Recap: Weekend in Calgary

At the end of July, Mack and I decided to escape to Calgary for a weekend, eluding the boxes and avoiding the general chaos that surrounded us after the move. I had good intentions to write a series of posts about all of our epicurious encounters down south, but as you can guess, I put it off. I figured – better late than never, and better something than nothing at all.

Belmont Diner

It’s no secret that Mack and I adore diners. so it wasn’t a surprise that our first stop ended up being a diner.

Belmont Diner in Marda Loop had been on my hit list for some time (operated by the same people behind Galaxie Diner and Myhre’s Deli), and though our driving schedule meant we would reach our destination towards the end of their operating hours on Saturday, their all-day breakfast menu meant we wouldn’t be penalized for our late arrival.

Mack loves his Coke

Though we had a decent experience at Belmont, I think our visit to Galaxie Diner coloured our introduction to Belmont. The layout and menu were strikingly similar to Galaxie, and unfortunately, my burger ($10.75) was dry. Thankfully, the bottomless(!) hash browns saved the plate – though they don’t look like much, the slightly crispy potatoes were nicely seasoned with an interesting blend of spices.

Burger

Mack had better luck with his hearty “everything” Calgary sandwich ($12.25), which also included a side of bottomless hash browns.

Calgary sandwich

While we would eat at Belmont again if we were in the area, based on this meal, we wouldn’t go out of our way to return.

Phil & Sebastian Coffee Company

After lunch, we wandered into the nearby location of Phil & Sebastian. This storefront opened in late November 2009, and based on the excitement exuded by the food folks down south, it was evident Phil & Sebastian has long outgrown their original booth at the Calgary Farmers’ Market.

I love their packaging

There is no question is it an absolutely stunning space. With a high ceiling, a clean white and black colour scheme and interesting light fixtures (a huge, Pixar-like arm lamp near the door, and of-the-moment Edison bulbs), I wouldn’t think twice about relocating my mobile office here.

Phil & Sebastian at the Marda Loop

Charcut

It’s hard not to salivate when reading about a 35 pound poutine, made with 3kg of cheese curds and fries simmered in duck fat. So although the family-style serving wouldn’t be in the cards for us, I knew a visit to Charcut would be, after reading Julie Van Rosendaal’s post.

Charcut opened in February in the swanky new Hotel Le Germain downtown, the name reflecting the “custom-built rotisserie and charbroiler” (char) and “featured vintage-style slicer and hand-crafted charcuterie eating bar” (cut). We would have loved to sit at the back of the restaurant, facing the kitchen (and the charcuterie cooler, complete with two pig’s heads), but they were unfortunately full that night.

How cute is the porcine paper clip?

I wasn’t too fond of the “ranch” touches in what could have been a sleek dining room – a cow mural, wooden beams, and wagon wheel light fixtures featuring mason jars – but I suppose they reminded diners of the rustic nature of the food.

Interior

The menu isn’t extensive, but changes every day (old menus are recycled into dish liners), and prominently highlights local producers. We decided to share three dishes, which although seemed doable at the time, filled us up in no time due to their sinfully rich nature.

Amuse bouche of turkey terrine and peaches atop a brioche crostini

The lamb croquettes ($15) were delightfully crispy, and were lovingly smoked, which enhanced the flavour of the meat.

Lamb croquettes

The share burger, “Charcut style”, consisted of a roasted garlic sausage patty, cheese curds, and a fried egg ($2.5/oz, minimum 9oz). It was interesting to try a sausage patty, dense and fatty as it was, but it was overcooked, making it even more difficult to eat. The brioche and egg, on the other hand, were perfect, the latter fried to a wobbly, yolk-bursting precipice.

Share burger

And the poutine ($8)? Heaven. The truffle oil assaulted our senses first, and gave way to fries that had been simmered in duck fat and drenched in a generous amount of cheese curds. The gravy was a bit thin (Mack prefers it thicker), but truly, it’s a dish to fight over.

Duck fat poutine

The trend of throwback desserts caught us, as it did at Farm. We couldn’t pass up their animal crackers, accompanied by a garden rhubarb and summer berry crème brulee ($8). The shortbread cookies didn’t taste quite like those boxed crackers of our youth, but went really well with the warmed custard (it was actually warmed through! a pet peeve of mine with restaurant crème brulees). Mack especially liked the softened fruit, which was distributed evenly throughout the custard.

Crème brulee

It’s worth noting that the kitchen was efficient, and that service was attentive but respectful. But regardless, need I say it again? Duck fat poutine.

Fiestaval 2010

On our way home from dinner, we stumbled upon Fiestaval, Calgary’s Latin Festival. Olympic Plaza was filled with food and product vendors, and we were able to catch the tail end of their last performer of the day.

Olympic Plaza

Between the crowd and the energy (people were dancing in the square), it’s hard to deny that Calgary has their own festival culture.

These pink gophers still crack me up

Over Easy Breakfast

Located just down from Diner Deluxe (one of my Calgary favourites), Over Easy has become a popular breakfast destination.

I loved the chalkboard ceiling just bursting with colour, and the equally fun “We Got Huevos” t-shirts (similar to the cheeky “Line Tamer” shirts at Diner Deluxe). Our server was exceptionally friendly and ensured we were never left wanting for coffee, and was notably excited when we told her it was our first visit to the restaurant.

Ceiling

Unlike Belmont Diner, Over Easy has an extensive menu, and one I could see locals returning to many times without compromising variety. And though they got my pancake order wrong, it was a happy mistake – the waffle was sweet, crispy and finished with icing sugar and berries, was like having dessert for breakfast.

Fruit-topped waffle

Mack’s blue plate special (actually served on a blue plate), featured a nice amount of fruit, and wonderfully crispy bacon.

Blue plate special

We’ll be back!

Sun & Salsa Festival 2010

We ended our weekend at the Kensington Sun & Salsa Festival, which I had added to our itinerary once seeing it on Andree’s blog.

Our introduction to the festival wasn’t pleasant – we couldn’t find parking in the neighbourhood for the life of us. Driving around in circles, it seemed to us that the entire city of Calgary had decided to drive to the event that day (our original plan was to take the C-Train there, but as it was our last stop, it didn’t make too much sense to backtrack on transit). We eventually secured a spot, and wandered into the grounds to see what all the fuss about.

Kensington

It was actually pretty cool – patrons were invited to sample over 40 salsas put together by local businesses and organizations, with proceeds from the taco chips going to charity.

The salsa from Naked Leaf was more chutney than salsa – a jasmine-infused peach salsa – but it was creative an unique

Though many stations were out by the time we made our rounds, our favourite was the salsa by Higher Ground – mild, tomato-based, but tasty.

The streets were closed to cars, and were packed shoulder to shoulder with people. A haphazard mix of booths lined the streets (with no method to the madness – non-profits placed at random in between municipal election candidates and private businesses), as well as outdoor food vendors. Though I think the food could have taken some attention away from the salsa (especially when the salsa stations weren’t clearly marked), the salsa didn’t seem to be the focus of the event anyway – instead, the intention was to bring people into the neighbourhood and to promote the area merchants.

Sun & Salsa

It was a fun event, and really, such a great idea – kudos to the organizers!

Deliciously Trendy: MRKT

Though there has been some mainstream and blogosphere buzz around MRKT, Carla Alexander and restauranteur Sal Dimaio’s newest venture, it still seems to have that “hidden gem” status. This may partly have to do with a lack of aggressive signage at street level (a sandwich board is the only obvious pointer to the restaurant’s existence upstairs), or, up until this point, a lack of formal marketing, but there is something refreshing about an organic growth of customers linked to positive word-of-mouth recommendations. It seems to be a trend in the city as of late, with Duchess and Elm Café having developed their clientele in a similar fashion.

I was happy to finally sample MRKT’s fare last week, having set a lunch date with Ellen (who funnily enough works in the same office as I do, but separated by a floor, means that we hardly ever run into each other).

While MRKT didn’t turn out to be the best place for those on a tight schedule, we didn’t mind the wait as it gave us time to catch up. There were about eight people in front of us, and with that queue of food orders, it was twenty-five minutes before we had plates in front of us.

I loved the décor. When I initially saw photos of the wood paneled walls, I was afraid it would be too dim and imposing. But it was quite the opposite, with the fun curved paneling and two skylights, the atmosphere felt warm and inviting. The communal table (while a little more utilitarian than FARM’s wood version) and blackboard menu also reminded me of FARM, and with their Edison lights (the first in Edmonton!), this interior is probably the trendiest in the city.

Interior

Similar to Soul Soup (Carla’s first restaurant venture), there were three soup options. In addition to soup were three sandwiches, a special and desserts (keep up to date with their daily menu items on MRKT’s Twitter account). Ellen and I both opted for a soup and sandwich combo($13). We both chose the meat soup, a spicy Italian meatball, but deviated on the sandwich orders.

The only blip was the the ordering system – we placed our orders at the counter, and then sat down to wait for our food. But instead of calling out orders (which, I would imagine, would be difficult given the din of the room during the lunch rush), we had to go up to the counter to periodically check to see if our order was up. Sure, a minor inconvenience, but making our way around the narrow tables wasn’t effortless.

The food, however, was everything I had hoped for – comforting, tasty, and made with care. Ellen and I both loved the meatballs in the soup, but had hoped for more than a halfhearted kick, especially from something billed as “spicy”. She really enjoyed her oven roasted tomato, basil and arugula sandwich, noting that she liked the choice of asiago cheese.

Roasted tomato sandwich

My braised Alberta beef sandwich was something that still haunts me today, the combination of tender shredded beef, edam, caramelized onions and pesto taunting me to find something equally as memorable and delicious. I loved that the bread soaked up the tomato sauce the beef had been braised in, ensuring every bite was moist and further punched up with flavour.

Braised beef sandwich

I was happy to see on their blackboard that MRKT is also open for dinner now (and fortuitously, Marianne posted her review yesterday, and had good things to say). It’s the type of restaurant that would transform in the evening into a charming, intimate venue – extending its daytime commitment of friendly staff and good food. What are you waiting for?

MRKT
10542 Jasper Avenue
(780) 757-6758
Lunch: Monday-Saturday 11am-2pm
Dinner: Wednesdays-Saturdays, 5pm-late

Visualeyez 2010

Performance art has always seemed a bit elusive to me – more than anything else, it probably has to do with my lack of familiarity with the medium rather than the art itself.

So when I found out that the 11th annual Visualeyez Festival, put on by Latitude 53, had adopted a theme of food this year, I was excited. Nothing like a topic that I love to get me interested and more willing to take the leap into the unknown.

Unlike an art gallery, where the pieces are static and accessible, for the most part, during operational hours, and unlike the Fringe theatre festival, where every staged production is performed multiple times, the Visualeyez Festival is not only brief by comparison at six days in length, but also, performances of some works were only scheduled to take place once.

That said, on the day Communications Assistant Alaine Mackenzie invited me to the festival, I was able to get a taste of three very different interpretations of the theme (and still can partake in one piece not bound by time – by downloading an audio tour of the Sobeys Urban Fresh).

Alaine was also really excited about this year’s theme of food, and really thought the banner would help break down the barriers of those daunted by the idea of performance art. The gallery was quiet when I arrived, but by the time the afternoon’s main event was underway, the main space was nearly full.

First, she introduced me to Alison Reiko Loader and Kelly Andres, who described their project titled kinder/garden as a “food laboratory”. Different from most of the other performances, both were on-site tending to the lab every day, and made a point of changing the space daily.

Alison and Kelly are based in Montreal, where they applied for and received space at the Concordia University greenhouse. They used the greenhouse to explore the idea of manipulating life, including Alison’s creepy but fascinating project of force-growing vegetables into moulds that resembled fetuses.

Pickled fetus-moulded tomato and cross-sections

The installation also featured other “live” foods, including yogurt (packed in plastic containers resembling test tubes for patrons to take home), a “doughbie” (a loaf of bread in a baby sling), and bacteria cultures in Petri dishes. Kelly was even serving up wheatgrass martinis (wheatgrass pulp + sparkling mineral water). Alaine and I decided to indulge. More than tasting like grass, it smelled like grass, but it definitely seemed to cleanse on the way down.

Kelly at work making our martinis

Cheers!

Alison and Kelly were more than happy to talk about their project, and this struck me as the most exciting thing about performance art – the dialogue between the patron and the artist. Sure, some galleries host evenings with the artists, and some theatres offer talk backs with the actors, but here, the very point is the exchange itself.

Next, I chatted with Cindy Baker, the Festival Animator. Her role was to attend all of the performances and blog about it, in the hopes of generating buzz and documenting the festival itself. She has done a great job, filing several thoughtful posts a day. She did comment that for a festival about food, however, there wasn’t much food being served.

I also wandered into Chun Hua Catherine Dong’s rice painting set, called Hourglass. Cindy did an exceptional job elaborating on some of the themes of her piece, so much so that I feel like I don’t have anything to add. Except to say that while the task of attempting to fill the bowl with painted grains of rice was futile, I enjoyed the experience. I liked the fact that there were only two chairs (even though many more hands would have resulted in lighter work), and that I was able to connect with another person, even for a brief moment, by sharing in the same task.

Two patrons taking on the task

Though Food Wars was delayed a couple hours due to the sheer number of dishes the two artists were putting together, I have to say, the food was worth the wait. The performance was billed as an Iron Chef-esque showdown: “Armed with only amateur cooking skills and each family’s secret recipes, Mexican artist Manolo Lugo and Guatemalan born artist Naufús Ramirez-Figueroa cook up a storm to prove which nation has the best cuisine!” The intention was for patrons to sample food from both countries, and vote for their favourite.

Latitude 53 Executive Director Todd Janes introduces the artists

Manolo and Naufús both did an exceptional job setting up their display tables, Manolo with a colourful fruit garnish and Naufús with an intense fondant-covered cake shaped like a Mayan pyramid (it was handy that a chef from Junction next door was in attendance, as she ended up helping Naufús with the fondant).

Dressing the Mayan cake

Naufús’s Guatemalan spread

From reading the description of the show, I did expect more exposition before the food free-for-all – someone in the audience had to prompt the artists for explanations of the dishes. Between the two, I thought Manolo did a better job, which was probably the main reason my vote went to him (because really, the food from both sides was equally good). An idea I was hoping they would explore further was substitutions in spite of their quest for “authenticity” – though some of the ingredients needed for their dishes were available to them here, Manolo expressed that he had to use similar but not the exact ingredients as specified in traditional recipes.

Manolo’s Mexican spread

Standout dishes for me included the Guatemalan stewed bananas in spicy chocolate mole, the Guatemalan cake (it was supposed to taste like Guatemalan egg nog, but I just thought it was delicious), Mexican stuffed poblanos with pecan sauce (the pomegranate seeds on top are such an inspired idea) and the Mexicn pibil chicken topped with pickled purple onions (you can check out the full menu here).

Mexican plate

Guatemalan plate (as you can tell, I reused the plate)

I think everyone was in a delirious food coma by the time I left, before the winner was declared (for the record, it was Mexico, though apparently some ballot box stuffing went down). And though a part of me still wanted more of a “performance” from Food Wars, between the food and the conversation, did it really matter?

Thanks again to Alaine for the invitation – I’m not sure I would have made it down to the festival without a push, and now that I’ve been to Visualeyez, I will likely return in the future.

Food Notes for September 27, 2010

Our fridge has up and died (it’s really done this time), which means that although we will be doing some unforeseen spending, also means we will be able to choose a fridge that we like! It’s funny how something so basic like a fridge not working can cause so much stress. Anyway, on to this week’s notes:

Do you have pumpkin fever? Smoky Lake is having their annual Great White North Pumpkin Fair and Weigh-Off this weekend.
Foodie McPoon reviewed Mini Mango this week, a new restaurant opened by the folks behind Sweet Mango.
Chris wrote about a new cafe called Gracious Goods that opened in the space formerly occupied by Hulbert’s.
The Journal and Twyla both reviewed The Treasury last week.
Jean Poutine visited the Motoraunt one last time – the home of the (in)famous Monster Burger.
Liane wrote about a great offer from The Blue Pear – to help celebrate their tenth anniversary, they are offering guests the chance to flip a coin to win their dinner.
Mack sent this Winnipeg Food Policy document to me – a great primer on their local food issues, and related questions to ask their municipal election candidates.
The doughnut burger is so yesterday: how about a Pop Tart burger?
I’m still waiting for North American chefs to integrate more insects into their menus, as I do think it will be a trend in the coming years, but until then, read about the possibilities in this NYT article.
Viet Huong will be relocating from their location on 107 Avenue to a storefront right in Chinatown that used to house Hoang Long (10715 – 98 Street).

Viet Huong coming soon

Basil Leaf will have a neighbour soon – a restaurant called Emperor’s Palace.

Emperor’s Palace

Twisted Yogurt Creations opened their second location last week in South Park (650, 3803 Calgary Trail, 780-440-4955). I’m still waiting for a branch more public transit accessible, but I love the self-serve concept. We stopped by and tried out their dreamsicle and purple cow flavours this time around.

Mack loading up

My family is so lucky to have a Mum who is such a good cook. She demonstrated her skills at the Mid-Autumn Festival dinner last week – everything was as delicious as it looked. Thanks, Mum!

Time to feast!

Edmonton Corn Maze 2010

A few weeks ago, I took advantage of a Groupon offer for the Edmonton Corn Maze. At $8 for two admissions, it was a pretty good deal (though the regular price of $9/person has never been a deterrent for us).

We put the coupon to good use on Saturday, on the warmest night in recent memory. It seemed many other people were wanting to enjoy the weather as well, as neither of us had ever seen the corn maze as busy as it was yesterday. In addition to families with young children, there were many groups of teenagers – it appeared that most were taking advantage of the picnic facilities and fire pits to make the trip out to Spruce Grove a full night’s activity.

Crowds

There have been some neat additions to the maze this year. While we didn’t stick around to watch the Corn Express in action, it looked like a fun ride for children (and adults) alike.

I couldn’t resist a photo

Also, the Corn Maze has developed SCVNGR, an app that is downloaded to be played on iPhone and Android phones. There is a text version for other mobile phones, but we chose to use the traditional ten question paper method to get through the maze.

SCVNGR instructions

While the stalks weren’t as green and hearty as they were during our visit last year, most of the corn still stood over six feet.

Mack in the maze

The design this year is a tribute to Fill-Up, the mascot for the Edmonton Food Bank. And though I seem to say this every year, we found the maze more difficult than the past few years. We somehow ended up skipping question marker 8, and after a few misguided choices, we were sure we had circled the same corner of the maze several times.

Through the corn

As we neared what we thought was the end, we were joined by a few other families who were similarly lost. We eventually found the exit, without the help of a corn cop. The elapsed time? About an hour, which was actually par for the course.

Hurrah!

Thanks to the corn maze for a fun evening – we’ll be back next year!

The Edmonton Corn Maze is open until October 17, 2010. In late October, it reopens as the Farm of Fear (not intended for young children).

City Market Report: Week 20

After a few weekends of dreary weather, today’s throwback to summer was a real treat. It was the perfect day to visit the City Market, especially because there are only two market days left in the season!

The countdown begins

As usual, there were lots of puppies on the street. We ran into my coworker, who had brought Prince along for a stroll!

Smiling pretty for the camera

If you love hearty fall vegetables, now is your chance to stock up for winter!

Carrots from Sundog Organics

Celeriac from Greens, Eggs and Ham (I’ve been hoping for it to appear at the market some time, and was happy to have finally seen it!)

Squash from Kuhlmann’s

Pumpkins from Riverbend Gardens

Valerie wrote about La Fourchette, an artist that pounds old cutlery and stamps messages on them. I finally came across the booth today. Most of the old forks and spoons were garden markers, but Mack and I loved the tongue-in-cheek ones, like “spoon me” and “fork me”. They even do custom orders!

La Fourchette

104 Street was a busy place today – it served as the launching grounds for the Edmonton International Film Festival’s 24/One Challenge today, and the 104 Street Action Committee announced their new logo and marketing name today – the 4th Street Promenade.

24/One Challenge contestants

Mack with the new 4th Street logo

We also checked out Coup, a new clothing store in the Great West Saddlery Building (the space used to house a stationary store). It’s exciting to see the new businesses moving into the area, with several more before the end of the year (Daniel Costa’s new restaurant on Jasper Avenue in October, and Queen of Tarts in early November).

Coup

See you next week!

(Almost) No Bones About It: Thanh Son

For our routine pho lunch, Dickson and I headed west to Thanh Son this time, away from Chinatown. We had attempted a visit once before, but unfortunately it was closed (as many Asian eateries are on Tuesdays). This time, we planned for a Wednesday, and found the restaurant empty on arrival. Only four other parties joined us during our hour long stay.

The decor was basic, but it was clean, and I did like the wooden booth that had been erected around the cash register.

Interior

The menu, appealingly enough, offered some unique options when it came to Vietnamese/Chinese cuisine – namely, they didn’t offer green onion cakes, which forced me to search out a different appetizer. We settled on a pork and shrimp pancake ($5.50). It was a tasty combination of starch, meat and seafood, but we both found it a bit oily and were left wishing for more filling.

Pork and shrimp pancake

The pho bowls, with the usual range of meat options, were more inexpensive than any other restaurant I’ve been to, starting at just $5.50. Unfortunately, the cheap price point shone through in our order. The beef slices became tough and chewy in the soup before long, and though the broth smelled great, wasn’t actually that flavourful.

House special beef combo noodle soup ($6.95)

Medium rare beef and beef tendon noodle soup ($5.95)

Service was all right, and the food was delivered in a timely manner, but we agreed that next time, we’d venture back into Chinatown to satisfy our pho craving. Dickson’s rating: 3 soup bones out of 5 (I convinced Dickson he needed a ratings scale, so devised a “soup bones” measure with a maximum score of five).

Thanh Son
11012 107 Ave
(780) 425-8912

The Cooking Chronicles: Hit and Miss

The restaurant reviews have been few and far between lately, and for good reason. With the farmers’ market right outside our door, grocery shopping has been a snap, and has encouraged me to do more cooking than I’ve ever done before. Though many of our meals involve tried-and-true dishes, I’ve also worked hard to ensure a new recipe works its way in now and then. Some of these are adopted into our regular rotation, and others…are not.

Cauliflower Roast on Moroccan Chickpea Stew

The first vegetarian dish that, thankfully, turned out to have a happy ending was a Moroccan stew with chickpeas, from We Eat Together.

This recipe allowed us to finally make use of the gorgeous Le Cruset that Mack’s Mom had given us. A set of the Dutch ovens had been in their storage unit for some time, and after Mack and Thom were able to dig out the box, she said she would be happiest if the pots could find a good home.

It was an easy recipe to put together, especially because I had cooked the chickpeas the night prior. Into a pot of sautéed onions went some potatoes, prunes, stewed tomatoes, honey, water and the chickpeas, and on top, an entire head of seared cauliflower from Kuhlmann’s (instead of just half). The florets steamed up nicely in the oven, and added an additional texture into the stew.

Moroccan chickpea stew

My favourite part of this recipe was definitely the fragrant spices – a cinnamon stick and toasted cumin seeds perfumed the kitchen wonderfully, and made it difficult not to peek under the lid as it baked. I was also amazed that the water took on so much flavour – I usually add stock, but here, it really wasn’t necessary.

Hot and Sour Curried Eggplant with Tofu and Pineapple

Mack and I couldn’t wait for the Food Canada Network’s delayed broadcasting of the seventh season of Top Chef (particularly as it took place in Washington, D.C.!), so we were downloading it, staying afloat with our American counterparts as it aired on Bravo.

Though I’ve never before been inspired to cook an on-screen dish before, Kenny’s hot and sour eggplant did it for me. And given that I’ve never cooked with eggplant before, I thought this was a good opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

My first mistake was opting to use a fan-modified recipe instead of Kenny’s recipe. Although I liked the ingredients that went into the latter, I was swayed by the inclusion of tofu that could round the side dish out into a main entrée.

My second mistake was not knowing how to cook eggplant properly, all the more sad given they were whimsically beautiful eggplant from Sundog Organics. I thought some stewing would probably be in order, given the usual texture of eggplant in dishes. This recipe didn’t allow for any extended stewing time, so I increased the cooking time, but it wasn’t enough – the eggplant was still gummy, and paired with the extra firm tofu that had a similar biting resistance, the dish as a whole wasn’t very pleasant to eat (I probably should have peeled the eggplant, as directed in the recipe, but the fairy eggplant were so tiny to begin with I couldn’t do it). The pineapple was a pleasant addition, but other than that, this dish was a complete miss.

Hot and sour curried eggplant

I’ll be deferring to Kenny’s recipe in the future for my next attempt at cooking eggplant.

Food Notes for September 20, 2010

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

Western Canada Fashion Week: Fall/Winter 2010

I didn’t attend the last Edmonton Fashion Week in the spring, the first that had been rebranded as Western Canada Fashion Week, but was looking forward to seeing what the event had in store this time around.

I met up with Amanda on Saturday night at the TransAlta Arts Barns about forty-five minutes before the show was to start, as we assumed the crowds would be large. It wasn’t so, at least not on this night – the Westbury Theatre was barely even half full.

Me and Amanda

The show’s ultimate draw for both of us was Sid Neigum, a young designer from Edmonton who won Fashion Week’s Emerging Designer competition last year and was recently accepted into the Fashion Institute for Technology in New York. He had first billing on the evening’s program, but unfortunately, when the lights dimmed and his name was announced, it turned out he wouldn’t be showcasing his collection at all. Instead, WCFW wanted to honour him and dressed two models in what Amanda thought were designs from his last collection. Why the organizers chose to include his name in the program at all was beyond us – we were mislead, but were hoping the rest of the evening would make up for it.

Sid Neigum

Next up was Luxx by Derek Jagodzinsky. Amanda liked some of the bright, almost tribal-printed leggings, but we both thought the collection he exhibited was quite limited.

Luxx (the first model is Linsay Willier, known for competing in Canada’s Next Top Model)

E squared offered a similarly brief snapshot of their menswear line, most outfits which included shiny bursts of silver fabric reminiscent of futuristic space designs.

E squared

My favourite showcase of the evening was Joeffer Caoc (put on by My Philosophy) – clean lines and designs meant to show off a woman’s figure, I could see myself picking up many of the pieces. More than anything though, this set had many more models than the previous two designers, and instead of having the models walk and finish the runway on their own, built up a good rhythm during their segment by sending the subsequent model down when the first was about halfway done.

Joeffer Caoc

The show wrapped up with Lanvin Menswear (put on by Henry Singer) and featured suits and business casual attire.

Lanvin

After Sandra Sing Fernandes came out and did her usual call for audience members to “walk off” and closed the evening, I looked at my watch – only an hour had passed since we started at 8:15, and with the fifteen minute intermission, meant that there ended up being less than forty-five minutes of actual fashion. Compared to the previous EFW shows I’ve attended, this show seemed short.

Western Canada Fashion Week continues until September 23 – I hope the remaining shows provide more than just the fleeting glance that we received that night.

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