Restaurants Shift to Become Alternative Grocery Stores
To offer diners the convenience of take-out meals and groceries in a single pick-up or delivery, several restaurants have shifted to open up their pantries to customers.
Earls pivoted back in March, offering grocery packs and home essentials. Local Public Eatery has also opened up their shelves and liquor cabinets, calling it The Local Corner Store. OEB has done the same, offering breakfast essentials at their locations.
In other COVID-19-related news:
- The trio of restaurants – The Next Act, Meat, and Pip – have now re-opened for limited take-out and in Pip’s case, oven-ready dinners.
- Dorinku Osaka and Dorinku Tokyo are offering frozen ramen for diners to heat and eat at home.
- Many local breweries have started doing home deliveries to keep their businesses going.
- The Downtown Edmonton Farmers’ Market and Reclaim Farm were featured on Serena Mah’s latest podcast on how they’ve pivoted during the pandemic.
- Edmonton’s only Jollibee location has been forced to close due to issues related to social distancing.
- Kitchen staff laid off from local restaurants have bolstered the volunteer ranks at Meals on Wheels.
- The Cargill meat-processing plant south of Calgary has been temporarily closed after a worker dies.
- Pork producers are concerned about the effects of the pandemic on their bottom line.
Openings
- Wishbone is currently the home of Grey Mare, serving up Chef David Leeder’s burgers and sides.
Upcoming Events
- The next #EatWithMeYEG focuses on the North Edge, and will take place April 22, 2020.
- Canada’s Great Kitchen Party is going virtual on April 22 and 29, 2020. They encourage diners to purchase take-out on those days to support restaurants, then tune in to concerts to be livestreamed.
Reviews
Local News
- The Spring 2020 issue of Eat Local is out, and available to read online. It’s the first issue edited by Twyla Campbell. Among the pieces, they feature the family behind Nature’s Green Acres, and profile longstanding restaurant Bistro Praha.
- Speaking of Twyla, she shared an experience tasting various cheeses from Lakeside Farmstead. Cheesemaker Ian Treuer (formerly of Winding Road) has been experimenting with the milk from Jeff and Coralee Nonay’s cows. The cheeses aren’t commercially available yet.
- The Prairie Dinner Series, an annual fall event, released a mini documentary featuring participating chef Lindsay Porter.
- Maps like this one try to help keep consumers up to date with waiting times at grocery stores and pharmacies.
- If you need some inspiration to bake your own bread at home, consider listening to this podcast featuring home baker Emily Hoven.
- Locally-based app ClickDishes, which allows diners to pre-order and pre-pay for food, has expanded to Japan.
Urban Agriculture and Farming
- Good news has been in short supply, so it was great to hear that community gardens have been permitted to operate this summer.
- The St. Albert Farmers’ Market is among the nominees in this year’s Alberta Business Awards of Distinction under the category of Community Attraction.
What I Ate
- We’ve been doing our best to support small businesses in other ways – this week, we ordered from Good Goods Co., which offers an assortment of locally-made foods and beverages. Our box included bread and sourdough starter from Laneway Bakery, coffee beans from Alternate Route and Roasti Coffee, and oats from Strathcona Stoneground Organics.
Our haul from Good Goods Co.
- I’d been craving ramen for a while, so thought this weekend would be an opportune time to (finally!) try Dorinku Osaka. Everything was well packaged to keep the noodles springy, and our pick-up order was 10% off. The tonkotsu was tasty, and Mack enjoyed the shoyu. We’ll be ordering again!
Ramen and sides from Dorinku Osaka
Only Here for the Food 