Openings

• Dining Car Cafe, opened by the team behind Old Strathcona’s Waffle Bird, is now open in the ground floor of the CN Tower (10004 104 Avenue). Their menu includes coffee, sandwiches, soups, and baked goods.
• Also from the Waffle Bird team, they’ve announced that they are collaborating with Table Top Cafe to open Diced, the new board game eatery located in the former Northern Chicken spot on 124 Street: “Craft cocktails, local brews, banging food, and competitive cardboard are sure to make this snazzy new spot a date night staple!”
• Good Goods has opened downtown at 10250 106 Street.
• KB & Co’s eighth franchise location is now open at 12322 102 Avenue. This location also offers their house-made salad dressings and dips to go.
• Banh Mi Diddy, a Vietnamese sandwich and coffee shop, will be opening behind MacEwan this month, located at 10548 110 Street.
• A new restaurant called 3 Poms is coming soon to the west end, and will feature “creative, locally sourced plates, cocktails, wines and craft beer”.
• It’s so great to see this spark of new energy in Chinatown, continued with the announcement from Yelo’d that they will be opening an ice cream outpost called Little Bon Bon in the neighbourhood.
• The Taco Shop is opening on BRBN st this spring in West Edmonton Mall. It is helmed by Dani Braun, formerly of Tres Carnales and Rostizado, which closed in January 2023.

Upcoming Events

• April sees the return of Filipino Restaurant Month in Canada, which serves to “promote and mainstream the Filipino cuisine in Canada”. In Edmonton, three restaurants are participating: Cebuchon & BBQ, Filistix Downtown, and Manila Grill Express.
• Sorrentino’s annual Garlic Fest returns for its 32nd year. In addition to a special garlic fest menu at all of their locations, Sorrentino’s is also hosting a number of fundraising dinners to support a facility to support lung transplant patients.

Local News

• Ramneek Singh, who reviews restaurants on Facebook, alleges that The Tomato’s Top 100 Best Things To Eat or Drink list is a pay-to-play list. Some have come to The Tomato’s defence, including Peter Keith of Meuwly’s. April 3, 2024 Update: Singh has since significantly edited his post and removed his allegation of pay-to-play, and Keith’s post is no longer publicly available.
• Lydia shared that Let’s Grill Sushi Downtown has come under new ownership, and now features all-you-can-eat and conveyor belt sushi.
• CBC Radioactive featured Carne Asada Mexican Taqueria.
• Linda put together a guide to fun sampler flights available in Edmonton, including coffee, drinks, cheese, tacos, poutine, and ice cream.

What I Ate

• Before we left on our trip, I had lunch at my favourite go-to spot near work, El Fogon. Their arepas are so good.

Beef and cheese arepa from El Fogon

• Mack and I were also able to steal away for a lunch date for our only Downtown Dining Week meal at Bundok. They had a great deal, featuring their delicious parmigiano soup and gnocchi parisienne.

Gnocchi parisienne from Bundok

• We had a great time in San Jose visiting my sister. While I did not enjoy how car-centric the community is, it’s hard not to love their weather, and a visit to a farmers’ market there made me realize how starved I feel for freshly-grown produce (the citrus were fantastic). I also didn’t know that San Jose was home to the largest Vietnamese population in the US – in certain areas of the city, signs were posted in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese. Needless to say, we had our share of pho and banh mi during our visit!

Banh mi from Duc Huong in San Jose

• We also spent a few days in San Francisco, and did not regret choosing the very chill, non-touristy Outer Sunset neighbourhood to stay. DamnFine Pizza and Polly’s Ice Cream were within walking distance and were both fantastic. We did pay between 5-10% more per meal, guised as everything from a “cost of living” surcharge, to a fee tacked on to pay for employee health benefits. It definitely added up, and was pervasive most places we went (including picking up a salad from an airport kiosk). We were fine to pay more to support a living wage, but it was interesting how the California culture has evolved to to “hide” the fee in plain sight as opposed to outright raising the menu prices.

DamnFine Pizza

Steve Brochu is reinvigorating the Citadel with a restaurant that aims to challenge

The chef who owns and operates MilkCrate, a café in EPCOR Tower, and GhostLight, a coffee kiosk in the Citadel Theatre, is set to open PlayWright in the space in the Citadel that formerly housed the second Normand’s location.

Steve Brochu said he’s aiming for a late April launch for the 128-seat space.

“I was just driving by in March 2023 and saw the vacancy,” Brochu said. “The Citadel presented a great opportunity. Our company, the people I have, have been with me for over a year. And if I didn’t grow or throw a new challenge at them, they would move on. Some of them want health care or more money. An expansion creates more stability.”

GhostLight, just steps from where PlayWright will open, launched in June 2023, and Brochu said it has been a slow start. “People are still finding us,” he said. “Canada Place is also at the whims of a hybrid (work) schedule.” But he said he’s been buoyed by the brisk business on theatre nights and is positive things will pick up during the day.

That optimism informs his plans for PlayWright. Brochu knows his primary clientele will be theatregoers, and is planning the menu around that audience.

“One of the challenges for us is a large group of our people will be coming in before a show starts in 90 minutes,” Brochu said. “So things will be braised, hot-held, juicy, and yummy, and filled with sauce and flavour. When people are leaving we want them to be as blown away as much as the show they are going to see.”

While many businesses consolidated to reduce costs during the pandemic, Brochu expanded. MilkCrate became the preferred caterer for Arbor Memorial Homes, which supplies food to its three funeral homes in Edmonton up to six days per week.

“The lesson we learned is that if we are only generating revenue out of one thing, we’re going to lose,” Brochu said. “It’s not going to work if you’re only relying on Uber Eats and the dining room. People are eating out less or not at all.”

Steve Brochu inside the Citadel

But despite the theatregoear focus, Brochu hopes to appeal to other members of those who live and visit downtown, too. “We are aware that there are people who live around here, and want to be available for late-night bites or after-work drinks. Once people go into the theatre, we can fill up with more people.”

Brochu said the restaurant plans to add lunch service in the future. He doesn’t yet have the menu finalized but added he wants to use PlayWright as a vehicle to expose diners to a broad array of dishes.

“PlayWright is going to be a celebration of Edmonton’s food. We will try and elevate delicious food in the heart of creativity downtown and have fun with our food. I like the notion that the Citadel has put faith in our experiment here and that it’s the local kid getting the restaurant and not a chain or conglomerate. I want this to work. It doesn’t have to be beef tenderloin and chicken supreme.”

Brochu helmed the kitchen at Chartier when it opened in 2016 until he left in 2019 to start MilkCrate.

He said Edmonton can do better when it comes to unique offerings.

“We need people to invest in new ideas,” Brochu said. “There are eight pasta restaurants between here and the Convention Centre. We have a problem. People love pasta, but there’s so much other food. It’s a very big step to change your menu and see what happens, and there were restaurants that pushed the envelope and had to move it back. We want PlayWright to have tasty food and to challenge people.”

PlayWright also marks a career shift for Brochu, who will step away from the kitchen for this project. Eric Forbes, whom Brochu has known since his Chartier days, will take on the head chef role. This will enable Brochu to focus more on the broader operation.

“It’s a little strange because I can’t do both,” Brochu said. “I will be ‘Steve Brochu, restaurateur’. Young people will be bringing the energy. But I am excited to get back into a sit-down, full-service restaurant, and for the new role that it brings me.”

Openings

• New cafe Liberta Coffee Lab soft launched last week. It is located at 6547 99 Street.
• The Brazilian Grocery Store had its grand opening on March 16 at 8715 53 Avenue.
• Good Goods Co, which was one of three businesses who received a grant from the Downtown Business Association to open up shop Downtown, has announced their grand opening on March 22-23. Good Goods is located at 10250 106 Street.
• Chain bakery Uncle Tetsu is opening its first Edmonton location in West Edmonton Mall this spring.
• Tupi Bowls is opening a new location in April in Sherwood Park at Savona Centre (200 Festival Lane).
• It will be another banner year for ice cream in Edmonton, with Little Bear Gelato announcing a location in Garneau in May 2024.
• DRTY Ice Cream announced that their new storefront location will be in Station Park, 8125 Gateway Blvd. in Old Strathcona.
• The new Freson Bros. location in Glenora (10720 142 Street) will host its grand opening on April 12.

Closures

• Fleisch announced its closure last week: “This decision didn’t come easy. Opening a restaurant amid a global pandemic was not the greatest twist of fate we could have imagined for ourselves. That coupled with the skyrocketing costs of *gestures broadly at everything* it’s not tenable for us to continue on.” Fleisch has not yet shared a final closing date.

Local News

• Edify checked out Benaras Vegan Restaurant and 4Monsters Diner.
• Ryan Jespersen invited representatives of three restaurants featured on Edify’s Best Restaurants to talk about the business of food in Edmonton: Dorinku Osaka’s Ben Staley, The Lingnan’s Miles Quon, Barbacoa’s Tyler Sorochan.
• Tech Life Today updated their guide to food businesses owned or staffed by NAIT grads.

This will be the last Food Notes for the month; our family will be away visiting my sister in California next week. Enjoy the spring!

Openings

• Nabi, serving Korean-inspired small plates and cocktails opened on March 8. Find Nabi at 10145 104 Street.
• Congratulations to Backstairs Burger who opened up a third location at 11998 109A Avenue.

Upcoming Events

• Polyrhythm Brewing has organized a Sip and Sign event on March 27; attendees can learn about sign language and beer. Tickets start at $5.

Local News

• CBC Radioactive interviewed Roderick Almonte about his Filipino restaurant, Karinderya.
• Edify checked out the brunch at Socrates Restaurant in St. Albert.
• Also from Edify, they interviewed the filmmaker behind Brewing Under Northern Skies, a docuseries about microbrewing in Alberta. The first episode features an interview with the co-founder of Asymmetrical Brewing, which closed last year.
• Riverbend Gardens compared the price of their Community Supported Agriculture with the prices of the equivalent items at two big box grocery stores. The result was that their CSA price was cheaper.
• The Sherwood Park Farmers’ Market relocated from the Strathcona County Community Centre to the Emerald Hills shopping area in January.
• Oonie, an online market featuring local producers, has rebranded as Forage Market.

What I Ate

• It was time to reacquaint ourselves with Carne Asada, as it has been some months since our last order. They’ve since added birria tacos to their menus (offered on Fridays), and they were delicious!

Our spread from Carne Asada

• I was encouraged by social media to try Ayco Cafe’s flat croissants. There are a surprisingly small number of cafes open Downtown on Sundays, and it was great to see how busy they were even early on in the day. While I enjoyed the texture of the flat croissant better than their supreme croissants, maybe the moral of the story is to avoid viral treats.

Flat croissant from Ayco Cafe

Openings

• Rob’s Famous Fried Chicken is now open at 8540 Jasper Avenue, brought to you by the folks behind Panini’s. It shouldn’t be confused with Ralph’s Fried Chicken, opened by the family who operated Ralph’s Handi Mart for 35 years in Strathearn.
• Bernadette’s is a forthcoming restaurant on 104 Street from Scott Iserhoff (who announced the closure of Pei Pei Chei Ow back in January).
• Also to open on 104 Street, watch for Nabi’s, a cocktail bar offering “new-Korean eats”.
• Diced, which bills itself as a “board game restaurant” is coming soon to 10704 124 Street (which formerly housed Northern Chicken).
• Guac Mexi Grill is a Canadian chain that just opened up two locations in Edmonton: 5094 Windermere Blvd and 5208 Ellerslie Road SW.

Upcoming Events

• Edmonton Cocktail Week is underway, and runs March 4-10, 2024.
• The menus for the upcoming Downtown Dining Week are now up. The event runs March 20-31, and features multi-course $15, $25, $35, $50, $65 menus.

Local News

• Edify’s annual Best Restaurants issue was released last week. Happy and Olive, Ralph’s Fried Chicken, Mai Mai Viet Street Kitchen, and Tansen Izakaya were recognized as Best New Restaurants.
• The Tomato released their Top 100 Best Things to Eat or Drink in Edmonton. Bar Bricco’s poached leeks are #1, RGE RD’s Road Trip is #2, and the ravioli at Uccellino is #3. In case you missed it – I wrote a story last year on the impact Edify and The Tomato have on the businesses it features.
• Arbour is highlighted in the latest issue of Modern Luxuria.
• Daniel Costa provided Taproot with more details about his forthcoming The Lobby Bar project.
• Baijiu now has a cocktail cart that operates in Rogers Place during hockey games and events.
• Happy tenth birthday to District!
• On a similar note, Milk Crate commemorated their fifth birthday.
• Explore Edmonton talked to Seble Isaac of Tiramisu Bistro about the restaurant’s origins.
• Doughnut Party is now open in Calgary.
• Brad Smoliak has joined the Fuge Sausage ownership team, and for the month of March, Fuge will be donating 20% of their retail sales to the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute. Brad underwent a life-saving operation at the Heart Institute back in 2019.
• Local charity Sikhs for Humanity opened a food bank on the south side. They serve between 400-500 families a week.

Urban Agriculture and Farming

• The City is surveying residents about urban farming in Edmonton, as it is “considering developing a program and/or process to support the permitting of urban farming within the city.” The survey closes March 10.

Openings

• Sharon mentioned that Tropika has opened a second location in the Jagare Ridge area at 14132 28 Avenue SW.
• New vegan restaurant Benaras is now open at 10532 82 Avenue.
• Congratulations to Fuzion Donuts, who have opened a second location at 12866 97 Street.
• Africano Cafe is now open in the former Mama Asha Cafe space, located at 11745 95 Street.
• A new cafe called Liberta Coffee Lab is opening soon at 6547 99 Street.
• Brew and Bloom is opening a second location this spring.

Local News

• The Downtown Business Association announced that they will be bringing a farmers’ market back to 104 Street this summer from May to October (Al Fresco on 104 Street operated a small market for the past three years). The DBA is looking for an operator and for vendors interested in joining.
• Northern Chicken has extended their operations for one additional week, and will be open until February 24 before their permanent closure.
• Amy Nachtigall shared an emotional post about how hard the last few years have been and how she has “lost that passion and hope” that she used to have running her bakery.
• Sometimes it feels like winter is over, but Baijiu’s heated winter patio, comprised of North America’s first Tubbo unit, is now open.
• After seven years, the original owners of Anvil Coffee House decided to sell to the current manager of the business.
• Edify interviewed folks from Ethiopia, India, and El Salvador on where they source food that reminds them of home.
• Otto, Sauce Modern Caribbean Cuisine, and Moonga Nori were recommended in The Globe and Mail as great date night spots in Edmonton by three locals.
• This CTV article about large food items seems eerily similar to Linda’s post from January, with the inclusion of mini macarons.

What I Ate

• We had to send off Northern Chicken right with some of their greatest hits before their closure. Our kids ate up the fried chicken and the Dorito mac and cheese will be missed. Northern Chicken is open until February 25 for those still looking for one last fix.

Take-out from Northern Chicken

• Another family favourite is the Mac and Cheeza from Love Pizza. It’s only offered for a short window (until some time in March), so if you needed a reminder, this is it!

Two Big Love Mac and Cheezas from Love Pizza

• With family in town, we had to pick up some of our favourite brownies from Sugared and Spiced to share.

Brownies from Sugared and Spiced

• Mack and I had a great date night at Partake on Friday. The service is consistently hospitable, and I’ve never felt rushed. And of course, the food and drinks are great too – we loved the whipped brie, and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have their croque ‘mon’ soubise.

Croque ‘mon’ soubise from Partake

Openings

• Bar Henry, Daniel Costa’s newest aperitivo bar venture located inside Henry Singer’s Ice District digs, is now open in the evening. Jon Timms has an overview of some the dishes available.
• Top One is now open. It is Edmonton’s first restaurant to offer all-you-can-eat dim sum (priced at $23.88 per person), and the city’s first pay-by-weight hot pot. Top One is located at 10828 82 Avenue.
• On the Edge Coffee’s new location will be next to District 102 in the Edmonton City Centre Mall. No opening date yet, but they also announced last week that on Saturdays they are popping up at Meuwly’s.
• Square One Coffee is close to opening their fourth location in the city in Windsor Park (8709 118 Street).
• Former farmers’ market vendor Choco-licious opened its first standalone store in Sherwood Park on February 1. Find them at Village Park Mall, Unit 102 (near Buffet Royale).

Upcoming Events

• Sweet Treats & Latte Festival returns to Old Strathcona February 10-25. 21 businesses are participating, offering either a feature dessert or drink. Visit at least 5 of the businesses to be entered for your chance to win a gift card, or 10 businesses to win one of two staycations valued at $400.
• Hop Pocket, made up of 7 breweries in and around Downtown and Oliver, is offering a Hop On Hop Off Bus Loop on February 24. The bus will stop at all 7 locations on a loop. Tickets for the bus are $17.31 per person including fees.

Local News

• Starting February 12, Woodwork will be offering lunch service! Woodwork will open 11am from Mondays to Fridays.
• Doughnut Party is opening a location in Calgary later this month.
• The Journal covered what to expect at Bibo’s resurrected location in Old Strathcona.
• The February issue of Modern Luxuria includes a feature on the expanded Bar Bricco.
• Sharon did a round-up of four new-ish Korean restaurants that opened recently in Edmonton, including Il Poom, Rock ‘N Tofu, Zigle, and Makchang Dodook.
• Edify checked out Duck Donuts and Oceania Grill.
• CBC’s Radio Active columnist Jason Foster explores how Odd Company and Trial and Ale have expanded their operations to include food.
• NAIT announced that this year’s Chef in Residence is Blair Lebsack of RGE RD and The Butchery. Mark your calendars for March 11-15 for the related events.
• Also from NAIT, congratulations to the culinary team on being awarded the silver medal in the community catering category at the IKA Culinary Olympics in Germany.

What I Ate

• I didn’t get to as many Feed the Soul restaurants as I wanted, but I did manage to pick up some take-out from Flava Cafe. I loved the jerk pork, and I appreciated the freshly-fried festival dumpling.

Feed the Soul special from Flava Cafe

• It’s been ages since I’ve been to Chocorrant, so their Lunar New Year boxes were an enticing reason to return. The bolo BBQ pork croissant was indulgent and delicious. The boxes are available for pre-order until February 25. Happy Lunar New Year to all who celebrate!

Chocorrant Lunar New Year croissant gift box

Amy Quon closing Chicken for Lunch After 32 Years

Edmonton culinary institution Chicken for Lunch is closing after 32 years of business. The kiosk, located in the food court in Rice Howard Place (formerly Scotia Place), is known for its long line-ups and Amy Quon, its gregarious proprietor. Its last day of business will be Feb. 29.

Quon, whose family also owns and operates The Lingnan (which just celebrated its 75th anniversary in November), decided not to renew the lease ahead of the food court’s planned six-month closure for renovations. Quon also shared that she turned 65 this year and challenges with her knees and hands have slowed her down. By closing Chicken for Lunch, Quon can now work exclusively at The Lingnan.

“Right now I get up at 5am and pick up my staff,” said Quon. “I’m at Chicken for Lunch at seven and I work there until 2:30, and then work at The Lingnan until 10:30. Now, I can come at two. So Amy not retiring, only Chicken for Lunch retiring.”

Quon opened Chicken for Lunch in 1992 when her youngest son was six (her husband, Kinman, was a partner in The Lingnan at the time, but their family did not yet own it outright). “Chicken for Lunch was my first restaurant,” Quon said. “My kids were still young. I wanted a job from Monday to Friday, so after 2pm I can go home and be with my kids. That’s why I chose an office building with short hours.”

From the beginning, Quon focused on chicken because she observed that many people didn’t eat pork and beef. But the menu evolved. “When I first started, I only had chicken burgers, chicken fingers, chicken cutlets, and clubhouse (sandwiches),” Quon said. “But I see people eat more spicy, and went the direction of ginger chicken, Korean chicken, Thai chicken, because I can see the crowd like it. I am not a (trained) cook, but what I do is go to the restaurant to eat, and go home and do experiments. It takes a long time to develop a recipe.”

Quon’s famous dry spicy chicken was adapted from a more traditional dish. “My husband and me know Canadians like crispy (things),” Quon said. “How can we make it crispy and spicy? Chinese have dry spicy tofu. Why don’t we do some similar chicken?”

Amy Quon

People so demand the dry spicy chicken that it’s on the menu at The Lingnan, too, and also sold frozen for home preparation at The Lingnan and at Confetti Sweets in Sherwood Park.

Quon said they had to stop making the chicken from scratch after the pandemic due to the labour involved and difficulties retaining staff. “My son Miles asked me, ‘Do you want to die with your chicken?’ I said no. But we still have to wok it (ourselves) and make it spicy,” Quon said.

Quon is emotional as she speaks about her customers. “My chicken boys and girls are so loyal,” she said. “They are very good to me. Some have been coming for 32 years.”

Quon made it a point to remember regular clients and their orders by bestowing them nicknames. “I don’t know computers or emails, but I put my energy into my customers,” Quon said. “The most funny thing is I give people names and they like it. If I give them a name I remember their order. Noodle Boy, they eat noodle. Steam Rice Friend, they eat rice. Hungry Boy, they eat everything.”

Regular customers also appreciated Quon’s generosity. Quon often tops orders up with additional food. “You give them gift to show them your love,” she said. “The only gift I have is chicken I want to give them extra. That’s why people come back.”

She said she has even become a mother figure to some of her customers. “They won’t listen to their real mom, but they listen to me. ‘No vegetables? Bad boy!’ I say. But they eat it! If I told my son Marty to eat vegetables, he doesn’t eat it.”

Quon’s regulars have asked if frozen versions of her other types of chicken will be made available, or whether she might consider hosting Chicken for Lunch pop-ups at The Lingnan. Quon hasn’t made any final decisions but knows it wouldn’t be the same. In the meantime, she encourages customers to come see her at The Lingnan to reminisce.

“I want my customers to remember how much fun they had at Chicken for Lunch,” she said. “The relationships you build with customers are more important than the business. I’m rich in my heart. And I really want them to know how much I love them.”

The Quon family is soliciting video messages from customers who want to share their well-wishes with Amy. The deadline to upload a message is Feb. 10.

Openings

• Bibo, the long-awaited reboot of Culina’s wine bar, is finally open in the Strathcona Hotel at 10302 82 Avenue. I spoke with Brad Lazarenko about the return of Bibo back in 2021.
• Pakistani restaurant Karahi Point is opened its first location outside of Ontario and Quebec in Sherwood Park. The location at Unit 42, 975 Broadmoor Blvd opened on February 2.
• Vegan fast food chain Odd Burger will open at 336A Mayfield Common.
• A second location of Freson Bros. will open soon in Edmonton, located at Glenora Circle, 10702 142 Street.

Closures

• On the heels of closing their 124 Street location in January, Northern Chicken announced the permanent closure of their remaining location on 104 Street. Their final day of service will be February 15.

Upcoming Events

• La Poutine Week runs February 1-7, with 5 participating restaurants in Edmonton.

Local News

• On the Edge, which had to close its coffee kiosk at the Edmonton Downtown Farmers’ Market, will be popping up at Meuwly’s on Saturdays.
• Edify stopped by new Downtown business Scratch Baking & Cafe.
• Sharon wrote about a media preview she attended at Makchang Dodook.
• The Journal highlighted Feed the Soul Dining Week.
• JP Dublado of Red Deer Resort and Casino, who won Edmonton’s Great Kitchen Party back in October, won bronze at the Canadian Culinary Championships in Ottawa this weekend.
• Several Edmonton area restaurants made Open Table’s list of Open Table’s Top 100 Romantic Restaurants in Canada, including Brew+Bloom, Chartier, and La Ronde in Chateau Lacombe.
• Edmonton residents are split on the single-use bylaw that came into effect in July 2023.

What I Ate

• There’s no better way to start the day than with a ham and cheese croissant from Brio and a hot drink from Iconoclast Coffee!

Ham and cheese croissant and coffee from Iconoclast

• It took me long enough, but I finally introduced Mack to the wonders of the chef meat noodle soup at CQ Noodle. For dine-in customers, they also offer unlimited freshly-made noodles, which is a great bonus!

Chef meat noodle soup at CQ Noodle

• I appreciate that Bloom Cookie Co. still offers delivery – we ordered a box of their cookies to share with family for a belated birthday gathering for Emily.

Cookies from Bloom

Openings

• Edmonton’s newest Korean restaurant, chain Makchang Dodook had their soft opening on January 26. Find them at 1007 Parsons Road SW.
• Anejo Restaurant, a chain with locations in Toronto, Calgary, and Banff, has opened in Edmonton at 11954 104 Avenue.
• The Lobster Mobsters, a seafood business with storefronts in Nisku and Brooks, is opening up in Edmonton. They will be located at 17011 100 Avenue, and intend to be open by April 1.

Closures

• The Downtown Edmonton Farmers’ Market is officially closed, and the association has declared bankruptcy and will dissolve. I went to the market on their last day to find that so many vendors had already pulled up their equipment and had left. Apparently the market may return in some form outdoors in the summer, but we’ll see.
• French Toast announced their closure.

Upcoming Events

• Feed the Soul returns February 2-11, with 13 participating Black-owned businesses offering some great specials.
• Save the date for Downtown Dining Week, returning March 20-31.

Local News

• The King of Tarts is temporarily closed due to damage in the other parts of the building.
• Mary Bailey from The Tomato shared her favourite places that opened in 2023, and includes Happy and Olive, Darling, and Little Wolf.
• Edify checked out Die Pie and Caffe Sole.

What I Ate

• Our last Chinatown Dining Week meal was take-out from Spirit Bistro. Those big rice noodles really hit the spot, and make great leftovers. Thanks to everyone who helped us #eatyegchinatown this year!

Big rice noodles with beef from Spirit Bistro

• It’s been a busy month for me work-wise, and this weekend was no different. Our go-to desk lunch has always been El Fogon, and the beef and cheese arepa didn’t disappoint.

Beef and cheese arepa from El Fogon

• I did have the chance to meet up with a friend for brunch at Culina’s pop-up spot in Little Italy (the piazza out front is looking fantastic). There was some great variety of sweet and savoury options (the scallion mashed potatoes were great, and the whipped yogurt was fantastic). Thanks Su for the invitation! Check out Culina’s other pop-up events on EventBrite.

Brunch at Culina (with the most beautiful Corelle plates)

Openings

• New bakery and cafe Scratch Baking is now open at 44 Capital Boulevard downtown.

Closures

• Pei Pei Chei Ow announced that they are closing in two weeks. A small glimmer of hope – in the same post, they do tease “a new chapter”.

Upcoming Events

• Chinatown Dining Week is on until January 28 – there are some great deals to be had for $10 and $20 at 24 different businesses.
• Linda is hosting a Feed the Soul Dining Week Food Tour on January 27, which will preview three participating restaurants. Tickets are $45 each.
• Fu’s Repair Shop is hosting the first Swine and Dine dinner of 2024 on January 31. Chef Winnie Chen’s family-style menu incorporates Alberta Pork through the Chinese provinces. Tickets for the 4-course meal are $68.88 and can be reserved by phone or online, referencing the Swine and Dine menu.
• Winefest Edmonton is coming up next month, February 23-24, 2024 at the Edmonton Convention Centre. Tickets start at $137.02.
• Edmonton Cocktail Week is taking place March 4-10, 2024: its “a homegrown initiative spearheaded by a group of passionate entrepreneurs who believe that this is a great place to make cocktails.” The event includes a bartender competition, $12 feature cocktails at 8 local restaurants, and a distillers’ symposium.
• Edmonton International Beerfest returns March 21-23, 2024 to the Edmonton Convention Centre. Tickets to the event start at $29.75. Also offered this year at the event is Cicerone Certification, recognized as the “premier certification for beer servers, makers, and masters”, and rarely available in-person in Canada.

Local News

• The Edmonton Downtown Farmers’ Market shared that their last likely day of operations in their current location in the GWG Building will be January 28: “It is unable to sustain operations in its existing location. The association board has recommending ceasing operations at the end of January and exploring bankruptcy.” The Board had been exploring options to return to 104 Street but is no longer in a financial position to do so. Some vendors are exploring other options. When the market announced its move in 2019, I had many questions – but what is most clear from the move is just how much potential was never realized, and how much the market gave up with the shift to an indoor location.
• The Journal has the story behind Momma Tong’s new storefront in Old Strathcona.
• Edify had more information about Northern Chicken’s 124 Street closure: it was a combination of inflation, a drop in business, and the CEBA loan repayment.
• Also from Edify, they checked out Tatsu Sushi, and were hosted for a Chinatown Dining Week meal at Spirit Bistro.
• An all-female team is headed for the IKA Culinary Olympics February 2-7 in Germany.

What I Ate

• My parents picked up the first of our Chinatown Dining Week meals last Friday – Padmanadi and Syphay are family favourites.

Take-out from Padmanadi and Syphay

• Mack and I followed up that meal with take-out from Xu Hue. I tried their rare beef salad for the first time last fall – it is so good.

Chinatown Dining Week combos from Xu Hue

• We also celebrated Emily’s birthday early over the weekend. We returned to Cupcake Mama for her delightful treats, also a family favourite.

Emily requested “bright pink” icing, of course