Openings
- Molly Tea, a Chinese-based franchise focused on jasmine tea, is officially opening on August 23 at 10173 109 Street NW (formerly Tsujuri).
- Yemeni café Mokha Coffee House is opening a second location soon in Windermere at 6089 Currents Drive NW.
- Pazzo Pazzo closed its location at 10016 103 Avenue in early August and moved west into the former Soho space at 11454 Jasper Avenue NW.
- Edmonton will soon be home to a kissaten, a traditional Japanese coffee shop. Until its brick and mortar is fully in the fall, Kissa10, located at 1643 Towne Centre Blvd NW, will operate sporadic pop-ups.
- The building has been a revolving door over the last couple of years – best wishes to the new business Virsa Mahal, offering Punjab cuisine at 10344 105 Street that opened over the weekend.
- Drift has opened its own retail store at 4823 99 Street NW (the former Bagel Bar space).
Closures
- After 43 years, Continental Treat Fine Bistro is closing its Old Strathcona location. Their Downtown location will continue operating.
Upcoming Events
- Chinatown After Dark returns on August 23 from 6-11pm in the alley behind China Marble.
- Given Edmonton’s Food Bank announced that they are serving the highest number of people in its history, the third annual Edmonton Playground Crawl to benefit the Food Bank on August 24 couldn’t come at a better time. Meet up with other families at up to three playgrounds that day and bring a donation!
- Also on the fundraising front, our family is participating in Lemonade Stand Day again! We are excited to help raise funds for the Stollery. There are stands all across the city on August 24 – go check it out!
Local News
- Happy second birthday to Caribbean Latino Finger Licking Restaurant on Alberta Avenue.
- Edify checked out newcomer Bento Kuma and the newest business in the Tiramisu family, Lift Me Up Sandwiches.
- Even when the Oilers aren’t playing, they generate headlines, including restaurants feeling the post-playoff hangover in Edmonton, and St. Albert businesses who haven’t experienced the same effect.
Beyond Edmonton
- After a temporary closure, it looks like Seoul Fried Chicken in Calgary re-opened one location last week.
What I Ate
- It is many weeks into our farm box subscription with Sundog Organic, and we are loving it! We entered the Community Supported Agriculture world last year with Riverbend Gardens, and while the value was there, I really appreciate the Sundog option to customize our box every week based on their available bounty. Jenny and James grow an incredible variety of produce, and we’ve been intentionally trying vegetables we wouldn’t otherwise pick up at the market, like turnips. Knowing what will be in our box (for a meal planner like me) is invaluable to make sure nothing goes to waste. We share a subscription for a medium farm box with friends, alternating weeks, and it works very well for our family.
Our farm box this week from Sundog Organic
- Run, don’t walk, to Dagu, which is offering an amazing deal until August 30. All of their crossing-the-bridge noodle soups are on special for just $9.99. We always add on an order of salty crispy chicken (our kids love it), but even with that, the meal is still very economical.
Original Crossing-the Bridge soup from Dagu
- I finally hit up this year’s iteration of Vagabond Pop-Ups, at Under the High Wheel. Former Biera chef Christine Sandford and her partner Roger Letourneau had a smaller pop-up last year, but this year can offer a complete menu given they have a full kitchen to work with. The food is outstanding, highlighting the best of the season – the cod and corn aligot were the standouts from our meal, and I am still thinking about that squash blossom toast. This pop-up is on until September 14, and the pair will likely return to the same location with another pop-up in November. Go and enjoy the summer bounty while you still can!
B.C. Cod Grenobloise from Vagabond Pop-Up
Only Here for the Food 