Meet for Brunch: Meat

Mack and I rarely get out for brunch in Edmonton. Weekends are an opportunity for us to sleep in, but more than that, we find there are only a handful of places in the city that are worth waking up for. In this instance, Calgary has us beat – their brunch culture is far more dynamic, offering variety to spare.

On Saturday morning, after dropping off Mack’s Mom at the airport, it seemed prudent to take advantage of the fact that we were already out and about. After stopping at the nearby Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market, we headed over to Meat. The restaurant just started offering brunch on weekends from 11am-2pm earlier this month, so it wasn’t a surprise that the crowd was tame; it’s still a well-kept secret.

Mack at Meat

In some ways, Meat was made to host brunch. Their expansive windows allow in ample natural light, and also double as a vantage point for the bustling street outside – people watching over coffee isn’t a bad way to start the weekend. Lastly, their large communal tables make Meat a natural meeting place for large groups gathering over brunch – something not necessarily seamless in other establishments.

The menu is straightforward – 7 breakfast dishes, 3 sandwiches and the option to add booze to your coffee. Most of the dishes incorporate their smokehouse staples – buttermilk fried chicken & flapjacks, for instance, or housemade Southern grits with your choice of brisket or pulled pork. Mack selected the beef brisket benny ($15), while I couldn’t resist the biscuits & gravy ($13).

The kitchen was right on top of things, as our dishes arrived in no time. Mack’s benny was built on a buttermilk biscuit, topped with brisket, caramelized onions, a perfectly soft poached egg and housemade hollandaise. He liked the fact that the usual English muffin had been replaced with a flaky biscuit, and did especially enjoy his crispy, indulgent hash brown.

Beef brisket benny

My biscuits & gravy weren’t advertised as anything else, and its components were tasty. The biscuits were definitely the highlight, and would have been worthy of unadorned consumption. The sausage gravy wasn’t overly studded with meat as I’ve encountered before, and because of that, I think there could have been more to the dish. Canteen’s version adds hash browns and sausage patties, but what makes Meat unique is their namesake. As they work through enhancing their brunch offerings, it would be great to see an “add on” section on the menu, where diners could not only add a poached egg on top of their biscuits & gravy, but also some pulled pork or brisket. A fellow diner commented on how her request of pulled pork on top of the smoked apple and cheddar flapjacks is what made them sing. Or, how about a side of fried chicken? Sure. An extra biscuit? Why yes, please!

Biscuits & gravy

That said, it’s still early days in Meat’s brunch service. They have a great foundation – service was excellent, as always – and the food did convince us that waking up some weekends could yield some rewards. We’re looking forward to returning again on an early bird inspired weekend.

Meat
8216 104 Street
(587) 520-6338
Sunday-Thursday 5-10pm, Friday-Saturday 5-11pm; brunch Saturday-Sunday 11am-2pm

Food Notes for March 30, 2015

I’m so ready for the Easter break; Mack’s been making fun of how much I’ve been sleeping lately, but I think it’s just fatigue. It’ll be nice to have a long weekend to catch up on sleep and other things! On to this week’s food notes:

Sorrentino’s annual Garlic Festival kicks off this week and runs April 1-30, 2015, featuring garlic-centric menus at all of their locations.
The owners behind Absolutely Edibles have revamped the space, which has now become The Dog, an upscale hot dog joint. Linda has an early review.
A smattering of reviews of The Burger’s Priest – this week from Robyn and Stephanie.
Jonny offers another opinion on Cerdo Tacos, the new Mexican restaurant in St. Albert.
Is two a trend? The Alder Room was the first to launch a crowdfunding campaign this year to help finance their new restaurant, and now a couple have done the same with the hopes of opening a French Canadian restaurant, Chartier, in Beaumont. They’ve already raised over $45,000 towards their goal of $95,000.
Vue Weekly’s annual Golden Fork Awards is now accepting nominations for your favourite eats.
Congrats to the crew behind the 2015 YEG Sexy calendar, which raised $19,500 for the Edmonton Food Bank! If you have what it takes to be a part of their 2016 calendar, applications are now open!
Tickets for the 2015 Eat Alberta will be released on March 31. Mack and I are looking forward to attending as participants this year – hope to see you there!
A few friends and I took in one of the drop-in classes on Wednesday evenings at the Art Gallery of Alberta. Centred around silk screening, the instructor first gave us an opportunity to explore the Pop Art exhibit for inspiration, then we all tried our hand at creating a stencil to screen. While my artistic talents definitely leave something to be desired, it was a lot of fun!

Can you guess which print I created?

Before the art class, we met up at the nearby King Noodle House in Chinatown. I’m not sure what it will take for me to deviate from the bun bo Hue.

Bun bo Hue at King Noodle House

Kerry and I met up for a long-delayed dinner at RGE RD on Thursday night. We shared several small plates, with my favourite being the hay smoked sausage and chickpeas. The brassica mustard was the perfect accompaniment.

Hay smoked sausage and chickpeas at RGE RD

After a long week, it was nice to unwind with Mack at one of our favourites, Café Amore. Black Pearl, their new seafood venture on 104 Street, sounds like it might still be a month out.

Truffle chicken pasta at Café Amore

There was a ton of excitement with the lead-up and opening of Little Brick (10004 90 Street), Nate Box’s newest venture, on Friday. We didn’t plan very well, and arrived on Sunday afternoon past their operational hours, but Nate was still gracious enough to give us a quick tour of the space. No doubt, a lot of love has gone into restoring the Riverdale home, and it will be a beautiful venue for brunches, set dinners and musical evenings.

Inside Little Brick

Happy Easter!

Cooking Catelli Healthy Harvest Ancient Grains Pasta with Chef Lynn Crawford

On March 18, 2015, Chef Lynn Crawford was in Edmonton to officially launch a new line of pasta. Catelli’s Healthy Harvest Ancient Grains pasta has been available since January, but only in Western Canada.

Cooking with Chef Crawford at Get Cooking

Given the trend towards whole grains, it isn’t surprising Catelli has developed this product to offer consumers another option in the supermarket aisles. Healthy Harvest Ancient Grains is the only 100% whole grain pasta of its kind, incorporating Canadian wheat as well as five ancient grains: quinoa, teff, amaranth, millet and sorghum. The result is a pasta that is higher in fibre and potentially other nutrients (most people are familiar with quinoa, but you may also know of teff, which is what Ethiopian bread injera is made of).

Teff, millet, sorghum and amaranth

If you opened my cupboards, you’d only find regular pasta. One of the reasons I haven’t switched to any of the whole grain varieties available is due to taste. That evening, we were able to sample the Healthy Harvest pasta in a variety of ways – with marinara sauce and tossed with pesto. In those incarnations, I didn’t mind the subtle nutty flavour of the pasta; it didn’t take away from the accompaniments.

Chilled noodle salad with ginger wasabi dressing

Chef Crawford, who I had seen at Christmas in November last year, was no doubt chosen to be an ambassador of this product because of her sass and energy – “I’m so over whisks” was one of her quips that night. She routinely pulled folks from the audience up to assist her with the preparation of dishes, including a “Shake it Off” salad dressing preparation.

Dance off!

Although Chef Crawford was limited by time, I did appreciate some of the tips she was able to impart, one of which had nothing to do with the pasta itself. She spent some time roasting sorghum over a hot pan, which resulted in popped kernels not dissimilar from popcorn. She shared that she used these as a crunchy topping to salads at her restaurant.

Popped sorghum

The final part of the evening gave us an opportunity to work in small groups to prepare a dish to take home – a chilled noodle salad with ginger wasabi dressing. Chef Crawford wasn’t shy; she was hands on and made sure to assist teams when she could.

Linda and Phil cook with Chef Crawford

While I won’t be switching to Catelli Healthy Harvest pasta – I’m more interested in consuming quinoa or any of the other grains in their whole form – I recognize that this provides consumers with a way to incorporate some variety in their diet in a convenient way. Thanks to Catelli for the invitation to learn more about a new product!

For recipes using Catelli Healthy Harvest Ancient Grains pasta, visit Catelli’s website, and for a $1 off coupon, click here.

SPUD Edmonton: Local and Organic Groceries Delivered to Your Door

Grocery shopping has never been a chore to me. I relish the time we spend at the farmers’ market every week, and even more routine trips to the Italian Centre or Superstore are an opportunity to observe commercial and product trends.

But I know not everyone feels the same way about a necessary task. In Ontario, Loblaws launched a “click-and collect” program back in October, offering customers the convenience of putting together an order of groceries and other products online which would be ready for pick-up at a designated time. While that system hasn’t been implemented outside of the GTA, Edmonton does have two grocery delivery services. Unlike the range of items offered by conventional grocery stores, however, the two services emphasize local and organic products. The Organic Box has been in business for several years, while Sustainable Produce Urban Delivery, or SPUD, is the relative newcomer to Edmonton. SPUD began its first deliveries in October (for the record, the Good Food Box run by Live Local Edmonton was the first of such services, but is no longer in operation).

SPUD differs from The Organic Box in that it does not require a membership fee and has no minimum commitment. Delivery is also free for most orders.

Two weeks ago, I received a complimentary SPUD delivery to try out the service for myself. I was interested in seeing how seamless the process would be, from selecting products to the delivery itself.

Of course, selection is paramount in a service like this. Given the current winter season, I knew the selection of local vegetables might be slim, but SPUD does source from some Alberta producers I’m not familiar with, such as Mans Organic and Poplar Bluff Farm. They also have more recognizable names, such as Gull Valley Greenhouses, Reclaim Urban Farm and Lund’s. As expected, however, to fill out the quotient of organic produce readily available at grocery stores, countries of origin were as far away as Chile or Peru.

Local producers were better represented on the meat and dairy side – SunWorks and Olsons High Country for meat, Vital Greens and Rock Ridge for milk, Bles Wold for (our go-to) yogurt and The Cheesiry for cheese. Other Edmonton-based businesses that supply products to SPUD include Transcend Coffee, Prairie Mill, Honest Dumplings, Jacek Chocolate Couture, Cookie Love, La Oliva, Bloom Cookie Co., and the most recent addition, Glow Juicery. I appreciated the “local products” section, which contained the products supplied by all of the Alberta-based companies.

On a side note, personal care and cleaning products are also available, with an emphasis on natural and environmentally-friendly options. I suppose this again goes to SPUD’s desire to be a “one-stop shop”, but without a doubt, the convenience would definitely come with a price.

Once I was logged in, ordering was a breeze. I liked the running tally of items on the left hand side of the screen, which also reminded me how quickly the total can be ratcheted upwards. I ordered a variety of fresh, frozen and non-perishable items, but, as is our shopping tendency, focused more on locally-sourced products.

I submitted my order by 3pm on Monday, which meant my SPUD box would be delivered the following evening, between 3-9pm, as per my downtown zone. Living in a condo unit, I was most concerned about the security of the drop-off, as I wouldn’t trust that the box would remain safe and untouched in our lobby. Thankfully, allaying my concerns was a priority for the SPUD staff, who connected with me by e-mail and requested specific instructions. They were able to include a note to the delivery driver about calling us upon arrival to be buzzed up to our floor. When we arrived home late Tuesday evening, we found the box waiting for us in front of our unit door.

SPUD box

Opening the box, we found that products were separated into different packaging sleeves, with refrigerated and frozen items packed into insulated sleeves with adjacent ice packs and dry ice. It was obvious everything was put together with care and attention.

Packed with care

Unboxing

Over the next couple of weeks, we enjoyed most of the contents of the box.

Our haul

We fried up the Honest Dumplings and sprinkled Reclaim Urban Farm cilantro microgreens overtop. The SunWorks stew meat combined with the Poplar Bluff carrots, Lund’s parsnips, Steinke Family Farm potatoes and Noble Spuds onions for a fabulous stew. We used the Olsons High Country bison pepperoni to top our homemade pizza.

Honest Dumplings with Reclaim Urban Farm microgreens

We found the ingredients to be of high quality, and comparable to what we might pick up at a farmers’ market. SPUD definitely introduced us to some Alberta producers we hadn’t really known before – at the Calgary Farmers’ Market the following weekend, it was nice to see the Olsons High Country booth and their breadth of products in person.

Pizza with Olsons High Country bison pepperoni

As I mentioned, my preference is to buy direct from producers whenever possible, so I can’t see myself becoming a regular SPUD customer. However, I could see occasions where SPUD could come in handy – a particularly busy week, returning from travels, gifting a box to a new mom or a time-crunched friend. I know SPUD Edmonton is also continuously adding more local producers, and likely, with the spring, the selection will increase even more.

Thanks again to SPUD for the opportunity to try out the service!

Learn more about SPUD Edmonton here, with $10 off your first order of $50 or more.

Food Notes for March 23, 2015

I’m looking forward to attending Northern Land’s Meet Your Maker event this weekend. Learn more about the biggest all-Canadian wine and culinary festival in Vue Weekly.
Dream Tea House opened up their fourth location in Oliver Square (11242 104 Avenue). Stephanie wrote an overview of their menu items.
Sherwood Park now has its own location of Memphis Blues Barbecue House (150 – 222 Baseline Road).
Sandwich and Sons continue to get good food press, this week from both Liv and Twyla.
The seventh Pizza Odyssey took Phil to D’Amore’s Mercato and the Italian Centre, for a throwdown of grocery stores that double as pizzerias.
Not surprisingly, the third Prairie Noodle Shop pop-up was a resounding success, serving up vegetarian ramen. Andrea and Cindy recapped the evening.
Andrea also captured her experience at the first underground dinner at The Salt Room.
Cindy attended a variety of events during Edmonton’s first YEG Coffee Week – great to hear that it will be back next year, too!
Century Grill (and Hundred Bar and Kitchen) have been sold by Century Hospitality Group, in order to allow the business to focus on their other brands. Century Grill is hosting a final farewell party on March 28.
Chic Hog O’s Social Roast House closed recently due to a dispute with their new landlord. The couple behind the restaurant are currently scouting new locations and considering a food truck.
Did you know that March 20 was “macaron day”? Lillian (macaron baker extraordinaire) marked the occasion by reflecting on the origins and current direction of her blog.
F.E.D. U.P. (Feminist Eatery Database Undercover Project) is a site led by four Women’s Studies students at the University of Alberta, seeking to “highlight prominent issues regarding sex, gender and race in the service industry”.
The tickets for the 2015 edition of Eat Alberta go live on March 31, 2015.
Twyla is leading her own food tour to New York City April 12-16, 2015.
Mack and I hosted a family supper on Sunday, as Mack’s Mom is in town for the week. We successfully made citrus-braised pork shoulder tacos with all the fixings from Pucker. We’ll definitely make it again!

Tacos for the family!

Food Notes for March 16, 2014

The Telus World of Science Edmonton plays host to its latest Dark Matters event on March 19, an adults-only evening where “science is served on the rocks”. The theme this week is food and beer, with Alley Kat on tap, and sessions on cheese, honey and sausage.
Cookie lovers rejoice: Cookie Love Café is holding their grand opening celebration on March 20. Expect free cookies, ice cream and espresso!
Taste of Iceland reservations are going fast! Check out the dinner menu to be served at Characters from April 9-12, 2015 here.
Burger’s Priest opened to much fanfare this weekend, but did you know that another Eastern burger chain is set to invade Edmonton this summer? Phil has the details about Relish Gourmet Burgers (10704 124 Street) aiming to open in June.
The warm weather means food trucks have started to come out of hibernation! The Local Omnivore, among others, has already kicked off the season.
There are some great things happening at Mother’s Market – namely, the unremarkable food vendors on the second floor have been replaced by The Salt Room, run by Chef Antony Krause, formerly of St. Albert’s Privada. He is hosting an ongoing series of underground dinners, the first of which were reviewed by Cindy and Diane. It looks like his next few are already sold out, so follow Antony on Twitter to get a jump on the next one!
NAIT’s annual Chef in Residence Program took place last week, and it looks like Chef Michael Stadtländer helped cook up quite the feast for its feature luncheon – reports are back from Andrea and Chris.
I love that Loblaws is following in the footsteps of French supermarket Intermarché and adopting its ugly produce campaign, selling undersized or blemished produce under the “Naturally Imperfect” label.
The Downtown Business Association kicked off Downtown Dining Week with a reception at the Art Gallery of Alberta on Thursday. Nine restaurants were on hand, offering samples of some of the dishes they will be serving as a part of their prix fixe menus from March 13-22, 2015. One of my favourite tastes was from The Harvest Room, who served a red wine braised veal cheek slider. Zinc’s contribution of a house cured and smoked pork belly, atop potato rosti with a quail egg was also delicious, and formed part of a larger statement plate of “head to hock” Alberta pork. Thanks again to the DBA for the invitation!

Red wine braised veal cheek sliders

Zinc’s Alberta Pork “head to hock”

On Friday, my family and I headed to The Marc for supper to celebrate my parents’ anniversary. Incidentally, only my Dad ended up ordering from the Downtown Dining Week menu, as the rest of us were too easily swayed by the a la carte options. One thing we could agree on, though – beignets for the win!

Braised pork cheek with Savoy cabbage, peas, pearl onion and fingerling potato

Seared scallops with confit potato, spinach pistou, leek crisps, tomato and caper

Beignets!

Food Notes for March 9, 2015

I’m honoured to be among the bloggers nominated in the “Best in Food” category for the 2014 Yeggies. Congrats to my fellow nominees! On to this week’s food notes:

Over 30 restaurants are participating in this year’s Downtown Dining Week, which runs March 13-22, 2015. Prix fixe meals are specially priced at $15 for lunch and $28 or $48 for dinner.
The Palestinian Bazaar on March 14, 2015 will celebrate the arts, culture and food of the Palestinian people. The event is taking place at the Citadel Theatre from 12-5pm.
It’s starting to look like spring out there – head to the annual Seedy Sunday event to get inspired for your garden this summer! The March 22, 2015 event features speakers, exhibitors and seed swapping.
St. Albert is now home to a taqueria – Cerdo Tacos opened last week at 150, 15 Perron Street.
The Edmonton location of The Burger’s Priest opens on Saturday. The Journal has a sneak peek.
Great to see that Meat is now offering brunch on the weekends from 11am-2pm! Bring on the biscuits and gravy.
First there was S’wich, then Farrow, and now, Sandwich and Sons – Edmonton is definitely on the handcrafted sandwich train! Both Andrea and Cindy checked it out last week.
Linda reviewed the new Browns Socialhouse in Windermere, which seems like an immediately popular addition to that part of the city.
Diane started a great series called Living La Vida Local, which will be highlighting her favourite local businesses. The first post is all about Revojuiceinary.
Have you seen Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants list? Three local establishments made the cut – Corso 32, RGE RD and Rostizado.
Ever wondered what your favourite chef has up his or her sleeve? Wonder no more, with Liane’s story about food tattoos.
Thinking of booking a class at Get Cooking? They’re offering a 10% discount for April to June classes booked this week. I’m already looking forward to our Indian street food class with Addie in a few weeks!
In Calgary on the weekend, Mack and I stumbled upon a thought-provoking art installation at the Esker Foundation in Inglewood called tender by Rita McKeough. The accompanying interview illuminates her view on how we should see our food.

tender

Alberta Avenue Charm: Passion de France

Passion de France, a relatively new bakery located in the Eastwood neighbourhood, has remained somewhat under the radar since opening back in November. Perhaps because of its location just off the main Alberta Avenue drag, one wouldn’t likely stumble across Passion de France by accident.

Passion de France

I sought out the bakery after around lunch time last week after a meeting near by. Passion de France charms with its pastel colouring, chandeliers and ornate seating. For those seeking something more substantial, Passion de France does offer a variety of savoury items, including sandwiches, quiche and soup. But no doubt, they specialize in more dainty goods.

Interior

The pastry cases were filled with an astonishing variety given the bakery’s size, ranging from macarons, tarts, cakes and pies. Being a sucker for croissants, however, my attention was eventually diverted to their selection of flaky treats. They had already sold out of plain croissants that morning, and I couldn’t wait for their second batch to finish baking, so I ended up with a few mini pain au chocolat ($1.95), as well as croissant twists in chocolate and salted caramel flavours ($3.40 each).

The chocolate croissants were my favourite of the two; they definitely didn’t skimp on the butter! The salted caramel twist was a little too moist for my taste, reminding me of a Danish.

With friendly staff and an inviting interior, Passion de France would make a great stop for those looking to indulge their sweet tooth – I know I’ll be back for their croissants some time soon!

Passion de France
11812 86 Street
(780) 257-2092

Food Notes for March 2, 2015

Mack and I are ready for a bit of a break, so we’re both looking forward to our upcoming getaway to Calgary. I’m readying for a low-key weekend full of new discoveries and good food. On to this week’s food notes:

The next Green Drinks is all about Local Food DIY! Join in on the conversation on March 4, 2015 at Yellowhead Brewery.
YEG Coffee Week starts this weekend, and runs March 7-15, 2015. Check out their list of events, including pour over and latte art seminars, roastery tour, and a coffee-inspired dinner.
Cheer on our hometown chef Shane Chartrand when his episode of Chopped Canada airs on Saturday – he is hosting two viewing parties at Sage on March 7, 2015.
Do you commemorate Pi Day (3-14)? Maybe you should! Or at least, with Sugared and Spiced offering up a special selection of Pi Day Pies, you’ll be tempted to. Pre-order chocolate pecan, black & blueberry or caramel and banana cream pie by March 8 for pick-up on March 14.
Save the date: the fourth annual Culinary Cook-off, benefiting Mount Royal School, will be taking place on April 18, 2015.
Blink and you miss it: the second Edmonton Food Fight, hosted at Get Cooking on March 24, 2015, is already sold out! Make sure to follow the Twitter account for notice about future events.
Lots of food literature released this week for your reading pleasure, starting with Avenue Edmonton’s Best Restaurants issue. Congrats to all of the establishments recognized in 2015, including those honoured in the best overall category – Corso 32, RGE RD, Cibo Bistro, The Marc and Tres Carnales.
The Tomato also released their annual list of Top 100 Best Things to Eat or Drink in Edmonton, with a sandwich from Farrow topping the list. Unfortunately, the list isn’t yet online, so you’ll have to pick up a paper copy of the issue.
Sandwich and Sons (13119 156 Street) is the newest artisan sandwich shop to open in Edmonton by Chef Alex Sneazwell, formerly of Von’s and El Cortez.
Liv is the latest to review Coffee Bureau, the newest café to add to Edmonton’s coffee district.
Phil sampled pizzas from Tony’s Pizza Palace and Ragazzi Bistro in his sixth Pizza Odyssey installment.
This is a great piece in the Journal that interviewed a few chefs, including Daniel Costa, about the current and future state of Edmonton’s restaurant scene.
Learn more about the duo behind Farrow in a piece in Vue Weekly.
Expect a new farmers’ market this summer on the city’s north side, called the Miller Crossing Farmers’ Market, to run Tuesdays and Sundays at the Miller Crossing Kingsway Legion Branch (14339 50 Street).
The scourge of K-cups, indeed – have you embraced the single cup trend?
Speaking of coffee, would you try KFC’s forthcoming edible coffee cups, coming to a UK location near you?
The Parlour is one of our favourite meeting locations – lots of natural light, half price wine on Wednesdays, and one of my favourite pizzas in the city!

The Gamberi

Before the Edmonton Rush game on Friday, a few of us met up at The Denizen Hall for a bite to eat. I had their $10 fried chicken special. It’s a good value, three pieces of meat served with smashed potato, kale, and buttermilk biscuits, but the breading was a little thin for my liking.

Fried chicken at The Denizen Hall

At the Rush game, I ended up winning a really neat prize – a Budweiser goal light helmet (complete with a remote control to turn on the light). What was more amusing than the helmet, however, was learning how much people were willing to pay for it.

Goal light selfie!

Over the weekend, a few friends hosted a communal hot pot party. The meat definitely outweighed the veggie options that night!

Hot pot!

After babysitting our nephew on Sunday, Mack and I had lunch at King Noodle House. It’s always busy, and for good reason.

We love their bun bo Hue!

I’m proud to say that not only have I kept the starter alive that I received a few weeks ago at a bread making class I attended, but I’ve also been continuing to bake loaves!

Bread baby #4

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