Food Notes for February 29, 2016

• Both Andrea and Cindy are giving away the chance to dine at the upcoming NAIT Chef in Residence Luncheon on March 10, 2016, which will feature the food of Chef Vikram Vij.
• Mark your calendars: Downtown Dining Week runs March 11-20, 2016. Prix fixe meals will be offered at 36 restaurants at $15, $28 and $48 price points. There are some good deals to be had, including a $15 lunch at Pampa with access to their salad bar and three Rodizio meats.
• The next Swine and Dine pop-up event is taking place at the Royal Glenora Club on March 17, 2016. Tickets for the four-course meal are $75.
• The 2016 edition of Seedy Sunday is taking place on March 20, 2016 in a new location, the Central Lions Seniors Centre (11113 113 Street). It’ll be interesting to see if their attendance spikes this year, with all the speculation that increasing produce prices will entice more novice gardeners.
• Smokehouse BBQ is changing the direction of their sister shop on 124 Street – from Pie Eatery to Stuffed Gourmet Sausage.
• Calle Mexico is the latest food truck to open up a brick and mortar restaurant. You will be able to find them at 107 Avenue and 113 Street.
• It looks like a new ramen place is coming to Whyte Avenue, called Nu Do Ru.
• The new Orange Market at 10401 82 Avenue, a 24-7 convenience store, features an Urbano Pizza location inside.
• Avenue Magazine released their list of best restaurants for 2016: RGE RD was named best overall, with NongBu scoring best new restaurant. Avenue has added a weekly Food + Drink newsletter to its roster. If you sign up, it will be e-mailed to you every Tuesday.
• Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants list for 2016 has just been released. Edmonton has 3 establishments that made the cut: Bar Bricco, Corso and Rostizado.
• Linda offers us a peek behind the scenes at Cobs Bread during hot cross bun season, and is also providing a chance to win bread for a year and an Easter prize pack.
• The Breakfast Club checks out the Nordic Brunch offered at Victoria Golf Course’s Dogwood Cafe, run by the folks behind Culina.
• Jonny is the first to review Baha Cabana (13716 Castle Downs Road), a Caribbean-Chinese restaurant on the north side.
• Lindsey and Ms. Hangry Foodie are the latest local bloggers to review Love Pizza.
• Phil’s latest Off Menu Podcast features Twyla Campbell and Dan Clapson discussing the food scenes of Edmonton and Calgary.
• Vue Weekly profiles Passion de France, an upstart pastry shop on 118 Avenue.
• Liv had a great piece in the Globe & Mail covering the evolution of Edmonton’s coffee roasting scene.
• Did you know that cereal has been on a downward trend? The big brands are trying to find their way back into consumers hearts.
• We finally checked out Planet Organic’s new location at 12210 Jasper Avenue. No doubt it’s a beautiful store, with an expanded ready-to-eat section (it was great to see Phil & Sebastian coffee available).

Planet Organic

• On Saturday, Mack and I finally had the chance to pop by Blue Hour Tea’s storefront located in Vacancy Hall in basement of the Mercer Warehouse (10359 104 Street). The local company blends their own teas, and at Vacancy Hall’s season opener on March 12, 2016, they’ll be debuting their version of an iced tea. We picked up some of their Sleep blend to try.

Blue Hour Tea

• We couldn’t help but pick up Confetti Sweets cookies over the weekend at the City Market. It was the perfect snack to accompany an evening with an Oscar-nominated flick (Spotlight, a movie we really enjoyed).

Confetti Sweets