Food Notes for July 29, 2024

Openings

• Epic’s Station Yards food hall opened this past weekend, offering five concepts over two floors, including Italian, French Canadian, Mexican, Asian fusion, and chop house options. It is located at 8115 Gateway Blvd.
• Seoul Fried Chicken’s third Edmonton location is now open in North Town, 9314 137 Avenue.
• The Colombian will soon be opening their fifth location, in the storefront formerly occupied by Fleisch in Forest Heights.
• Edmonton will soon have another gelato spot to visit, called Crafted Gelato. Until the storefront is open, their gelato will be served from their gelato cart.
• Tipsy Moose Pub is now open at 6464 Cartmell Place SW.
• Another restaurant serving Chonqing cuisine opened a couple of months back, called Mahjong Noodle Spot, at 10415 80 Avenue.
• I missed the opening of Le Tramway back in April, in the former Red Ox Inn space at 9420 91 Street. It offers French and Balkan specialities.
• Tesoro, the “newest member of the Italian Bakery and The Canadian Brewhouse family” will be opening in Windermere this fall.

Closures

• Vish on 124 Street announced that due to a “political boycott”, they will be forced to close as of September 30, 2024.
• After opening in May, Diced announced their forthcoming closure in August: “we have found it challenging to generate consistent business at this new location. With other projects on the horizon, we’ve decided to let go of Diced so we can regroup and focus on the amazing ways we can support the amazing boardgame community in our city.” Diced is a project from the folks behind Waffle Bird, which closed their previous location on July 14 as they will be relocating to a sit-down restaurant in Old Stratcona. They also opened Dining Car Cafe earlier this year downtown.
• Mandolin Books and Coffee Company in Highlands has announced their closure, after 21 years. The building was sold and they were served with notice to vacate the building by September 30.

Upcoming Events

• I missed sharing about this year’s YEG Food Fiesta, which highlights restaurants in the North Edge. This year’s event has 8 participating businesses, and runs July 5-31.
• It’s one of my favourite times of year – the return of Sabor/Bodega’s Fish & Chip Fridays, taking place on Fridays at their downtown location in August. Proceeds support Santa’s Anonymous and the Ronald McDonald House of Northern Alberta. Make sure to head down early, as they will sell out!
• The Edmonton Heritage Festival returns to Borden Park/Edmonton Exhibition Lands for a second year, running August 3-5.
• Leduc County has organized Food & Farm Trail tours that showcase 4 area businesses, including Chartier, Righand Distillery, Beau Bella Winery, and Old Station Honey and Mead. Tours will run August 3, 24, and September 7 and 14. Tickets are $79 per person.
• I’m a little surprised it’s returning, but Diner in Blanc will again be hosted in Edmonton on September 7. The picnic events have taken place in cities all over the world; attendees dress in white and are led to a location kept secret until that evening.
• Eats on 118 returns September 19, 26, and October 3. Tickets are $50 and will include bites at 3 neighbourhood restaurants.

Local News

• The images of devastation from the fire in Jasper have been hard to absorb – and I am only an avid visitor and not someone who lives and earns my livelihood in that community. Many Edmonton restaurants, including Meuwly’s, Greta, and Fu’s Repair Shop, are offering free meals for evacuees, with many others offering discounted food. There are also several options to support those displaced, including the Jasper Hospitality Fund, and the Roasti coffee sold for the Jasper Barista Fund.
• KDays experienced an increase in attendance this year compared to last year, while Taste of Edmonton saw a 20% decline from 2023.
• Alberta and BC reached a one-year deal to allow wineries to ship directly to consumers.

What I Ate

• It was great to be back in Toronto after many years! I live for the energy in the city, and love the urbanism and character apparent in individual neighbourhoods and streets. And while we couldn’t hit up as many places with two young kids in tow, we still managed our share of good eats, including at institutions Sugo and OddSeoul. But my favourite bites were closer to our home base, including pie from Pizzeria Badiali, and smash burgers from Burger Drops.

Cacio e pepe pizza from Badiali

The best burger I’ve had in some time from Burger Drops

• Back in Edmonton, I bid adieu to my favourite arepa in the city from Alberta Ave gem El Fogon. The restaurant closed July 28.

One last arepa from El Fogon