We’re deep into planning What the Truck?!’s fifth (can you believe it?) season. Make sure to check the website in the next few weeks for an announcement of our first event of the summer! On to this week’s food notes:
- A reminder that the Culinary Arts Cook-Off is taking place at Mount Royal School on April 18, 2015, from 11am-2pm. See you there for “noodles and doodles”!
- This is such a neat idea – Brew-Curious is a “rare chance to experience Edmonton’s local brewing heritage and modern craft beer industry”, with plenty of tasting in between. A few tickets to the April 18, 2015 event are still available.
- Native Delights is celebrating their grand opening on April 25, 2015, from 10am-6pm with a street festival. Check it out at 10406 118 Avenue.
- Congrats to Glow Juicery, who just opened a new Juicery + Raw Food Cafe in Old Strathcona over the weekend (7911 104 Street).
- Swiss2Go, a popular sandwich shop that used to be located in the west end, is reopening on April 15, 2015 at a new shop in Beverly (4306 118 Avenue).
- My Dad, for one, will be thrilled to hear this: Bubba’s is back. You might remember Bubba’s as a very popular south side barbecue vendor, until a fire put him out of commission. Find him now in the Osman Auctions lot at 6330 75 Street.
- Korean is definitely the cuisine of the moment in Edmonton – new restaurants seem to be opening up all the time, including Seoul Tofu House (5020 97 Street), reviewed by Andrea.
- Great to see the Journal feature the repurposed Central Station Edmonton Transit System booth that now houses Baba Finkelstein’s.
- Phil offers his thoughts on his YEG Pizza Odyssey so far.
- Another local chef will be featured on Chopped Canada this season – watch Zinc’s Chef David Omar take on the competition on June 13, 2015.
- It must be spring, as food trucks have started to come out of hibernation! Check the Street Food app for the latest updates, but in anticipation of our What the Truck?! season, we’ve also started posting profiles of new trucks you can expect on the street this year. First up: Phat Tony’s.
- You have until April 20, 2015 to nominate your favourite restaurant for Vue Weekly’s annual Golden Fork Awards.
- I do wish Avenue Edmonton articles went online sooner – I always want to link to them after reading the paper issue. Anyway – I didn’t want to miss pointing to a piece about some Edmonton restaurants that are building their success but not repeating concepts in the process.
- Vue profiles the Alder Food Security Society and how they want to increase food security in Edmonton by giving a broader audience access to local food.
- Mack and I are super-excited we got into our first track choice for Eat Alberta (Track 9: Foothills). But in case you missed it, tickets for the May 2, 2015 event are still available!
- On the way home from an errand, Mack and I thought it was a good excuse to finally give Ragazzi Bistro (8110 82 Avenue) a try. The wait, as expected, on a Friday night was almost 45 minutes, and we toughed it out. We shared a Raging Bull pizza with pepperoni, ham, sausage, salami, bacon, and banana peppers. The crust was bone dry, which just wasn’t our preference, and we could have used a bit more cheese. And as is usually the case with meat-heavy pizzas, it was also on the salty side. That said, the service was good, and it was clear that Ragazzi has built up a clientele made up of mostly regulars – so they must be doing something right. It’ll be worth another shot when we’re in the neighbourhood again.
Raging Bull pizza
Only Here for the Food 