Taste of Edmonton Considering Festival Location

The Taste of Edmonton, which just wrapped up its 35th festival on Sunday, is considering its site options.

Although the festival had only planned on being at Capital Plaza by the Alberta Legislature for two years (to ride out the construction around Churchill Square), the organizing team and most visitors seem to prefer this location. However, if they do decide to remain at Capital Plaza in 2020, the festival will have to foot the bill for the additional costs to produce the event at this site, such as portable washroom rentals and special cleaning fees, which were covered by the City of Edmonton over the past two years.

Organizers haven’t yet committed to either location, but are still soliciting feedback.

Openings

• Braven, the most formal of the forthcoming restaurants in the new Ice District JW Marriott, opens on August 1. The menus are up now, and if you include “OEG25” on your online reservation under special request, your food for up to a party of 4 will be discounted by 25% in August.

Upcoming Events

• The latest in the Hotel Macdonald’s Classic Series dinners will highlight the cuisine of Greece on August 1, 2019. The multi-course dinner is $75.
• Nigerian-born Blessing Okpala is hosting Savoury Bites and Jazzy Vibes on August 17, 2019 at Cafe Lavi, and will serve a blend of Canadian and African flavours. Tickets for the 4-course meal are $65.

Reviews

• Sharon is among the first to review Bianco, the new-ish sister restaurant to Rosso located Downtown.
• Leduc enjoyed his recent experience at Pink Gorilla Pizza.
• Crystal posted about her visits to Made by Marcus and Meat.

Local News

• Beaumont restaurant Chartier officially introduced their new Executive Chef, Tamara Solon, who has been with the team since the beginning. Chef Tony Krause, who had been announced as the previous successful candidate, was let go after two days (thanks Linda for the heads up!).
• Ritchie is the focus of Liane’s latest food-centric neighbourhood feature, with profiles on new ice cream purveyor Kind and hot dog cart Hans’ Wurst.
• Leduc recapped the ‘Tempt Your Taste Buds’ tour he attended led by Epicurean Adventure Tour in the 124 Street area.
• The latest episode of CBC’s Fast Food web series features a recipe for Hotel Macdonald Chef Mridul Bhatt’s chicken tikka pita taco.
• You can now vote for your favourites in Sustainable Food Edmonton’s annual Golden Wheelbarrow Awards. Categories include favourite “locavore” restaurant and favourite agriculture business.
• The Journal covered a social enterprise called Fresh Routes Calgary that may be launching in Edmonton this fall, bringing fresh produce and groceries to food deserts in the city through mobile markets.
• Every week, Global is again soliciting votes for their “Best of Summer” list. Earlier in July, Julio’s Barrio on Whyte was voted Edmonton’s best patio, and this week, Bully Food Truck was voted Edmonton’s best food truck.
• A nice write-up in travel magazine Fathom about things to eat and drink in Edmonton.

Urban Agriculture and Farming

• The 6th annual Grand Taste Tour organized by Wild Heart Collective will be taking place on August 17, 2019, with a visit to Stonepost Farms and a dinner prepared by Chef Paul Shufelt of Workshop Eatery and Woodshed Burgers. Tickets for the full tour and meal are $125.

What I Ate

• Mack, Emily, and I returned to Taste of Edmonton over the weekend to use up the rest of our tickets. My favourite plate that day was from Nyonya Malaysian Cuisine, a food truck who vends at the City Market. Their lemongrass rendang chicken in a turmeric pancake was so flavourful, and plated nicely.

Lemongrass rendang chicken in a turmeric pancake from Nyonya

• A friend and I met up for dinner at Tzin, and among the plates we shared, couldn’t pass up the opportunity to indulge in their bacon. It’s also great to see that dish is listed as a Mealshare item – for every plate ordered, a meal is given to a youth in need.

Bacon from Tzin

• Lastly, Mack and I tried the new ramen restaurant on our street, Ramen Misoya. They offer two types of miso – “gold” which is fermented for 6 months and “silver” which is fermented for 3 months. We both chose the silver, after the server told us it’s a bit lighter and creamier in flavour. I ordered the Silver Shiro Chashu ($16.75, plus $1.50 for a miso egg). The bowl was on the pricey side, but I did find the portion size matched my expectations. The kitchen was quick, which I appreciated, and though it wasn’t my favourite ramen in the city it would work in a pinch.

Silver Shiro Chashu

Burgers to Fill 104 Street Vacancy

After Blue Plate Diner vacates their 104 Street location in favour of their new digs on 124 Street, Royale is moving in.

Helmed by Alexei Boldireff (also the chef at Baijiu), they will offer classic burgers with house-made buns. They aim for a fall opening.

Royale comes on the heels of another burger-focused restaurant, Woodshed on 124 Street.

Openings

• It looks like Pampa will be expanding with a new brand: A Bite of Brazil by Pampa is under construction in one of the bays in the former Sobey’s at 10114 104 Street.
• Gangnam Street Food is opening their second location on July 25, 2019 in West Edmonton Mall’s Phase III food court.
• Another forthcoming ghost kitchen: Sepp’s “classic New York pie with a northern twist” will be available as delivery only, from the folks behind Leva.
• Bodega is opening a fourth location in the Edmonton area, this time in St. Albert.

Upcoming Events

• Chartier is hosting a couple of events this summer: a cocktail evening on July 28, 2019 (tickets are $55 each), and a dinner at the Old Red Barn outside Leduc on August 18, 2019 as a part of Alberta Open Farm Days (tickets are $125 each).
• The 16th annual Summer Latin Fest will be hosted at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish on August 11, 2019. There will be 15 Latin American cultures represented through food, drinks, and entertainment.
• A new event for pizza fanatics to consider: Jason Gregor’s Pizza Pigout on October 23, 2019 is a fundraiser for KidSport.

Reviews

• Crystal shared her experience at Cafe Lavi.
• Graham calls the Highlands Golf Club (the dining room is open to the public) a hidden gem.
• Leduc posted a review of the buffet at the Mayfield Dinner Theatre.

Local News

• K-Days announced their New Fair Food Winners: the Harry Potter-inspired Butterbeer Soft Serve took first place. K-Days runs July 19-28, 2019. Lydia, one of the judges this year, shared her opinion on all of the contenders.
• The Taste of Edmonton, which kicked off its 35th year on July 18, 2019, has garnered some criticism for their increase in food prices. The event goes until July 28.
• Iconoclast Coffee in the Oliver Exchange Building is now open later, offering bar snacks and alcohol.
• Just in time for what finally feels like summer, the NAIT Food Guide (which features local establishments who are helmed or were founded by NAIT grads) has been updated to include a section on patios.
• Another list to consider: OpenTable released their 100 Most Scenic Restaurants in Canada; Edmonton restaurants The Butternut Tree, Fumaca Brazilian Steakhouse, and La Ronde at Chateau Lacombe all made the list.
• Diner en Blanc took place in Edmonton again last week after a two year hiatus. Their secret location this time around was Commonwealth Stadium.
• The Downtown Business Association is looking for opinions about the best Downtown patio – vote for your favourite before August 15, 2019.
• Linda shared a sponsored post about easy entertaining with help from the Italian Centre.
• This week, the Mess Hall Podcast interviews Alberta Food Tours’ Karen Anderson.

Urban Agriculture and Farming

• Camola Foods, a vendor at the Downtown Edmonton Farmers’ Market, has begun raising their own crickets in Wildwood, Alberta, about an hour west of Edmonton.
• Alberta Flavour is a working group hoping to bolster local food purchases by educating large institutions about how they can source more local products.

What I Ate

• I forgot to include this last week – we checked out the 124 Street Grand Market on Sunday, and loved the gruyere and chive bread we picked up from Erica Vliegenthart’s new venture called Laneway Bakery (she used to be the lead baker at District). She’s currently only vending at the Sunday 124 Market, and seems to sell out every week!

Erica of Laneway Bakery

• Mack, Emily, and I stopped at the Hotel Macdonald’s hot dog cart over the weekend and tried their lemonade ($5 for a large cup) and their Loaded BBQ Dog ($6) with hot sauce, house pickles, crispy potato, onions, and mustard. It was a bit of a wait (they make everything to order), but it was great to be able to enjoy the food on their beautiful patio. There were numerous families doing the same – their hot dog and ice cream cart is doing wonders to democratize their patio this summer. It’s open every day from 11am-6pm.

Loaded BBQ Dog from Hotel Macdonald

• We took in K-Days on Sunday, along with what seemed like half of Edmonton! Those Little Donuts are a summer tradition for us; I was glad to see them in town, especially after learning they didn’t make the stop in Calgary for the Stampede.

Those Little Donuts

• Taste of Edmonton returned to the Federal Plaza for a second year – although it is more costly for the festival to rent this space, it will be a hard sell for some to return the event to Churchill Square. The grounds were packed during our visit tonight, though I was sad to see that the fountains were off (hopefully only temporarily!). We tried a handful of items, and really enjoyed the jerk chicken on rice from Irie Foods and the passionfruit and mango sorbet from Little Bear Gelato. We also returned to a few tried and true favourites: the spicy lentils from Langano Skies and the dry spicy chicken from The Lingnan. Speaking of The Lingnan, it was great to learn that Miles Quon will be stepping into the role of Chair after more than ten years of serving on the board.

Dry spicy chicken from The Lingnan

H-Mart Opens to Large Crowds

H-Mart, an American-based Asian grocer specializing in Korean products, opened in Edmonton on July 11, 2019. Located at 570, 3803 Calgary Trail, it took over the space that had been vacant for some time after Whole Foods cancelled their plans for its first store in Edmonton.

South Park Centre is becoming a hub for Asian groceries and food, with the city’s first Jollibee location to open soon, and a T & T Supermarket a few blocks south.

Openings

• Franchise Ramen Misoya’s Edmonton location opened over the weekend at 10148 104 Street.
• Bean Around the World, a BC-based coffee chain, opened its first location outside of BC in Edmonton at 10510 111 Street.
• Golden Cafe (the rebranded Garden Bakery at 10019 106 Avenue) is now open.

Closures

• Salz is now closed; they decided not to renew their lease, but indicate that they are “on the lookout for a bigger, better shop from which to sling bratwurst and pour Alberta craft beer.” (Thanks to Sharman for the heads up!)

Upcoming Events

• The next Food4Good low-cost fruit and vegetable sale is taking place at The Big Picture Block Party on July 25, 2019 at Butler Memorial Park (15715 Stony Plain Road).
• Sabor’s annual Seafood Festival runs August 3-30, 2019. They’ll have a number of special ticketed dinners. including a Food Day Canada collaboration kick-off dinner on August 3, 2019 with Julie Van Rosendaal and Emily Richards.
• Alberta on the Plate is a new culinary festival “celebrating Alberta local food and drink”, and runs August 9-18, 2019. Participating restaurants will be offering multi-course fixed priced menus highlighting local producers.
• Farm open house and culinary experience details are now up on the Alberta Open Farm Days website. The event runs August 17-18, 2019.
• The annual Culinaire Treasure Hunt returns to Edmonton on September 7, 2019. Teams of two can register for $75, and individuals for $47.50.

Reviews

• The Journal had a positive experience at Say Uncle.
• Graham has much praise for Mimi’s.
• YEGventures offers a brief review on Hungry Birds.
• Crystal posted about her recent visit to Malt and Mortar.

Local News

• St. Albert Today has an article about Chef Paul Shufelt commitment to purchasing whole animals from local farmer Jeff Nonay that ultimately developed into an idea for Woodshed Burgers. The pair were also on Global Edmonton promoting their partnership.
• Canada’s Great Kitchen Party has announced the chefs participating in the October 10, 2019 cooking competition.
• Some local food and drink products made it onto the Made in Alberta Awards list of finalists, including Jacek, Hansen and Strathcona Spirits Distilleries, and Gold Forest Grains. You can vote for your favourite until July 31, 2019.
• Sharman wrote a guide to gluten-free restaurants for Explore Edmonton.
• Crystal posted a guide to 124 Street, including places to eat, drink, and play.

Urban Agriculture and Farming

• RGE RD’s Chef Blair Lebsack provides insight into four edible weeds intrepid local foragers can harvest and consume.

What I Ate

• Mack, Emily and I had the privilege of attending a media event at Melt Sandwich Co. last week. Located on the pedway level of the Bell Tower, Melt was opened by the folks behind Cookie Love back in February, and serves up breakfast and lunch. We were able to try nearly all of the sandwiches they offer. My favourite was the burger melt (one of their best-sellers, along with the dill fried chicken and the Cubano), while Mack continues to have a soft spot for their mac and cheese sandwich.

Burger melt from Melt Sandwich Co.

• Last week, I had lunch with colleagues at Mama Asha, a Somali restaurant just off 118 Avenue. Their chicken suqaar wrap at $10 is a great value; most of us struggled to finish it. My favourite part was that it was made with sabayad, a delicious flatbread similar to roti.

Chicken suqaar wrap at Mama Asha

• A go-to for work lunches, I was back at T & D Noodle House today. My usual is their 2-colour vermicelli bowl with grilled chicken and spring rolls.

My regular at T & D Noodle House

• Ritual, an app that allows diners to pre-order food at cafes and restaurants, has launched in Edmonton. To celebrate, they are running a $1 Food Fest Downtown, with more than two dozen participating establishments. Mack and I have been eating our way through the deals, but the best one has to be La Mision’s “small” burrito – an incredible steal at just $1. The Food Fest runs until July 19.

Picnic at Alex Decoteau Park with our burritos (Emily is not impressed I interrupted her dinner)

I was away for work and holidays last week, so I took a break from my blog. Those of you who subscribe to Taproot, however, did receive a Food Roundup, written in my absence by my friend Linda! Click here if you’re interested in signing up for the weekly roundup through Taproot. This week’s Food Notes is a two week update.

Blue Plate Diner Announces New Location

The beloved 104 Street restaurant has shared the details of their next home. Forced to relocate from Downtown because of the forthcoming Mackenzie Tower development, Blue Plate Diner will be moving to the 124 Street area.

Relocating to the former Back Home Fish and Chips space at 12323 Stony Plain Road, they hope to be open by August. The 104 Street location will remain open until July 31, 2019.

Openings

• On the heels of Kind Ice Cream’s opening in Ritchie, Made by Marcus has joined the fray with an Edmonton location that opened last weekend.
• The Woodshed, a burger-focused restaurant on 124 Street from Chef Paul Shufelt (of Workshop Eatery) is now open at 10723 124 Street.
• Dorinku finally has signage on their forthcoming Downtown location, at 10328 Jasper Avenue (the former Alder Room and Alta).
• Toronto-based Oliver & Bonacini shared more information about their four forthcoming concepts located in the new Ice District JW Marriott, named Kindred Food + Drink, Braven, Alchemy, and Lobby Bar.
• The owners of Trang Tien (formerly located in The Quarters where The Moth is now) have re-opened a restaurant in Beaumont, at 5009 52 Avenue.
• A new candy shop called Rocket Fizz is now open at 10544B 82 Avenue.

Closures

• Zenari’s has closed their Manulife location as of June 29, 2019. However, fans will be happy to hear they will be re-opening later this year as Dalla Tavola Zenari (translated as “from the Zenari table”) in the Kelly Ramsey building. They have started a Kickstarter campaign and hope to raise $95,000 to help with the transition.

Upcoming Events

• The next Swine and Dine event will be held at Say Uncle on July 16, 2019. Tickets for the 5-course menu are $50.
• Tickets for the Heritage Festival, running August 3-5, 2019 at Hawrelak Park, are now available online.

Reviews

• Graham was expecting more from newcomer La Bodeguita de Cuba.
• Crystal wrote about her experiences at Cosmos Greek Kitchen and Seoul Fried Chicken.
• Leduc shares his thoughts on Lava Rock Grill & Sushi, MishMash Parfait, and Brio Bakery.

Local News

• Congratulations to Chef Shane Chartrand for being named to the Western Living class of 2019 Foodies of the Year!
• Avenue has compiled their list of the 25 Best Things to Eat in Edmonton (and area), contributed by notable locals.
• Learn more about what it took to transform an old service station to Mimi’s, a new restaurant in the community of Greenfield.
• Liane has a great round-up of must-try eateries on 124 Street, and news about Meuwly’s plans for a liquor license and food and history crawls led by the folks behind Barking Buffalo Cafe.
• Linda has you covered with a list of top 10 summer treats to try in Edmonton.
• Sharman recapped the recent Taste Alberta dinner at The Common.
• Lydia and Leduc offer their perspectives on a Sunworks Farm and Three Boars collaboration dinner.
• Now is the time if you wanted to get your hands on fresh mangoes shipped in from South Asia, a special imported treat available from some local grocers.
• One of Liane’s pieces published last fall about blue collar restaurants was recognized by the Society for Features Journalism.

Urban Agriculture and Farming

• The Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market announced that they’ve undertaken a vendor verification process to ensure the products sold at the market are actually produced by the vendor selling them. It’s an interesting strategy in light of the increased competition in the market scene this year.

Beyond Edmonton

• Those Little Donuts, a Stampede staple for many, is not on the midway this year; it apparently due to a late application to the festival. They’re a K-Days favourite of mine, so I do hope they’re headed to Edmonton later this month!

What I Ate

• I had the pleasure of spending some time in Ottawa for a conference, and met up with fellow foodies Lillian and Dan while there. They introduced me to Rabbit Hole, a cozy joint on Sparks Street.

Chicken, bacon, and tomato pizza from Rabbit Hole

• Mack, Emily, and I hopped over to Toronto for a reunion with my sisters over the Canada Day long weekend. Poutine was in order, and this one from a vendor at the Liberty Village Farmers’ Market was one of the best I’ve had in some time – layers of squeaky curds over crispy fries.

Poutine

• Mildred’s Temple Kitchen has been on my list for some time, and we finally made it for b’lunch during this trip. They’re known for their pancakes, and after trying them myself, I now know why – they’re impressively fluffy.

Blueberry pancakes from Mildred’s Temple Kitchen

• A meal at Otto is becoming a bit of a birthday tradition for me – we had a belated birthday celebration on Friday. I can’t pass up the Otto dog and the fries!

Our spread at Otto