Food Notes for April 3, 2023

Openings

• Vietnamese restaurant Miss Saigon will be opening a second location at 6187 Currents Drive.
• Seoul Fried Chicken teased the opening of a third location in Edmonton.

Upcoming Events

• The second annual Filipino Restaurant Month returns April 1-30, 2023. In Edmonton, four restaurants are participating: Filistix, Max’s Restaurant, Cebuchon and BBQ, and Manila Grill.
• April is also Garlic Fest at Sorrentino’s, with garlic-themed menus, events, and cooking classes.
• Edmonton Public Library is hosting an event called Milner After Dark on April 15 in support of their early literacy program. The event includes live music and tasty bites served in The Kitchen. Tickets are $35 for general admission.
• Hungry Zine is popping up at Fu’s Repair Shop on April 16 to celebrate their latest issue, which is all about mall food. Adult tickets run $32.88 and include a choice of meat or vegetarian combos.

Local News

• Twyla recorded her last food explorer column for Edmonton AM last week – she was the show’s longest running columnist, clocking in 13 years. Her parting message was imploring Edmontonians to support local establishments. So it was rather unfortunate that one of the segments that preceded hers was a feature on Crumbl, the US-based bakery that just opened a franchise location in Edmonton.
• Speaking of Crumbl, they debuted their store with lineups around the block. This prompted some folks to promote a #shoplocal message.
• Edify checked out Zula, Nomiya, and JMT Korean Cuisine.
• Also from Edify – they featured Ukraine’s Kitchen by Free Store, which sells food prepared by Ukrainian newcomers.
• Real Talk hosted a round table featuring the owners of RGE RD, Otto, and Cafe Caribbean – all eateries included on Edify’s list of Best Restaurants.
• Similarly, Edmonton AM highlighted Fu’s Repair Shop and Kasey Ramen, two of the businesses on Edify’s list.
• Congratulations to Hungry Zine on being a finalist for Alberta’s Best New Magazine.

Beyond Edmonton

• Padmanadi officially announced they are opening in Calgary later this fall.

What I Ate

• Friends of ours brought us some take-out from XO Bistro last week – their vermicelli bowl really hit the spot for me that day.

Grilled chicken and spring roll vermicelli from XO Bistro

• Last week, we were #hosted by Prestons, the restaurant inside the Coast Edmonton Plaza downtown. They are A Capella Catering’s first foray into a restaurant, and they serve breakfast and dinner. I tried the Great One Skillet, with Montreal smoked meat and roasted vegetables topped with poached eggs, hollandaise. It was very satisfying! Mack enjoyed his meat lovers’ benny (featuring BBQ brisket as well as the same Montreal smoked meat). The atmosphere of the restaurant was much more laid back than other brunch restaurants in the neighbourhood, which for us was a welcome change given we had Elizabeth with us. Thanks again to Prestons for having us!

Great One Skillet from Prestons

• We walked over to Chinatown on the weekend and picked up some banh mi from Van Loc. The restaurant re-opened with new ownership earlier this year, and feels like a breath of fresh air in the area. The sandwiches were huge, and were packed with meat!

Assorted banh mi from Van Loc