Food Notes for July 20, 2015

• The second SalvagED pop-up is scheduled for July 24, 2015, from 11am-2pm at Earth’s General Store downtown. Taste how some of Edmonton’s best chefs transform produce that would otherwise be designated for the rubbish bin!
• The annual Pupusa Festival is taking place on July 25, 2015 from 12-8pm at the Alberta Avenue Community League.
• The Italian Centre invites you to join them for a Picnic in the Park on July 26, 2015 at Kinsmen Park from 11am-2pm. There will be activities and games for young and old, and of course, goodies from the Italian Centre for sale.
• Local author Kathryn Merrett has written a new book called Why Grow Here, about Edmonton’s horticultural history. The book launch is scheduled for July 27, 2015 at 7:30pm at the Central Lions Seniors Centre (11113 113 Street), with a talk about gardening in Edmonton and a reception.
• Cured Wine Bar (2307 Ellwood Drive), “specializing in cured meats, cheeses and locally sourced vegetables” is now open.
• Buco (Boudreau Road & Bellerose Drive), a Neopolitan pizza concept from the Sorrentino’s Restaurant Group, opens on July 27, 2015.
• It looks like HUMA Mexican Comfort, from the chef who brought us Taco Day at Expressionz Café, might be another solid addition to the city’s Mexican cuisine roster.
• A wave of Japanese restaurants has opened recently, starting with Sushi Park in St. Albert – Jonny had a very positive experience.
• Cindy checked out Ikki Izakaya, the newest restaurant in Oliver, on their first weekend.
• Phil organized a blind fried chicken tasting to find his favourite – who came out on top? I won’t spoil it for you.
• Mother’s Market has closed from July 18, 2015 until a to be determined date in September: “At this point we at Mother’s Market are striving to gain a good foundation, put our best foot forward to make the changes necessary, and give the market a clean break between what was and what will be.”
• Diane shared a Kickstarter Project she would back – twentyfour coffee, a Canadian craft coffee advent calendar. Neat idea!
• Chris tried Soylent – the meal replacement system that is engineered so you wouldn’t have to eat anything else ever again. Too good to be true?
• This was an eye-opening article about how California’s drought has changed some practices in home and restaurant kitchens. It is a reminder about how much more cognizant we could all be about our water use.
• We stopped by the Shaw Conference Centre on the weekend to check out Curtis Comeau’s exhibit “Off the Menu”. They were great photos, but we wished all of them had been labeled with the name of the restaurant or kitchen they were taken in. The free exhibit is on until August 16, 2015.

Off the Menu

• Relish Gourmet Burgers, a New Brunswick-based chain, opened its first western Canadian location on Saturday (10704 124 Street). While we didn’t have a chance to try the burgers yet, we took a look at the menu. All restaurants have one signature burger, and theirs is named after their dearly departed neighbour, The Roxy, because the theatre staff had been so supportive of the business.
  

  Relish Gourmet Burgers

• Mack and I spent a leisurely Saturday exploring some of Edmonton’s newest coffee shops on foot. First up was Rogue Wave Coffee (10517A 114 Street) in Queen Mary Park, the newest roasting business in the city. Their beans are still fairly exclusive to the café, but we enjoyed the single origin iced coffees that we tried that day. Cindy has a more in-depth write-up on the two Davids behind the business.

Rogue Wave Coffee

• We walked on to Barking Buffalo Café (10842 124 Street), a business that combines a love of fashion and coffee. The space is the retail front for Salgado Fenwick, but is also the only Edmonton café to serve up Pilot Coffee Beans from Toronto. We’ll be back!

Barking Buffalo Cafe

• Mack’s been picking up a lot of the dinner prep lately because of my late nights at work. It’s nice to come home to a home cooked supper after a long day at the office!

Yankee Fish Cakes (made with cod from Ocean Odyssey, over Sundog Organic greens and Gull Valley tomatoes)

• I stopped in at Spring Roll Kitchen (2395 111 Street) for lunch last week. Points for the hustle of their kitchen, as it may have been the quickest vermicelli bowl to appear in front of me! The portion was quite decent as well.

Vermicelli bowl with grilled chicken and spring rolls from Spring Roll Kitchen

• On a rainy day, a few coworkers and I were craving soup. So with Pho Tau Bay closed, we headed to King Noodle House for some Bun Bo Hue. It hit the spot.

Bun Bo Hue from King Noodle House

• We’ve been meaning to go back to Corso 32 for some time (shame on us), so we finally made a reservation (way in advance, of course). We didn’t regret it.

Mack when encountering arancini again