It’s wonderful to live in a city where your entertainment choices over the weekend are countless; I hope you were able to make the most of the break too! On to this week’s food notes:
- Tickets for the first Meals on Wheels Beers & Bands fundraiser at Yellowhead Brewery are still available. Chefs from Meals on Wheels will be preparing the food, and brewery tours are on tap. Tickets are $40. As a side note, the organization has served over 1 million meals since 2010.
- Chinatown will be hosting a Moonlight Carnival on September 16, 2016 from 5-11pm as a part of Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations. If you ever wanted to learn how to make moon cakes (the traditional baked treat enjoyed during this holiday), consider taking a class at Garden Bakery on September 17. Tickets are $18 for adults.
- The insanely-popular Hip Hop Brunch at The Common will be taking place September 18, 2016, from 11am-3pm. Go early.
- The next Food 4 Good Collective Kitchen will run on September 23, 2016 from 1-3pm. The cost is $5 for 4 servings of food.
- Beercade, located at 10544 82 Avenue, boasts 50 beers on tap and 80 vintage pinball machines and arcade games – they’re hosting their grand opening party on September 16-17, 2016. (Thanks to Su for the heads up!)
- The latest arena-related restaurant announcement is Vivo Ristorante’s expansion into a vacant two-story building at 10505 106 Street.
- There’s also activity in the former Starbucks storefront in Quest (104 Avenue & 105 Street), with signage advertising Montreal Hot Dogs, a franchise of The Montreal Smoked Meat Original.
- The Journal has an overview of what will be available at Rogers Place. Although I visited during the open house on Saturday, most of their specialty items weren’t on display. Basic concession items, including hot dogs ($5.25), cheeseburgers ($9) and water ($5) were being sold.
- Choped Canada winner Chef Shelley Robinson will be heading up the restaurants of the neighbouring Grand Villa Casino.
- Arena-goers shouldn’t forget about Sofra, or its underground sister restaurant The Cellar, which was just reviewed by the Journal.
- Jonny stopped by Little Brick to try some of their lunch dishes.
- Sugared and Spiced just launched their BoostR campaign today, with the hopes of raising $20,000 towards opening a storefront bakery. As I’m typing this, they’ve already raised nearly $15,000 of that goal.
- Although Eats on 118 is already sold out, hopefully the success means even more events in the future! Vue Weekly highlights this initiative to encourage more foot traffic on Alberta Avenue.
- Avenue wrote a retrospective on the last ten years of dining in Edmonton, as a part of their decade in print.
- Congratulations to The Tomato, who just celebrated 20 years in print.
- Will the Whole Foods in Edmonton ever open? Liane investigated but didn’t find any concrete answers.
- In related news, Sherwood Park will be getting a Planet Organic store.
- A belated happy 25 year anniversary to Earth’s General Store!
- Phil’s newest Community Table Project is Parkallen Kitchen Jacquie’s Grand-Maman’s baked beans.
- Elyse tried Chefs Plate meal kits, and found it to be a nice break from meal planning.
- I’m not sure the world really needed Chalet sauce flavoured Lays chips, but to each their own.
- The Chinese Benevolent Association put on a beautiful Mid-Autumn Festival celebration in Churchill Square on Saturday, which ended with a wish boat launch in the City Hall pool. This year, Mack and I were early enough to purchase boats to make wishes too!
Mid-Autumn Festival wishing boat launch
- I neglected to include a photo of the gorgeous Duchess Atelier teaching kitchen last week. It’s separated by a glass wall from Duchess Provisions, so you might be able to spy on some aspiring bakers during your next visit.
Duchess Atelier
- Public announcement: Pho Tau Bay reopened from their annual summer vacation after the September long weekend.
My usual
Only Here for the Food 