Food Notes for March 4, 2024

Openings

• Rob’s Famous Fried Chicken is now open at 8540 Jasper Avenue, brought to you by the folks behind Panini’s. It shouldn’t be confused with Ralph’s Fried Chicken, opened by the family who operated Ralph’s Handi Mart for 35 years in Strathearn.
• Bernadette’s is a forthcoming restaurant on 104 Street from Scott Iserhoff (who announced the closure of Pei Pei Chei Ow back in January).
• Also to open on 104 Street, watch for Nabi’s, a cocktail bar offering “new-Korean eats”.
• Diced, which bills itself as a “board game restaurant” is coming soon to 10704 124 Street (which formerly housed Northern Chicken).
• Guac Mexi Grill is a Canadian chain that just opened up two locations in Edmonton: 5094 Windermere Blvd and 5208 Ellerslie Road SW.

Upcoming Events

• Edmonton Cocktail Week is underway, and runs March 4-10, 2024.
• The menus for the upcoming Downtown Dining Week are now up. The event runs March 20-31, and features multi-course $15, $25, $35, $50, $65 menus.

Local News

• Edify’s annual Best Restaurants issue was released last week. Happy and Olive, Ralph’s Fried Chicken, Mai Mai Viet Street Kitchen, and Tansen Izakaya were recognized as Best New Restaurants.
• The Tomato released their Top 100 Best Things to Eat or Drink in Edmonton. Bar Bricco’s poached leeks are #1, RGE RD’s Road Trip is #2, and the ravioli at Uccellino is #3. In case you missed it – I wrote a story last year on the impact Edify and The Tomato have on the businesses it features.
• Arbour is highlighted in the latest issue of Modern Luxuria.
• Daniel Costa provided Taproot with more details about his forthcoming The Lobby Bar project.
• Baijiu now has a cocktail cart that operates in Rogers Place during hockey games and events.
• Happy tenth birthday to District!
• On a similar note, Milk Crate commemorated their fifth birthday.
• Explore Edmonton talked to Seble Isaac of Tiramisu Bistro about the restaurant’s origins.
• Doughnut Party is now open in Calgary.
• Brad Smoliak has joined the Fuge Sausage ownership team, and for the month of March, Fuge will be donating 20% of their retail sales to the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute. Brad underwent a life-saving operation at the Heart Institute back in 2019.
• Local charity Sikhs for Humanity opened a food bank on the south side. They serve between 400-500 families a week.

Urban Agriculture and Farming

• The City is surveying residents about urban farming in Edmonton, as it is “considering developing a program and/or process to support the permitting of urban farming within the city.” The survey closes March 10.