- Looking to make chocolate instead of just receiving it for Valentine’s Day? Then Sweet Lollapalooza has some classes that you might be interested in.
- The Dish has a great feature on Wednesdays – a cooking demonstration, a movie, and of course, dinner! Their films in February are all about “hot love”. Also from The Dish, a fun discount: if you show up in your pyjamas (and are willing to have your photo taken), your meal will be 2-for-1!
- Mark your calendars: Karlynn (aka The Kitchen Magpie), has organized a mac ‘n cheese cookoff to take place on March 17, 2012 (it also happens to be a fundraiser for her son’s school, so you won’t feel guilty indulging at all).
- Liane shared news about the new Organic Roots building on Whyte set to open in a month: Jennifer Ogle (formerly of Leva Cafe) will be opening a new restaurant called Under the High Wheel, to be joined by a Da Capo Lifestyle Cafe.
- I missed this last week, but City and Dale posted their list of five restaurants to try in 2012.
- The battle over the “Queen of Tarts” made national news.
- A great story in the Journal today about the permaculture and aquaculture projects that have taken root at Jasper Place High School.
- I was eager to find out more about CHARPOP, CHARCUT’s highly-anticipated pop-up restaurant. It turned out the secret location was the Sidewalk Citizen Bakery. Reviews here and here.
- There is more fallout from Paula Deen’s diabetes announcement (and subsequent drug endorsement). Frank Bruni has a great point to add to the debate – the fact that most chefs don’t actually eat what they promote (and exercise, to boot) isn’t talked about very much.
- Eater is jumping into the online dating scene with an interesting angle: instead of the typical profiles, one simply answers the question, “How about we…?” with your ideal date.
- I hoofed it to the Robbins Health Learning Centre at lunch today, eager to sample something from the newest Filistix outpost. Unfortunately, there was a setback, and they likely won’t be ready until Wednesday (make sure to follow them on Twitter to be sure). The new digs look great though, guys!
Filistix
- It was a busy weekend for us, celebrating Chinese New Year with family and friends. We had the usual potluck dinner, and even caught part of the show at City Centre Mall on Saturday. If you commemorate this occasion, I hope your year is joyous!
City Centre Mall celebration
Potluck goods (Mack’s favourite: the spring roll pyramid)
Only Here for the Food 
I went to a chocolate making class at Lollapolloza’s last year and wouldn’t recommend it – Bret’s chocolate is good but his teaching skills and the class content are a big snooze. It’s also very overpriced for what you get.
Jen – thanks for sharing. I honestly haven’t heard any feedback, so it’s good to know.