Openings
- Spruce Grove’s Great North Cookie Co. will be opening a second location in West Edmonton Mall! I love their cookies, so it is great to see they’ll have a location in the city. Their expected opening date is July 2025.
- Gratitude Coffee will be shifting to a bigger location in Sherwood Park, but will maintain their existing location until they are ready to move.
Upcoming Events
- Africanival runs June 6-8, 2025 in Churchill Square, celebrating Afro-Caribbean culture with food, music and dancing.
- The Van bLoc Party returns to Chinatown again, but over two days this year on June 7-8, 2025. The owners of Van Loc also did an interview about the story behind their sister cafe/cocktail bar, Boa and Hare.
- Taste of Edmonton runs from July 17-27, 2025. Discounted early bird tickets are available from now until July 16, with savings of $10 per sheet.
Local News
- Big congrats to Tu Le of Jack’s Burger Shack for winning Flavour Network’s Big Burger Battle! He did Edmonton (and St. Albert) proud!
- Also on the burger front, Taproot featured the story behind Shortees, Goat Track Social Club’s foray into smashburgers at the Rundle Park Golf Course.
- Taproot followed up with Meuwly’s on their transition to hosting local food brands since closing their retail shop at the end of 2024.
- Boyle McCauley News interviewed Michael Kalmanovitch, founder of Earth’s General Store, who is aiming to open Earth’s Refillery Co-op in Little Italy in July.
- Congratulations to the winners of the annual Th3rd Wave Coffee Awards, including Common Ground as Best New Cafe, Take Care Café as the Coffee Shop of the Year, and Roasti and Rogue Wave recognized as outstanding roasters.
- 104 Street is the latest “Entertainment District”, joining Rice Howard Way with that designation. It means patrons are allowed to order alcohol from adjacent restaurants to enjoy on the street. This applies during Downtown Farmers’ Market hours on Saturday, but of course, arcane laws prohibit cracking open alcoholic products purchased from vendors on the same street.
- Edify has a story on what to expect at Ritchie Market’s Relish.
- Also from Edify – visits to Aura Cocktails and Saigon Taste, and a fun Edmonton coffee/food/bookshop tour.
- Too many Oilers-themed products to keep track of: I missed the return of the Orange Crush Creamsicle from Yelo’d and the Playoff Roast from Gratitude Coffee. One round to go, boys!
- While Moneris data from the Oilers’ second round tracked an increase in game-day spending, some warn that discretionary spending may decrease after the playoffs conclude.
- Congratulations to Edmonton-based Bodega for opening their first Calgary location last week!
- Also south of Edmonton, Edify provides a road trip guide to small-batch spirits from breweries and distilleries down Highway 2.
What I Ate
- It’s been a while since I’ve dined in at Coliseum Steak & Pizza (my go-to restaurant by my office), but I appreciate how reliable and consistent they are.
Pepperoni and mushroom pizza from Coliseum
- We celebrated my Mom’s birthday at one of her favourite restaurants, Padmanadi, last week. The kitchen was lightning quick – the appetizers appeared at our table less than five minutes after we ordered them – and helped us manage our hangry kids (it was our first time trying the crispy chicken strips and they ended up being a table favourite).
We can’t leave Padmanadi without ginger beef
- Emily and I had a blast volunteering at the Edmonton International Cat Fest this weekend, and were satiated by generous portions of pasta from Takam Market.
Chicken alfredo from Takam Market
- We were so fortunate to obtain the last two orders of Tu’s winning Big Burger Challenge entry today, the Jen Le Burger: a triple smash burger with Sot Vang Dip. It was as amazing as we thought it would be. For those that missed out, don’t worry – Tu said he will be rolling a once weekly special, featuring items he prepared on the show.
Jen Le Burger
Only Here for the Food 