Food Notes for December 9, 2019

Dine Under the Stars Coming to Edmonton

An international event series is coming to Edmonton in 2020. Dine Under the Stars organizes pop-up 4-course dinners that take place in unique locations, with diners seated inside weather-resistant Garden Domes. The events have taken place in cities across Canada, the United States, and Europe.

In Edmonton, the domes will be situated on the terrace of the Edmonton Convention Centre, with spring and fall event dates listed, from April 15-May 15, 2020, and September 10-October 11, 2020, respectively. Dome reservations run $110 without a promotional code, with food costs priced at an additional $92 per guest plus gratuity.

Dine Under the Stars held one successful event in Calgary this past May at Fish Creek Provincial Park, with another that was planned to take place at Deane House in September. Ultimately, the fall event was cancelled because the venue had been flooded, and prospective diners have been experiencing challenges acquiring full refunds.

It is also worth noting that the Riverside Bistro at the Courtyard Marriott has similar weather-resistant domes on their river valley terrace.

Openings

• H-Mart’s second Edmonton location will open on December 11, 2019 at 8225 112 Street.
• Royale, billing itself as a “modern day diner” is now open at 10145 104 Street.
• A new Korean restaurant has opened in Lendrum called Machef, located at 5818 111 Street. Stephanie shared her recent experiences with their food.
• Malina Ukrainian Bakery is coming soon to 629 Cameron Heights Drive.

Closures

• I neglected to link to the closures of five Tony Roma’s locations in the fall.

Upcoming Events

• The Edmonton Downtown Farmers’ Market is hosting a series of gingerbread making workshops on December 14 and 21, 2019 led by Meat Street Pies. Each kit sells for $27 and includes $5 in market bucks.
• For a taste of the holidays, The Associazione Giovani Italiani Di Edmonton will be roasting chestnuts on an open fire outside of the Italian Centre in Little Italy on December 15 and 22, 2019.

Reviews

• Lydia was invited to try new Japanese restaurant Tokeo Station.
• The Journal’s wine columnist Juanita Roos paid Old Strathona’s Smokey Bear a visit.
• Graham enjoyed the “French-inspired” fare at Brasserie Bardot.

Local News

• Two Edmonton restaurants made the cut on Open Table’s list of Top 100 Restaurants in Canada for 2019: TZiN and Sabor.
• Bloom Cookie Company celebrated the first anniversary of its storefront last week.
• I was asked to be a guest on Avenue’s November’s episode of its Sidebar Edmonton podcast where we talked about my recent Top 40 Under 40 honour, but also about the local food scene.
• CTV’s Josh Classen started a series called “Josh Eats Edmonton” highlighting different restaurants in Edmonton, including Panciteria de Manila, Haus Falkenstein, and Turquaz Kebab House.
• Global staff will be sharing their recipes in a series called “Global Family Favourites”, with Laurel Gregory’s marinated tofu up first.
• Chef Shane Chartrand was interviewed on CBC’s The Current last week about his life and inspiration for his cookbook, tawâw.
• The Edmonton Downtown Farmers’ Market put together a Christmas Gift Guide this year.
• Jared Serben, owner of Serben Farms, shared on social media that his sons were in a school bus accident, and while one son was released, the other will have a long road to recovery. A crowdfunding campaign was started on behalf of the family and has since raised nearly $15,000.
• While shopping at Superstore on the weekend, I noticed a fridge marked Flash Food; it’s an app used by some grocery stores to sell items nearing their best before date at a discount. Loblaws has rolled this out at many of their stores across the country.

Beyond Edmonton

• A new report states that the average Canadian family will pay up to an additional $487 for food in 2020. The anticipated increase is mainly tied to climate change causing unpredictability with crops.
• This Toronto-based article captures some prevailing threads in the food world related to the marginalization of certain cuisines based on conscious or unconscious racial bias.

What I Ate

• In search of a cold remedy last week I ended up at King Noodle House for their comforting bun bo Hue.

Bun Bo Hue from King Noodle House

• Mack, Emily and I were invited to check out the Edmonton Christmas Market at ATB Place over the weekend. We loved the light installations and the beautifully-crafted vendor huts outside. While there weren’t as many warm food options as I was expecting, they did have a hot beverage menu reminiscent of European Christmas markets. Thanks again to Wild Heart for having us! The market takes place from Thursday to Saturday until December 21, 2019.

Mack and Emily at the Edmonton Christmas Market