Food Notes for February 18, 2012

On Sunday, February 24, 2013, at 1:30pm I’ll be joining the Edmonton Public Library Writer in Residence, Omar Mouallem and Daveberta’s Dave Cournoyer in a conversation about what makes a successful blog. I was honoured to be asked – I hope you’ll think about dropping by! On to this week’s food notes:

• The Alberta Canola Producers Commission presents Taking it to Heart on February 25, 2013, a fundraiser for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. The event features 10 dishes crafted by five female chefs. Tickets are $75. Check out the menu and event page here.
• Dishcrawl announced two new food crawls: one in Oliver on March 12 and 13, and another in Chinatown on March 26 and 27.
• It looks like One One Eight (which replaced Suede on Jasper Avenue) didn’t last long – it will be replaced by Japonais Bistro, to open March 8, 2013.
• The Journal had a disappointing experience at the Italian Centre’s Massimo’s Italian Cucina.
• Edmonton bars were in the spotlight in a recent article in the Journal.
• In case you missed it, here’s a video of Jennifer Crosby and Liane Faulder’s conversation about the changing landscape of restaurants in Edmonton.
• The Greater Edmonton Alliance is collecting signatures for a petition against the proposed Horse Hill Area Structure Plan.
• The nominations for The Yeggies (Edmonton New Media Awards) are out! Congrats to my fellow nominees in the Food category, and thanks to those who nominated my blog!
• Chopped is now casting for the Canadian version of the show.
• Speaking of the Food Network, the list of contestants for the third season of Top Chef Canada was released last week. Again, no Edmonton representation, but there are three Calgary-based chefs. The season premieres on March 18, 2013.
• Fans of Earls might want to know that a human rights complaint has forced the company to drop the word “albino” from their Albino Rhino brand of beer.
• We stumbled across a new vendor at the City Market on Saturday. Cravings Artisan Gelato has been at the market for three weeks, and offers a rotating list of flavours that change with the seasons.

Charlynn of Cravings Gelato

• Pangea (10150 104 Street) now carries a local line of organic milk. Rock Ridge, we were told by Pangea owner Vincent Halwa, processes the milk provided by Van Os Dairy (a vendor at the City Market up until January of last year). It’s great to have easy access to locally-produced organic milk again!

Rock Ridge Dairy

• Our family friends held our annual Chinese New Year potluck on the weekend. I contributed a dish of chicken meatballs served over butter lettuce. Can you spot them in the spread below?

The Chinese New Year spread