Food Notes for August 7, 2017

I hope you all had a great long weekend! The weather wasn’t entirely co-operative, but the break helped make the most of what’s left of our summer. On to this week’s food notes:

• Sabor’s annual Seafood Festival runs from August 4 – September 3, 2017. Cindy has a preview of the dishes you can expect.
• Cariwest runs next weekend, from August 11-13, 2017.
• There’s still time to plan your Alberta Open Farm Days weekend August 19-20, 2017. I’m looking forward to hosting the Grand Taste Tour alongside Linda on August 19, 2017, with visits to Blindman Brewery, Rock Ridge Dairy, and a tour and dinner at Doef’s Greenhouse. Tickets are $110. It’s sure to be a fun day – check out my recaps of previous Grand Taste Tours in 2016 and 2015.
• Northlands is also hosting different workshops and tours of their Urban Farm on August 20, 2017. I’m looking forward to joining one of their rural farm bus tours – I attended last year and it’s hard to beat a $5 fee for the experience.
• Sunworks is hosting their annual Family Farm Day on September 4, 2017. Tour the farm and enjoy a BBQ lunch. There is no charge to attend, but RSVP by August 31, 2017. I had the chance to see the farm back in June.
• Voting for Avenue’s Burger Challenge continues with round three – vote for your favourites from the “sweet 16” group by August 13.
• Pampa’s second Edmonton location is opening on August 8 in south Edmonton, at 9626 Ellerslie Road SW.
• Rooster Cafe & Kitchen will open in September in the space formerly occupied by Artistan Resto-Cafe (10732 82 Avenue)
• Chinese Crepe and Taiwanese dessert bar ZenQ are now open in The Mayfair (Jasper Ave & 109 Street). It also looks like a gelato shop is also forthcoming to the building later this year, La Carraia.
• Monument (Block 1912’s sister cafe located in The Mayfair) is near completion and will be opening this week.
• Cartago is a forthcoming beer and cocktails spot in Forest Heights, at 8204 106 Avenue.
• Linda noticed a relative newcomer to the food scene, Nara Chicken & Tonkatsu at 8712 150 Street.
• Sharon had a positive experience at Loft Thai Eatery in south Edmonton, located at 5324 75 Street.
• Diane provides a detailed review of her multi-course meal at Alta.
• Crystal stopped by XO Bistro and Bar for lunch.
• Graham compares the spectrum of sushi available at Sumo Sumo’s new Edmonton location and relative newcomer Takami Sushi.
• Cindy recapped the pop-up hosted by Masterchef Canada finalist Mai Nguyen.
• Alberta now has its first self-serve beer wall at Barney’s Pub & Grill in Leduc.
• Congratulations to Ian Treuer of Winding Road Cheese for placing second in the Washed Rind Cheese category at the American Cheese Society Conference! He shared his experience on his blog.
• Effective August 15, 2017, craft beer and spirits can be sold at Alberta approved farmers’ markets. This new provincial law doesn’t apply to public markets.
• A study commissioned by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency found that 1 in 5 sausages tested across Canada contained meat that wasn’t included on the label.
• Mack and I kicked off the long weekend at Otto – I’d been craving another Otto dog since sampling it at the Eats on 118 crawl earlier this summer. It’s a lovely place to relax and unwind – laid back with great service. I’ll be back again soon.

Our platter at Otto

• Congratulations to the Heritage Festival for breaking their attendance record this year! Mack and I had a great time on Sunday, making sure to sample from the two new pavilions this year, Liberia and Syria. I had to end our feast with a tradition – langos from Hungary.

Langos from Hungary