Food Notes for April 30, 2012

It’s hard to believe it’s May already – where has the time gone? Mack and I are (finally) ready to share details about the first food truck events we’ve organized for this year – but more details on that in a separate post. On to this week’s food notes:

• To celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Tres Carnales is again hosting a party to end all parties on May 5 from 5-11pm. It sounds like it will be a great time.
• Indulgence tickets go on sale on May 1. Make sure to get yours if you want to guarantee yourself a spot to one of Edmonton’s best food and wine events.
• Vue Weekly featured an article about Three Boars, the new “it” spot in Edmonton.
• The Journal wrote about Cally’s Teas, who finally opened their new shop in Old Strathcona. Looking forward to trying out their high tea at some point.
• Lonely Planet was in Edmonton shooting some video about interesting places in our city a few months back. Chris has the link to the final product – great that Century Hospitality’s Alley Burger is featured in the video!
• There’s a new farmers’ market on the horizon: the 124 Street outdoor market is set to run on Thursday evenings from 5-9pm. Although I support initiatives to make it easier for consumers to shop local, how many markets is too many in Edmonton?
• Caving to pressure, the organizers of the City of Edmonton’s Food in the City consultation/conference have reduced the cost…by $55. They have made the reception and lunch fees optional, but isn’t a part of the purpose of the gathering to break bread and network? We’ll see if this means more registrants in the end.
• Although Edmonton is at the very start of the backyard chicken debate, it’s great to see that other cities are so far along: in Portland, backyard chickens who were loved as pets aren’t sent to the soup pot, but to the equivalent of a retirement home.
• Susur Lee couldn’t make it work in New York, but can David Chang make his mark in Toronto?
• Can’t decide between pizza and burgers? Why not have both? Pizza Huts in the Middle East now offer this option – mini burgers or chicken nuggets attached to pizza crusts.
• The Five Guys in South Edmonton Common is now open. It looked packed from the outside!

Five Guys

• Mack and I finally sampled food from the Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market’s Harvest Cafe on Saturday. We always walked past the busy seating areas gawking at patrons’ meals, so it was nice to finally try a few things ourselves. Mack loved his breakfast sandwich, tasty and satisfying, even without melted cheese ($5.50 with a bagel). But my two egg breakfast ($6.50) didn’t live up to my expectations – the eggs and bacon were fine, but the potatoes were boiled and bland, and the fruit that was listed on the menu amounted to a garnish of three apple and pear slivers. We’ll be sticking to the sandwich in the future.

Breakfast sandwich

Two egg breakfast

• Annie, May and I caught up over dinner on the weekend at Shanghai 456. It’s been quite some time since I’ve been there, but this was a good reminder to make sure my next visit isn’t quite so overdue! The xiaolong bao was as delicious as I remembered, and the chive and egg pancake was also quite nice. Best of all, we split six dishes, and only paid $15 a person. Such a great value.

Xiaolong bao (I could have done with a second order of these)

S

hanghai chive and egg pancake

Rice cake with pork, Chinese spinach and bamboo shoots (a lighter alternative to noodles)

Hot and sour soup (great balance, and not overpowering heat)