Food Notes for December 4, 2023

Openings

• 124 Street is getting an influx of new independent coffee shops – while Transcend’s permanent location is under construction, they will be serving out of a temporary pop-up at 10639 124 Street.
• Coffee Bureau is also joining in the fray, opening up a location in the Mercury Block at 102 Avenue and 123 Street.
• Downtown’s newest coffee shop Bar Oro opened on November 21 in Energy Square, 10550 Jasper Avenue.
• Wild Rose Cakes is also planning to open up shop downtown in the spring of 2023.
• New pizzeria Lore Pizza by Trial & Ale Sour & Wild Artisanal Ales will be opening on December 13 at 17850 106 Avenue NW.
• Nagoya Japanese Cuisine kicked off their soft opening on December 4, 2023. Find them at 17308 Hiller Road SW.
• Congratulations to Saffron Indian Cuisine on their third location in Edmonton, located in the west at 17006 90 Avenue NW.
• Another rolled ice cream option is available in town – chain Ice Flame is now open at 9728 Ellerslie Road SW.
• Flying Dragon, serving up Asian-inspired noodle and rice bowls, opened up back in October in Old Strathcona at 10336 81 Avenue NW.
• I missed Rau Vietnamese Kitchen’s opening in Sherwood Park back in September.

Local News

• My daughter Emily is so excited to see this – Duchess Bake Shop’s annual gingerbread castle is in the shape of Frozen’s Arendelle Castle this year. If you’re planning to check it out, remember that Duchess is collecting warm weather donations on behalf of the Bissell Centre, which gives you the option of entering the contest to destroy the castle in the new year.
• Brunch is now being served at Odd Company Brewing’s south side location.
• Edify is crowd-sourcing nominations for Edmonton’s Best Dessert for their upcoming Best Restaurants issue. Nominations are being accepted until January 31, 2024.
• Also from Edify, they checked out Marlo and Nuovo Bistro.
• Ernest’s at NAIT, Tzin, and Uccellino made Open Table’s Top 100 Restaurants in Canada list.
• The December issue of Modern Luxuria features a profile of Effing Seafoods.
• Congratulations to Hungry Zine co-founder Kathryn Gwun-Yeen Lennon on being a recipient of the Edmonton Artists’ Trust Fund.

What I Ate

While I will do my best to keep up with these weekly posts, I’m entering into a pretty intense period at work, in addition to preparing for Chinatown Dining Week taking place in January. As a result, it is possible (as was the case last week!) that I may have to postpone an update here or there. In the interim, remember that Taproot Edmonton publishes their own weekly Food Roundup, so if you’re missing that local food content, head over there!

• Being near Chinatown just before the dinner hour was the perfect excuse to reacquaint myself with take-out from Pho Tau Bay! I would have wished for more broth in our extra large order (I always reserve a cup to sip the next day), but it still hit the spot.

My usual order from Tau Bay

• After checking out Winterval in our neighbourhood on Friday, my family picked up a smorgasbord to enjoy, including eats from Tiffin, Seoul Fried Chicken, and Wayback Burger. It’s so great to have so many tasty options steps away from our front door.

Friday night eats after Winterval