Food Notes for January 6, 2020

CBC Names RGE RD and Corso 32 Best Restaurants of the Decade

CBC Edmonton released their fifth annual Best Restaurants list for 2019, and to help round-out the decade, included their picks for best restaurants of the decade.

Food Explorer Twyla Campbell chose RGE RD, who attributes their success to the fact that the restaurant is a genuine farm-to-fork establishment, where “the staff eat, live and breathe it, unlike others who profess to be, but fail to abide.”

Radioactive host Adrienne Pan and food writer Phil Wilson selected Corso 32, based on its standards and consistency, writing that the restaurant “ushered in a new standard for quality and flavour.”

The rest of the list includes neighbourhood-based categories, and a cheeky “don’t skip the dishes here”.

Openings

• Calle Mexico’s third location (in the former Atlantic Trap & Gill) is now open at 7704 104 Street.
• Barbarella is a new restaurant at 17115 100 Avenue (former Milestone’s). They completed their soft opening week on January 6.
• The Delta Hotel has opened their fully renovated restaurant and cafe in Edmonton City Centre, rebranded as District 102. Interestingly, they offer a 15% discount to “neighbours”, which I take to mean Downtown residents.
• New cafe alert: Take Care Cafe is now open at 9621 82 Avenue.
• Also on the cafe front, Overflow Cafe has taken over Da Capo’s Whyte Avenue location (8135 102 Street).
• Love Pizza announced a second Edmonton location on the south side at Rabbit Hill Crossing.
• BaoBao is a forthcoming Chinese dumpling and noodle restaurant that has replaced Watari Express at 10544 Jasper Avenue.
• Wing Snob, an American-based chain, is opening its first location in Canada in the Brewery District (11988-104 Avenue).
• Chain Leopold’s Tavern will be opening in the revamped Strathcona Hotel this summer.

Closures

• Holt’s Cafe closed on December 28. Liane wrote a beautiful tribute to the restaurant, incorporating the memories of lunching with her mother.
• The Woodrack Cafe relocated to Old Strathcona, but that meant closing their original location at 7603 109 Street.

Upcoming Events

• There’s still time to enter Deep Freeze Fest’s tourtière baking contest on January 12, 2020! The deadline to enter is January 11.
• Chinatown Dining Week runs January 9-19, 2020. The event showcases 16 businesses in Chinatown who are offering $18 multi-course dinners or $10 take-away deals.
• Silver Skate will be putting on a series of Long Table Dinners from February 7-17, 2020, featuring a number of Edmonton, Calgary, and Saskatoon-based chefs. Tickets for the 4-5 course dinners are $150 per person.

Reviews

• Graham enjoyed his visit to Dorinku Osaka, stating that their “lunch menu [was] a true winner.”
• The Journal raved about Fox Burger’s addition to the Highlands neighbourhood.
• Avenue tried out China Burger’s namesake dish.
• Stephanie had a mixed experience at Huma.

Local News

• Chef Lindsay Porter will be back at El Cortez in February with a new menu!
• Phil (aka Baconhound) pulled together a list of Edmonton’s most notable restaurant openings in 2019.
• As always, Liane put together a great wrap-up of the Edmonton food scene in 2019.
• Graham’s round up of 2019 in food emphasizes the success of more casual restaurants and food delivery. In the piece, he also shares that Black Box Hospitality sold Little Brick.
• Skip the Dishes shared some of their 2019 data, listing Rice Bowl Deluxe, Mikado Sushi and Robata and Panini’s Italian Cucina as the most popular local restaurants.
• Onward to 2020, Global Edmonton tackles the trends to watch for this year, including meatless meals, ghost kitchens, and low or no-alcohol options.
• Speaking of ghost kitchens, Avenue features a couple of business owners who have, or will be bringing the concept to Edmonton.
• Where Edmonton’s January/February 2020 issue features their annual Where to Dine awards. The People’s Choice award for Best New Restaurant went to Woodshed Burgers.
• Linda started a new Food Crawl series and starts with recommending 4 places to eat in Chinatown.
• Sharon shared photologs of her recent visits to Menjiro Ramen and Nara Chicken and Tonkatsu.
• Chef Ryan Hotchkiss is currently the National Arts Centre’s Resident Chef, cooking up “modern cuisine inspired by local ingredients and culinary history of Western Canada.”
• 1st RND celebrates five years in business, and is on its way to opening its first location in the US.

Beyond Edmonton

• The National Post numbered 10 of the biggest food trends of the past decade.

What I Ate

• While I wasn’t intending on taking a break from the blog over the holidays, with family in town, it was a nice excuse to relax! It also meant we ate really well, and perhaps indulged a little too much. We started with a family brunch at OEB, which seems to have become a tradition for us.

My usual order of Confit de Canard

• We also introduced some of my family to one of our Downtown favourites – Love Pizza! Emily is a fan.

Our Meatatarian standard at LovePizza

• My sister Amanda then introduced us to her favourite donair in the city, which she has to have while in town. Mack and I had never been to Swiss Donair, but clearly, based on the line-ups that day, it is well-known to the Edmonton community. We were amazed at how fast they were.

Mack attempted to finish the jumbo-size donair at Swiss Donair

• We had a pretty great meal at Langano Skies; with such a big group, we were able to sample many of their meat and vegetarian dishes (I particularly loved the split peas with curry).

Our beautiful platter from Langano Skies

• We also had a chance to finally try the “bring your own soup pot”-style bun bo Hue from Calgary-based Bun Bo Hue Deli. Even after six generous bowls, the $40 pot my sister brought back yielded enough leftovers for at least another meal for four.

Home-style bun bo Hue!