Food Notes for February 6, 2017

• Custom treats by Donut Pals will be available at Malt and Mortar from 10am-4pm for your sweetheart on February 14, 2017.
• Missed the Honest Dumplings and Prairie Pigeon pop-up at The Chvrch of John last week? Well you’re in luck – the pair are joining forces again for Valentine’s Day! 2 seatings of dumplings and desserts for your valentine on February 14, 2017.
• The next Second Line pop-up is taking place on February 28, 2017 at The Lingnan. Tickets for the seafood boil are $60.
• Congratulations to Darren and Maria of Zwick’s Pretzels, who are finally satisfying the city’s craving for fresh pretzels. They just launched the storefront last week at 12415 107 Avenue.
• Doughnut Party (from the folks behind Moonshine Doughnuts) also had their soft opening last week, and sold out several times over. They’ll be re-opening again on February 9, 2017 at 10938 119 Street.
• I wouldn’t be surprised if the students at the U of A are jealous of their peers at MacEwan – with the addition of Prairie Noodle’s udon-serving Prairie Outpost that opened today, their food options just keep getting better and better.
• Speaking of Prairie Noodle, congratulations to Chef Eric Hanson on capturing bronze in the 2017 Gold Medal Plates competition!
• Baijiu is now open – Twyla previews what you can expect.
• Cindy has one of the first reviews of the restaurant inside the Crash Hotel (formerly the Grand Hotel).
• Jonny visited a new-ish Korean restaurant called Miga on the south side.
• Vue Weekly checked out Wheat Garden Noodle & Dumpling Bazaar.
• Twyla enjoyed her ramen experience at Nudoru.
• Don’t click this if you’re hungry – Cindy presents Cafe Linnea’s new winter menu in pictures.
• It’s so great to hear that the Italian Bakery will not only be fully up and running (after the fire in 2016 that destroyed their bakery), but they’ll still be adding a St. Albert location to their family in July.
• I’m sorry to hear Transcend Coffee wasn’t able to make it work at the Mercer Warehouse – the downtown location will close February 26, 2017.
• The food section in the Edmonton Journal has been whittled down over the past year to a random collection of articles on Wednesdays and small local pieces on Saturdays, so it’s no real surprise that Gastropost is also being eliminated. After 167 missions, this week’s mission will be the last.
• Should you take a chance on higher-end take-out? Avenue explores this question.
• The Toronto Star wrote a nice piece about some of our great local restaurants.
• The latest local business to turn to crowdfunding is Cafe Bel-Air, which is hoping to raise $8,000 towards finishing their popsicle truck in time for summer.
• I missed linking to this last week – congratulations to Fuge Fine Meat, who exceeded their Alberta BoostR campaign goal of $20,000.
• Three Edmontonians are vying to make the Masterchef Canada cut beginning March 2, 2017.
• Will our food one day be prepared by robot chefs?
• I’ve been meaning to visit Macarons and Goodies on my way home, and finally made the time to do so last week. It’s a charming little shop, with a good selection of cakes and pastries, and a very friendly owner.

Macarons and Goodies

• I love seeing local product integrated with other similar products (as opposed to being segregated into a separate “homegrown” section), so it was nice to see a product from Strathcona Spirits Distillery on the shelves (and Eau Claire, too).

At Chateau Louis Liquor Store

• Soup is always my meal of choice, both at home or out and about – so Mack and I stopped at Pho Hoan Pasteur while we were nearby running errands this weekend.

Pho for two