there’s some work to be done at the upstart Italian eatery.
• Valerie had an amazing series of posts capturing thoughts of local and international food writers, farmers, chefs and others involved in the industry on trends to watch for in 2012.
• Liane also broke down what to expect this year, as well as a summary of what was seen in 2011, food-wise, in Edmonton.
• Inspired by Oprah’s “favourite things”, Carmen put together a list of her favourite dishes sampled in 2011.
• Michelle wrote a great post on dining with children in Edmonton: “…So many people find it perfectly acceptable to tsk at kids in restaurants, and on one memorable occasion, ask to change seats when they realised I was going to sit next to them with my daughter. How rude it that? In our politically correct society, we wouldn’t dare do something like this if we were sat next to say, a black person or an openly gay couple. Yet its perfectly acceptable to do this to children? How low can we sink?” Worth a read.
• It looks like Viphalay’s second location downtown (10523 99 Avenue) is open – I’m excited to have a great Thai option within walking distance.

Viphalay

• Mack and I will be writing more about Metropolis later, but did anyone else take a trek through the food pavilion on New Year’s Eve? It was crowded, to say the least, and definitely wasn’t built to accommodate the traffic and flow of people that evening. I hope it was just first night issues that will be rectified in later weeks.

Food pavilion

Fireworks

• Liv checked out one of the newest restaurants to hit Edmonton, Cibo Bistro. Looks like it’s worth a try (and might be a great Italian backup to those who can’t swing a reservation to Corso 32).
• The Journal also reviewed a fairly new restaurant – Cafe du France, in the LeMarchand Mansion. It sounds like the review might help the restaurant at least raise its profile, “the pretty little café was completely empty at 7 p.m., and remained so until we left more than two hours later, literally shutting the place down.”
• Great to see several food bloggers participated in the recent Meals on Wheels call out to the blogosphere for volunteers. I wasn’t able to make it, but I love living vicariously through pictures!
• Michelle also spearheaded a recipe live blogging experiment to capture how to make classic butter chicken. Yum, I don’t need to be told twice!
• Via Cream and Sugar: ever wonder what’s behind that distinct Subway smell?
• It seems like vegetarian restaurants are on the up and up this year – Veggie Garden Restaurant (10582 100 Street, 780-757-9060) just opened up at the end of November. My coworker said it’s pretty good, but I have yet to try it myself.

Veggie Garden

• Oodle Noodle’s second downtown location on Jasper Avenue just off 104 Street is on the cusp of opening. Mack and I peeked inside today to take a look at the progress – we love the exposed brick and seating that takes advantage of the room’s length. Look for a soft open soon!

Oodle Noodle

• The Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market was bustling on Saturday! I loved the pine arrangements right up front – fragrant and eye-catching! It’s also open on Christmas Eve for those last minute needs!

Pine arrangements

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a wonderful holiday season filled with family and friends. All the best in 2012!

• Cally’s Teas is back! Or at least temporarily starting December 14 until her shop at 10151 82 Avenue is in order. Check out Marianne’s blog for more details.
• Great news for the food truck scene this week: Battista’s Calzones bought a truck to debut next summer.
• It seems like it’s been in the works for quite some time, but Cactus Club will be opening up a downtown location of their popular casual upscale restaurant on Jasper Avenue and 111 Street.
• Twyla reviewed new-ish Mediterranean restaurant Ousia: “Ousia holds promise. The ambiance scores high, as do the appetizers and desserts. The entrees were disappointing but those issues should be easily fixed.” Great to see that the staff commented directly on the blog, too.
• Liane shares her favourite dishes of 2011, and asks readers to share their own.
• Kevin posted a link to the continuing campaign to protect the agricultural lands in Northeast Edmonton – consider becoming a Friend of Farmers.
• There really is an app for everything: just released last week was Big App for Meat by butcher extraordinaire Pat LaFrieda, pitched as the “definitive butcher’s guide to every cut of meat”, with 360-degree interactive rotating meat and videos of butchery. Sounds like a great use of technology.
• ‘Tis the season for food trends. Here are some great links from Grub Street (keep in mind Edmonton is always behind, if we get the whiff of the trend at all).
• Passed by a new forthcoming vegetarian restaurant next to Duchess on 124 Street and 107 Avenue called The Clever Rabbit. Vegetarian seems to be a trend this year, with Noorish having opening up not long ago as well.

The Clever Rabbit (excuse the drive-by photo)

• We stopped by the St. Albert Christmas Market on Saturday to pick up a few gifts. There were a few producers present (Irvings, Steve & Dan’s, Erdmann’s, among them), but the majority were crafts and giftware vendors. We saw for the first time Steve & Dan’s sparkling juice – this would be a great non-alcoholic alternative for a local food gift basket.

St. Albert Christmas market

Steve & Dan’s sparkling juice

We couldn’t help but gape at the artificial grass in front of St. Albert Place – we wondered what the justification was – anyone know?

• To cap off a busy week at work, Mack and I indulged at La Poutine on Friday night. Nothing beats fries, gravy and squeaky cheese as stress relief!

You can now wear your love of poutine

Quebecois and Surpreme

• You may remember soon-to-be-launched food truck Big City Sandwich has been taking over kitchens in restaurants around the city, to generate some income (and buzz) before the summer season. So it’s interesting to see existing truck Nomad do the same, for a similar reason – to tide them over in a city where winters are not necessarily hospitable to year-round vending. Their first dinner will be held at Yellowhead Brewery on December 20, 2011. There might be a few tickets left if you don’t blink!
• Also on the evening of December 20, 104 Street businesses will be hosting a customer appreciation day. I’ll link to more information next week, but expect discounts like 10% off nearly everything at deVine’s, 25% off food at Blue Plate Diner, and complimentary treats all day at Queen of Tarts.
• Maybe the most exciting news to me this week was finding out that 104 Street really is becoming Edmonton’s artisan coffee district – Roast Coffee will be setting up shop in the Mercer Warehouse on 104 Street and 104 Avenue, to be open some time in 2012. Great to see a small local business set up in the heritage building!
• Will Jasper Ave eventually have its own chocolate district (near Kerstin’s Chocolates)? Bernard Callebaut will be opening up a new retail store (with a cafe) on Jasper next year.
• Liv wrote about Cafe Coral de Cuba on Whyte Avenue.
• The Journal reviewed Nola, the newest Creole restaurant in Edmonton. It’s quite a negative review, with such a different opinion than what others have told me about their experience. I’ll definitely have to check it out myself.
• I haven’t been watching Recipe to Riches myself (is it odd to anyone else that Jesse Palmer is the host of that show?), but I know I was wondering if the products were actually worth buying. Foodie McPoon has been trying them all out, week by week, so you can get a second opinion first.
• With another Wild Earth open on the west side at 14238 85 Avenue (and another one to come at the Epcor Tower), I wonder if people are confusing that cafe with the similarly-named Good Earth, which is also rapidly expanding?
• Smashburger, deemed “America’s most promising company” by Forbes, is expanding to Edmonton. Makes me wonder why Five Guys hasn’t been more aggressive in northern Alberta.
• Price check: this is an interesting post on the price comparisons between products at Planet Organic and Earth’s General Store.
• Lots of great gift suggestions for the food lover in your life: cookbook recommendations from the NYT, and gadget picks from America’s best chefs.
• 362 slices and two and a half years later, a man who vowed to eat his way through Manhattan’s pizzerias is now done.
• Taste of Lebanon, the second Cafe Beirut location on Jasper Avenue and 112 Street is now open!

Taste of Lebanon/Cafe Beirut

• I had no idea Viphalay was moving to the house formerly occupied by Karma 99 Avenue and 105 Street.

Viphalay

• Though the second downtown Oodle Noodle is on the horizon, Mack and I headed to the 109 Street and Jasper Avenue location on Friday to help celebrate its 1st birthday. We loved the decorations (who doesn’t love helium-inflated animal balloons?).

Or dragon-shaped cupcakes?

• At Ikea this weekend, we stumbled upon the most adorable fruit and vegetable shaped stuffed toys. Mack didn’t have a choice but to pose with his new broccoli friends.

Green is good

The saag paneer was my favourite

• I love putting together baskets of food products and trinkets to give as gifts. The Italian Bakery in Chintaown (10646 97 Street) is a great place to go, where last week I spotted a marzipan pig.

Some pig

• I can’t wait until the Legislature grounds are all lit up for Christmas (taking place on December 1, which also kicks off the choir and hot cocoa season), but in the mean time, City Hall is looking lovely as well.

Have a good week!

• Moriarty’s is hosting a Beaujolais Nouveau party on November 24, 2011.
• I’m excited for Underground 104, which is happening on November 25, 2011. It’s an event being put on by Mercury Opera, and involves food and drink at several Fourth Street businesses from 6-8pm, and then at 8:15, there will be a performance on the Bay LRT platform. Tickets are $25, $20 for members of the Downtown Edmonton Community League.
• The next supper club at the Queen of Tarts will take place on November 26, 2011 – they will be posting the menu on Facebook. Mack and I attended the first of these dinners in October, and had a great time.
• Miss Cally’s Teas? Until they find a storefront, you can get your Earl Grey fix from Culina Muttart.
• This is never something you want to hear: another small farm has called it quits. Gwen Simpson of Inspired Market Gardens (a fixture at the City Market for many years), has decided that it is no longer sustainable for her to continue. She will continue to produce her dried edible flower products and a buyer’s guide to herbs next spring, but she will be relocating back to BC. All the best, Gwen!
• Operation Fruit Rescue Edmonton (OFRE) needs your help! They need to make it through to the semi-finals of the Aviva Community Funding Grant with your votes – deadline is November 30, 2011.
• Top Chef Canada winner Dale McKay announced that he will be opening ensemble Tap, his second restaurant in early December 2011. It seems to be in the gastropub vein.
• The New York Times announced their new dining critic last week – Dining Editor Pete Wells will be taking on the task.
• There’s a calendar for everything these days, so why not one for food trucks, too?
• There was outrage this week when there were rumours that several NY locations of Starbucks would be closing their bathrooms. Is it the cafe’s job to provide public restrooms? This was an interesting thread, and made me think of the equivalent role Tim Horton’s and McDonald’s play in our city.
• Mack noticed that Chop will be coming to downtown Edmonton next summer – inside the Sutton Place Hotel.

Chop

• While at the University of Alberta last week, Mack and I were finally able to check out some of the kiosks run by some of the city’s food truck vendors, located in the basement of the Central Academic Building. Among them were Eva Sweet, Filistix, and Fat Franks. I’m a bit jealous that current students have such great options to choose from – I would have killed to have the option of starting my day with a savoury breakfast waffle topped with eggs and bacon, a lunch of pulled pork with apple chipotle bbq sauce, or an international dog of the week (like a Peking Dog with hoisin sauce). The kiosks are open 10am-4pm – check ‘em out if you’re down on campus!

Filistix and Eva Sweet share a kiosk

Who can say no to breakfast waffles?

Fat Franks

• We had a chance to stop by the McCafe in Commerce Place last week (incentive being, of course, the 2-for-1 coupons we received in the mail). Mack ordered a latte with a sugar-free vanilla shot, while I opted for a mocha (menu here). They are push-button drinks, made from machines similar to the ones seen in some self-serve cafe areas of hotels now. We liked the real milk (which gives McDonald’s a real advantage over Tim Horton’s), but even with the slight discount over Starbucks, we likely wouldn’t choose McCafe if there was a Starbucks nearby.

McCafe

Pastry case

Our drinks