Food Notes for March 28, 2016

Mack and I took off to Calgary for the long weekend, and it was just what we needed. I hope you had a similarly relaxing time with family and friends! On to this week’s food notes:

• Spring has come early – food trucks are starting to return from hibernation, with Bully first out for regular operation on March 29, and Attila the Hungry to follow on April 1.
• A pop-up Farewell to Winter Party is taking place on April 2, 2016 from 11am-7pm on Rice Howard Way. There will be food, music and patios.
• Vibe is a new event series at the Art Gallery of Alberta once a month on Friday, which will feature a live music showcase, the opportunity to view gallery exhibitions and a special menu and cocktail bar from Zinc. The first Vibe will take place April 15, 2016.
• It’s great to see another local business grow – in this case, North 53 is opening up a sister bar called Baijiu – a “rustic chic joint serving boozy drinks and Asian-inspired plates in the Mercer Building”. Expect itre to open Fall 2016.
• It just might be the year for bubble tea in Edmonton – Quickly, a bubble tea chain with presence in 19 countries, is opening up in late April at 5818 111 Street. They already have three locations in Calgary.
• Cindy is among the first to write about Wheat Garden Noodle and Dumpling Bazaar on 107 Avenue.
• Ms. Hangry Foodie stopped by Calle Mexico’s storefront location.
• Cindy recapped a great pop-up at Canteen called Closed Mondays, allowing chefs in their kitchen to to showcase their food on a day the restaurant would otherwise be closed. I hope to be able to check it out at some point!
• Cindy also checked out the second #kenyaraefoodproject pop-up at Dovetail, featuring chicken and waffles.
• Linda has tried and fallen in love with Love Pizza.
• If you still haven’t submitted your favourite restaurants for Vue Weekly’s annual Golden Fork Awards, you have until March 31, 2016 to do so.
• Phil had the chance to interview Vikram Vij, one of the most well-known chefs in Canada.
• Vue asks the question – when you see the word “local” on the menu, does it really mean the ingredients have been locally-sourced?
• While in Calgary, we had to check out the branch of the Italian Centre that opened up on the city’s south side. It’s a beautiful store, with an amazing wall of cheese. Curiously, we did notice that some of the same products found in Edmonton are priced higher.

Mack can’t believe all of the cheese

• My Mum really wanted to try Seoul Fried Chicken, so Mack and I ordered up a few of their flavours to share (calling in an order is highly recommended – the line was 10 deep and I was able to bypass it to pick up my order). The SFC BBQ definitely suffered the most in transition, and depending on where you live, may not survive the journey, so I’d stick to the dry fried chicken in the future, unless you’re able to grab one of their limited seats in the storefront. Of the flavours we tried, the Golden Kari that snuck in and amongst our pieces of Original Gangster was the runaway favourite.

Take-out from Seoul Fried Chicken

• It’s been a while since Mack and I have gone for pho, so it seemed like the right way to end our long weekend.

Pho for two from Pho Tau Bay