I hope you’re ready for the deep freeze – stay warm, everyone! On to this week’s food notes:
- New bakery alert: La Boule Bakery opens on December 6, 2017 at 8020 101 street.
- Congratulations to Confetti Sweets who has just opened its third storefront, at 6861 170 Street.
- Dirtbag Cafe is now open inside the Rock Jungle Boulders Climbing Gym at 10505 107 Street.
- It’s great to see another food truck moving into a brick and mortar shop – look for Little Village at 14846 Stony Plain Road in the new year.
- Chic-Hog-O’s Social House, which was forced to close in March 2015 due to a landlord dispute, will be re-opening in the former Rosebowl Pizza location (10111 117 Street).
- Monica spotted Pitaghetti, coming soon to Jasper Ave & 112 Street.
- Liane previews Baijiu, opening soon at the Mercer Warehouse. It is helmed by Chef Alexei Boldireff, most recently of S’wich Food Truck fame.
- The Globe identified their top 5 new restaurants that opened in Edmonton and Calgary this year. Coincidentally, the #1 restaurants on both lists are technically outside of the city.
- Atlas Steak and Fish (located inside the Grand Villa Casino) received overall positive reviews from Twyla and Graham. Although I recognize some of the “labelling challenges” surrounding Alberta Beef, it’s interesting that neither called out the restaurant for using USDA beef versus Alberta beef.
- More love for Bar Clementine, this time from Vue Weekly and The Wanderer.
- Chateau Louis’s brunch was reviewed this week by the Journal.
- It was great to read the story behind the new Asian fusion Grain of Rice, where son Tony Phung helped his parents rebuild a restaurant.
- Enter to win an Effing Seafoods oyster party on Cindy’s blog!
- Speaking of contests, Diane is giving away a $25 gift card to promote Edo’s campaign to raise funds for food banks in Canada – for every spring roll purchased until January 1, 2017, Edo will donate $0.25.
- Delux also has a way for you to support a seasonal charity – $1 from each ‘Santa’s Stacker’ burger sold will go to Santa’s Anonymous.
- If you’re interested in purchasing a tourtiere for the holidays, Phil conducted a taste test of three options available in the Edmonton area.
- Ever wonder how a home cook places second in an international culinary competition? Linda spoke with Russell Bird, who brought home silver in the 2016 World Food Championships in the bacon category.
- The latest Community Table Project recipes feature Canada Cornstarch shortbread cookies and Teresa Spinelli’s Italian-style Cajun shrimp.
- Spotted a forthcoming cafe at Gateway Boulevard and 81 Avenue called London Tea Bar. A sign claims it will be open in December 2016.
London Tea Bar
- We tried our hand at butter chicken risotto, one of Phil’s Community Table Project recipes. It was a neat mashup of two of our favourite dishes, and had the flavour that we were craving!
Butter chicken risotto
- We kicked off the weekend with a stop at Route 99. There’s just something about greasy spoon poutine…
Mack at Route 99
- We also checked out the Miracle Market at Abbey Glen Park over the weekend. It was our chance to finally sample some of Prairie Pigeon’s éclairs, which I’ve heard so much about. They were almost too pretty to eat, but of course, I dove in – the éclairs were soft and decadent, but not too sweet. The flavours of each éclair were also very distinct; my favourite of the three was the salted caramel. Follow Prairie Pigeon on Twitter to find out where she’ll be next!
Prairie Pigeon trio
Only Here for the Food 