I hope you all had a great long weekend! Only a month left of summer, so make the most of it if you can! On to this week’s food notes:
- A reminder that Sturgeon County Bounty takes place on August 5, 2016 from 4-9pm. Participating restaurants include Nineteen, Jack’s Burger Shack, and Urbano Pizza.
- Slowly but surely, announcements of new Ice District eateries are being made. The latest is from Match Eatery & Public House, to be located in the new casino.
- Vue Weekly checked out Namaste India, a relative newcomer to the city’s restaurant scene, located at 10049 156 Street.
- The Journal’s latest patio review features Workshop Eatery.
- Nightjar is one of the newest bars to open in Edmonton, and embraced a speakeasy concept.
- The third annual Diner en Blanc took place on 104 Street last week.
- Ever considered hosting a home sushi party? Linda did recently and it looked like a great, stress-free way to entertain.
- Athena shared a recent cooking demonstration experience at La Oliva, a gluten free kitchen.
- The Journal profiles Kenzi Food, which sells pie pops at the St. Albert Farmers’ Market and City Market.
- Why does salad have the reputation it does, as a “healthy”, “feminine” dish (or as Mack always suggests, is a side and not a meal)? The Atlantic sheds some light on this.
- Avenue Edmonton profiled some vertical farming initiatives in Edmonton, as well as the expansion of Northlands’ agricultural practices.
- For a pre-Esks game meal last week, we stopped at Love Pizza. It was just as satisfying as I remembered!
Meatatarian
- One of our go-to restaurants for work lunches is Viphalay, and they didn’t disappoint. I can never pass up the opportunity to order pad thai!
Pad thai at Viphalay
- Mack and I took in Heritage Days on Sunday. It was probably the most comfortable I’ve ever been at the festival, with mostly overcast skies and a steady breeze. The rain also stayed away until we were ready to leave! It was also the first year where lines weren’t apparent at a vast majority of the booths – to purchase food tickets or to buy food itself. We wondered if the economy was a factor in this, along with the significant drop in Food Bank donations collected over the weekend. At any rate, we enjoyed ourselves as we sampled some dishes that were new to us.
The chot poti from Bangladesh was one of the best values we encountered (just 4 tickets), a satisfying bowl of chickpeas with a spicy tamarind-based sauce. Based on the description, we were expecting egg instead of tortilla chips, but we did appreciate the added crunch.
The pupusa from Guatemala was the perfect combination of cheese, beans, pork, and a hint of spice.
Mack and I were also satisfied with the couscous and beef from Morocco, which featured a decent portion of meat for 6 tickets.
The chicha morada from Peru, a purple concoction said to be made from boiled purple corn, pineapple, cinnamon and lime, tasted like none of those ingredients to us, but was still refreshing to drink on a warm day. And, well, one can’t fault them for great marketing.
The only real line up we encountered was at the Hungary pavilion. But it was worth the wait for langos (even if the icing sugar-topped version isn’t the most authentic).
Only Here for the Food 