Openings
- Bodega announced its seventh location in the Edmonton region. It will be located in Old Strathcona in what was once an Elephant and Castle (10314 Whyte Avenue).
- Dahlia’s, the plant-based café from the folks behind Die Pie and operated in the same space at 11817 105 Avenue, opened at the end of November. It offers coffee and baked goods.
- Café Aria, the sister establishment to Café Versailles, held its grand opening last week. It is located at 20023 Lessard Road.
- Vetrina Café is now open in the space that formerly housed Vish at 10326 124 Street, and serves a very similar menu to its predecessor. The Vish menu will actually continue to be available for online orders for pick-up from the restaurant.
- Eleven Eleven also opened at the end of November at 10305 100 Avenue (the former Rigoletto’s).
- Krispy Kreme opens its first Edmonton location on December 10 at 4614 Gateway Blvd.
- The 100th No Fills location in Western Canada opened last week in Edmonton at 21546 92 Avenue.
Closures
- Filistix announced that after five and a half years, they are closing their standalone location: “the aftermath of the pandemic has seen this paradigm shift, like no other, where working from home is now the norm and that hit us really hard. The fact that the Government District, and the downtown core in general, no longer has the vibrancy nor the density it once had, has taken its toll on us. It’s no secret that people are spending and eating out less than ever before and these factors make it untenable for a restaurant like ours to survive.” Filistix will continue to operate their locations at the University of Alberta and MacEwan University.
Upcoming Events
- Some will remember Green Onion Cake Man’s Siu To used to run a restaurant called Happy Garden. With a blast to the past, he is cooking up a Happy Garden-inspired menu on six dates in December starting December 14. The eight course meal will be prepared for groups of 5 at the cost of $250.
Local News
- The Journal interviewed Sean Thompson, the owner of new community pub Frank’s, on the inspiration behind the place.
- Julio’s Barrio re-opened in their new location just down the street from their former location at 10416 Whyte Avenue (the former Malt and Mortar space) on December 4.
- Paper Birch Books in Little Italy now has a coffee bar!
- Italian Bakery’s Tesoro (with groceries, a deli, bakery, and café), opened in the fall in the southwest to meet the population growth in that area.
- So happy to see that Pho Tau Bay is back open after closing for renovations.
- Slow Pour Beer Bar celebrated two years in business.
- I love take-and-bake meals over the holidays, so it is great to see more businesses offering different options. Paraiso Tropical is one such place, with Mexican, Salvadorian, and Colombian dishes that can be pre-ordered for larger groups.
- On that note, Edify has a round-up of more mainstream options available.
- Also from Edify, they share some Christmas memories from local chefs, including Blair Lebsack from RGE RD and Winnie Chen from Fu’s Repair Shop.
- Congratulations to Strathcona County’s Bar OA and Nisku’s Rig Hand Distillery, who both won accolades at the Tourism Industry Association of Canada Awards.
- Edmonton’s Food Bank has only reached 20% of its fundraising goal for the year so far.
What I Ate
- We stopped by Nuestra Coffee Shop across from Borden Park over the weekend. It is a beautiful space, and it was great to see so many people inside on a Saturday afternoon. I envision returning in a warmer season to grab a drink to enjoy while the kids play at the playground.
Nuestra Coffee
- I had lunch with a colleague at Vetrina Café today. The menu is almost identical to Vish, which I was happy to see given my opinion that their hummus and pita is the best in the city. I enjoyed the hummus bowl, but I probably would have hoped to see more chicken served with the order. I will say, the staff gave us a sample of a new spread they were working on, a pesto mayo, and it was delicious.
Hummus bowl from Vetrina Café
- Mack and I were invited to attend a preview of Krispy Kreme last week. They dodged the question of why exactly it took so long for them to open in Edmonton (Calgary had one years ago that eventually closed). This location is considered a “factory”, which means that it produces donuts on site (as opposed to a café location which would only serve donuts). Besides the fact that they plan to operate the mostly automated machines for 23.5 hours per day to churn out 55,000 donuts, the benefit of the factory is they can serve warm donuts to customers (look for the “hot now” sign to be lit up). It was a treat to be able to enjoy a signature original glazed donut fresh off the line, but it was interesting that two staff that we talked to actually named the chocolate cake donut their favourite of the Krispy Kreme line-up. At $1.90 each (or $16/dozen) for the original glazed, it is something I can see flying off the shelves when they open on December 10.
Original glazed donut from Krispy Kreme
Only Here for the Food 