As much as I love fall, I wish it didn’t start so soon (in spite of the fact that the “official” day of fall is this Thursday). That said, the weather should be looking up by the weekend, fingers crossed! On to this week’s food notes:
- Press’d The Sandwich Company is now officially open in Edmonton City Centre (you can find them downstairs in the old Cargo & James space near Dollarama). Expect in-house baked bread, freshly sliced meat, and house-made sides. They will be holding their grand opening on September 27.
- Also, Fatburger opened their second Edmonton location in Edmonton City Centre.
- D’Lish has reopened as a plush wine bar. Maki has an early review.
- On the subject of wine, this is such a great idea on so many levels: deVine’s is hosting a “travelling tasting”, where several downtown eateries have been asked to create a dish to match a liquor pairing, and patrons will be going from one to another on foot!
- Narayanni’s, a relatively new South African/Indian restaurant in Old Strathcona, has been getting some love from local food bloggers Chris and Twyla.
- There’s a new “food community” in town, spearheaded by the LEP Group (they own Ric’s Grill and The Copper Pot in Edmonton). It’s called Book a Table, though it seems you can’t actually book a table directly through the website (unlike Open Table) – it’s more for interested diners to receive information from restaurants that are a part of the community. On the upside, those who sign up for their newsletter are eligible for a $25 dining voucher valid at any of their member restaurants.
- Diner Inspect, an app that helps people easily locate restaurant health inspection results, recently won the first prize in the Apps for Edmonton contest.
- Twyla mentioned that Real Deal Meats is having a customer appreciation day on September 25.
- Vue Weekly wrote a positive review about Kulmiye (9570 – 111 Ave, 780-642-6014) a Somali restaurant near Commonwealth. A few coworkers also recommended it, so I hope to try it soon.
- Valerie has some great photos in her post about a recent Rotary Centre fundraiser dinner she judged with Kevin.
- Speaking of Kevin, he has the low down about a new CSA Smoky Valley Goat Cheese is looking at starting to help tide over their operations for the winter.
- An interesting article from the Post-Intelligencer about the farmers’ market scene in Seattle – how many farmers’ markets is too many?
- This is true: Loblaws announced they will be setting up farmers’ markets at their stores across Canada, with a grower on-site to answer questions.
- The San Francisco Chronicle had a great “inside” look at arguably the best restaurant in North America: The French Laundry.
- Before we left to San Francisco, we had a fun dinner at Famoso for May’s birthday. I haven’t been to Famoso in a while, but all it takes are a few bites to remind me that I should be going more often.
The Bella, with fresh mozzarella, basil, capicolla ham and cherry tomatoes
- After dinner, we headed to Hawrelak Park for Symphony Under the Sky. We really enjoyed the concert, featuring some of John Williams’ greatest hits. Being the Star Wars nerd that I am, the highlight was being able to take a photo with Darth Vader himself.
I have gone to the Dark side
- Mack and I attended Michael Janz’s campaign benefit brunch on Sunday. Michael is running for school trustee in Ward F (which encompasses downtown, parts of Riverbend and the communities surrounding the U of A). Volunteers put together a very tasty meal, including delicious cheese scones baked by Brittany.
My plate
- I was lucky enough to be invited to a celebration hosted by one of the programs at work last week. There, some of the Ethiopian students had set up everything they needed for a coffee ceremony. I love the smell of roasting coffee!
Coffee roasting
Only Here for the Food 
I am very positive that you and Mack sat behind me at Symphony Under the Sky! “John Williams Greatest Hits” was fantastic!
That Ethiopian coffee ceremony looks like it’d be so interesting!
FoodieMcPoon – cool! Hope we run into you somewhere else and actually meet!
Eva – Ethiopian restaurants (like Habesha and Rendezvous) often offer the ceremony if you ask.
I tried Kulmiye on Wednesday, after reading the linked review. I was glad I got takeout instead of dining in, because the place itself is hole-in-the-wall to the extreme – pretty grim, actually, especially the almost-empty Pepsi cooler with a few jugs and a big bucket of anonymous liquid in it . But the food was delicious, and cheap, and I’ll get it again, for sure.
Katy – I’ve heard similar things about the decor – definitely not the reason for dining at Kulmiye. I’ll have to get down there myself some time!