Food Notes for April 26, 2010

Though some of the network shows are drawing to a close, I’m happy that the second season of Top Chef Masters began airing on Food Network, and, well, that The Hills and The City begin their new seasons this week! Anyway, on to this week’s food notes:

• Help deVine Wines celebrate twenty years in the business with a wine tasting on May 1!
• Stop by Alley Kat (9929 60 Avenue) on May 6 between 5-8:30pm for a taste of their two new beers: Brewberry Blueberry Ale and Belgium Style Tripel. Alley Kat’s also on Twitter.
• I wrote about Transcend’s first full retail cafe, also known as T2, last week, but be sure to also check out the Journal’s very cool audio slideshow – I hope they put together more of them in the future!
• Paula tweeted today that the second location of Padmanadi has been delayed until June 19.
• Thanks to Marianne who wrote about receiving her first Eat Local First order last week. I wasn’t quite sure how it worked, so it was great to see what a box actually looked like.
• Vue Weekly published a great profile on daCapo last week.
• Also, it’s your last week to vote for your favourites, in both Vue Weekly’s annual Golden Fork Awards (May 2)and See Magazine’s Best of Edmonton (May 3).
• Lillian over at Beyond Umami posted pictures from the macaron mashup that happened at the ARTery earlier this month.
• Ever wonder what kinds of crazy requests celebrities demand of their personal chefs? The New York Post has a rundown of some of the more outrageous ones.
• After an intense few hours at Ikea, browsing furniture models, scrutinizing measurements and generally trying to absorb design by osmosis for the better part of Saturday afternoon, Mack and I felt like we earned our guilty pleasure: 50 cent hot dogs!

They’re no Fat Franks, but they hit the spot

• There has been lots of development on Whyte lately! As Jim pointed out a couple of weeks ago, Nhon Hoa’s third location (10154 82 Avenue, 780-757-9988) has now opened in the space formerly occupied by Bubble Juice, next to Flirt Cupcakes. Looks like Vietnamese subs might be finally reaching mainstream status in Edmonton.

Nhon Hoa (3)

• Chris noted that Cafe Beirut, a Lebanese bistro, is forthcoming on Whyte (10812 82 Avenue, 780-988-8821). A few doors up, Press Cafe & Bistro (10846 82 Avenue) will be moving into the space vacated by Scottish Imports.

Press Cafe & Bistro (and if you guessed that this was again taken from a bus, you are right!)

• I’m really excited for the return of the City Centre Farmers’ Market on May 15 (a week earlier than usual), but until then, Mack and I have been trying to go to the Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market as often as possible. We were there on Saturday, and took in some of the happiness-inspiring goods:

Sarah’s too-cute Belua Designs monsters

Beautiful tomatoes from Gull Valley Greenhouses

Lovely bell peppers also from Gull Valley