Food Notes for April 7, 2025

Openings

• Relish Bar & Market opened on April 2 (in the former Biera space). Enjoy cheese, charcuterie, warm sandwiches, and beer and wine.
• Sushi Toshi, who offers all-you-can-eat sushi, opened their second location on the south side last week at 4440 Gateway Blvd.
• Ethiopian and Eritrean restaurant Habesha Cravings at 10203 116 Street celebrated their grand opening on April 5.
• Enigma Bar & Kitchen has opened in the space that was most recently On Edge Brewing at 10308 81 Avenue.
• Edmonton will have a fourth Chick-Fil-A at 4004 17 Street as of April 10.

Closures

• After 35 years, Baba’s Own Ukrainian Food, operated by St. Michael’s Health Group, is closing. Some of their frozen products are still available, while supplies last.

Upcoming Events

• Hot Chefs Cool bEATS, an annual fundraiser for the Canadian Culinary Fund and the High School Culinary Challenge, takes place April 30 at the Royal Glenora Club. Tickets are $134.46 and includes access to food and drink stations and live entertainment.
• The Common’s Streetcar Cask Party Series resumes on May 22, and features craft beer, light bites, and one of the most unique venues in the city. Tickets are $63.10.

Local News

• Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market will finally be opening on Sundays from 11am-3pm, in addition to Saturdays, starting May 4. The multi-day discussions have been in the works for years, but some vendors are still reluctant: said market manager Corinne Olson: “Some of the vendors are not excited about it, but they’re willing to participate with it (to) see where it goes.”
• Balay Coffee is moving their pop-up from Delavoye Chocolate to Meuwly’s on Sundays in April.
• Edify interviewed
  Ben Staley about Next of Kin, his first project with Hoot Company: “Next of
  Kin isn’t the Ben Staley project. This is a collective effort. Everything we do
  is ‘we,’ not ‘I.’ Next of Kin is about community.”
• Edify also has the stories behind Kommune
  Snack Bar, Fawkes
  Cafe, and the resurgence of Johnny’s
  Store in Namao.
• Rat Creek Press featured
  the folks behind Nuestra Coffee Shop in Virginia Park.
• Happy fifth birthday to The High Dough!
• On a related note, The High Dough’s Brayden Kozak will be bringing back Three Boars for one night only on April 13 at the now-Lil’ Wolf.
• Tu Le of Jack’s Burger Shack talked about his upcoming appearance on Flavour Network’s Big Burger Battle, premiering April 21.
• Feed the Soul continues their Black-Owned Restaurant Guide, this time focusing on the west end.
• Alberta-based Sunterra Quality Food Markets (which has two Edmonton locations) has filed for bankruptcy protection.
• The additional tax on wines in Alberta came into effect on April 1. Some businesses like Vine Arts are encouraging consumers to contact your MLA if you feel strongly about it.

What I Ate

• A group of us from my office had lunch at La Morenita last week. Their extensive menu meant there was something for everyone, and I appreciated again their chip and dip platters to snack on while waiting for our food. This time, I tried the burrito (with birria), which was enough for both lunch and dinner that night!

Birria burrito from La Morenita

• I also had lunch at CQ Noodle for the first time in a while. They did some renos over Christmas, which added some additional seating – this definitely came in handy during the lunch rush! I do love their house-made noodles and broth.

Chef Meat pork noodle soup and dumplings

• Mack and I snuck away for a pizza date during the week. I had been wanting to check out Lore Pizza for some time, and it did not disappoint. Their NY-style pizza was solid, but the Chicago tavern-style pizza, with its cracker-like crust, was so unique.

Classic and Chicago tavern-style pizzas

• Linda and I were #hosted at Edify’s Best Restaurants event tonight! Neither of us had been before, and we seriously overestimated our ability to eat our way through our tickets. The portions were generous, and there was such a great variety of food it was hard to decide what to eat! But best of all, it was wonderful to see how many chef/proprietors were present at the event – the evening may have been called Best Restaurants, but it really was a celebration of the people behind them. Thanks to Edify for having us!

With our Lavender Haze cocktails from Dolly’s