Food Notes for January 9, 2023

Chinatown Dining Week Returns for a Sixth Year

Chinatown Dining Week is back for a sixth year, and will run January 26 – February 5, 2023. 15 restaurants will be offering $10 and $20 deals for dine-in or take-out. The full menu will be posted on January 13.

Having launched Chinatown Dining Week in 2018, the past six years have been a whirlwind. Getting traction for a new event can ben challenging, but we are fortunate that Edmontonians responded really well and embraced our campaign to encourage diners to discover culinary gems and revisit old favourites.

That said, the past few years have no doubt been tougher on our business partners. After the pandemic at the start of 2020 closed restaurants to indoor dining, a wave of anti-Asian racism related to how the pandemic started impacted businesses in Chinatown. The fifth wave of the pandemic continued into 2021 that brought another set of operating restrictions. In 2022, discussions about Chinatown were overwhelmingly linked to impressions of a lack of safety and security in the neighbourhood.

But through it all, the businesses who are a part of Chinatown Dining Week have soldiered on. While some restaurants are newer to the area, having opened over the last two years, such as China Marble, Co Chin Saigon, and Spirit Bistro, the majority of participating businesses have been operating for at least a decade. Hong Kong Bakery and Kim Fat, for instance, have both been open for more than 30 years. The presence of such long-standing businesses speaks to the resilience of the business owners and the community. We hope Chinatown Dining Week can play a role in continuing to raise awareness about these locally-owned establishments and support their longevity in Edmonton.

Openings

• Zula Kitchen and Wine Bar, from the folks behind Sofra, is now open in Glenora, located at #120, 14055 West Block Drive.
• Kind Ice Cream announced that they will be opening their third location in Oliver, coming early 2023.
• Japonais Bistro is opening a second location in the currents of Windermere this spring.
• Culina will be opening an outpost at The Piazza in Little Italy on 95 Street and 108 Avenue.
• New Asian restaurant Chi & Em (10542 82 Avenue) opened in Old Strathcona at the end of December, and offers some traditional Vietnamese dishes not typically found elsewhere in Edmonton.
• Rhubarb Cafe & Cocktails is the latest business to open in Manchester Square, located at Unit 12, 12020 107 Avenue.
• Sheng’s Tea is the newest bubble tea shop to open in Edmonton. Find them at 10048 82 Avenue.
• The Varisty has taken over the former Red Robin’s space on the south side (4211 106 Street), and is especially accommodating for families with little ones. It opened at the end of December.
• Taco Delhi offers roti and naan tacos, and is now open at 3318 Gateway Blvd. Edify checked it out.
• Honi Honi is a new Tiki lounge, located at 10262 103 Avenue. Katy Ingraham of Fleisch asked whether Tiki bars should still be in existence at all.
• The Boiler Room, located in the basement under Fox Burger, is now open, offering additional seating for Fox Burger and offering a similar food and drink menu.

Closures

• Tres Carnales announced that they are permanently closing its doors after 12 years in business. Their last day of service will be January 14, 2023. This announcement comes after Alberta Health Services forced the restaurant to close back in October for violating a number of food and health regulations.
• The last day for HOM in the 5th Street Food Hall will be January 21, 2023. HOM will still be available for catering, take-home dinners and private events.
• The Journal recounted the brief life of The Gavel Pub, which opened during – and did not survive – the pandemic.

Local News

• May will be relocating from the Art Gallery of Alberta to Canteen’s former space on 124 Street.
• The Tomato is once again soliciting nominations for their Top 100 Things to Eat and Drink list. Nominations close on January 23, 2023.
• Twyla featured El Mero Mero last week on Edmonton AM.
• Edify visited Pizza Garage in St. Albert, as well as Halo at the Edmonton International Airport.
• Calle Mexico is now offering breakfast.
• Rosso Pizzeria made Big 7 Travel’s list of 50 Best Pizzas in the World.
• You can now find Carlo’s Bake Shop vending machines at West Edmonton Mall, Southgate, and at the Premium Outlet, in addition to Kingsway Mall.
• Edmonton-based Oodle Noodle has expanded to Calgary with their first location.
• The Norwood Legion hired a chef from Ukraine and uses Google Translate to communicate.
• Certainly the saddest news to come out of the holidays was the announcement that Jean Paré, the venerable cookbook author, had passed away on Christmas Eve at the age of 95.

What I Ate

It’s been more difficult to blog with two kids than with just one, something I probably should have anticipated but didn’t think would be that much harder! As a result, I took a longer break than I originally planned – but did have a really restful and rejuvenating holiday with my family. I hope you had a similarly wonderful start to the new year.

• Inspired by a piece by Ramneek Singh in Hungry Zine, my family tried Punjabi-style pizza for the first time over the holidays. Based on our first taste from Supreme Pizza, it’s a style we will definitely order again. The palak paneer pizza in particular was the crowd favourite.

Palak paneer and butter chicken pizzas from Supreme Pizza

• We can never get enough noodles – our go-to on a cold winter night was our neighbourhood Dagu. Their salted crispy chicken was a great side addition.

Our Dagu take-out

• Mack and I were also fortunate enough to get away for a date night at Birdog. We finished our night with their version of a Deep ‘n’ Delicious cake – and I can report that it was a dead ringer for the cake, complete with the foil-lined packaging. The texture and flavour is what you’d expect, but the cake is springier and the icing doesn’t have that sheen of oil. Thanks Birdog for the treat!

Birdog’s chocolate cake

• We tried Butternut Tree’s high tea for the first time over the holidays. It was pretty close to Emily’s dream meal, as it’s probably the only time in her life she was permitted to eat cookies for her lunch. We were satisfied with the spread of items, with our favourite bites being the bacon-wrapped dates and the turkey and gravy poutine rappe.

Emily cameos with our Butternut Tree high tea spread