Announcing: Truck Stops in Old Strathcona!

Although Mack and I are stalwart supporters of downtown, we also wanted to spread the food truck festivals to other neighbourhood as well. So we are thrilled to announce a series of Truck Stops (our mini What the Truck?! festivals) that will be taking place in Old Strathcona.

Every Thursday from 5-9 p.m. in May, you’ll be guaranteed great eats at McIntyre Park, where four trucks will be serving up dishes both savoury and sweet.

What: Truck Stop
Where: McIntyre Park, 8303 104 Street
When: May 3, 10, 17, 24, and 31, 2012
Time: 5-9 p.m.

The line up of trucks will change from week to week, but most of the vendors you are familiar with from farmers’ markets, festivals and street side will be represented this month. There will also be a few new trucks who will be debuting at Truck Stop later in the month, including Battista’s Calzones and The Next Act.

On deck this Thursday, May 3: Drift, Eva Sweet, Fat Franks and Molly’s Eats. A menu will be posted on the What the Truck?! website on Wednesday at the latest, so check back for updates.

Thanks to the Old Strathcona Business Association for their support in getting this off the ground!

Hope to see you there!

Check out our What the Truck?! website here, or follow us on Facebook.

Food Notes for April 30, 2012

It’s hard to believe it’s May already – where has the time gone? Mack and I are (finally) ready to share details about the first food truck events we’ve organized for this year – but more details on that in a separate post. On to this week’s food notes:

To celebrate Cinco de Mayo, Tres Carnales is again hosting a party to end all parties on May 5 from 5-11pm. It sounds like it will be a great time.
Indulgence tickets go on sale on May 1. Make sure to get yours if you want to guarantee yourself a spot to one of Edmonton’s best food and wine events.
Vue Weekly featured an article about Three Boars, the new “it” spot in Edmonton.
The Journal wrote about Cally’s Teas, who finally opened their new shop in Old Strathcona. Looking forward to trying out their high tea at some point.
Lonely Planet was in Edmonton shooting some video about interesting places in our city a few months back. Chris has the link to the final product – great that Century Hospitality’s Alley Burger is featured in the video!
There’s a new farmers’ market on the horizon: the 124 Street outdoor market is set to run on Thursday evenings from 5-9pm. Although I support initiatives to make it easier for consumers to shop local, how many markets is too many in Edmonton?
Caving to pressure, the organizers of the City of Edmonton’s Food in the City consultation/conference have reduced the cost…by $55. They have made the reception and lunch fees optional, but isn’t a part of the purpose of the gathering to break bread and network? We’ll see if this means more registrants in the end.
Although Edmonton is at the very start of the backyard chicken debate, it’s great to see that other cities are so far along: in Portland, backyard chickens who were loved as pets aren’t sent to the soup pot, but to the equivalent of a retirement home.
Susur Lee couldn’t make it work in New York, but can David Chang make his mark in Toronto?
Can’t decide between pizza and burgers? Why not have both? Pizza Huts in the Middle East now offer this option – mini burgers or chicken nuggets attached to pizza crusts.
The Five Guys in South Edmonton Common is now open. It looked packed from the outside!

Five Guys

Mack and I finally sampled food from the Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market’s Harvest Cafe on Saturday. We always walked past the busy seating areas gawking at patrons’ meals, so it was nice to finally try a few things ourselves. Mack loved his breakfast sandwich, tasty and satisfying, even without melted cheese ($5.50 with a bagel). But my two egg breakfast ($6.50) didn’t live up to my expectations – the eggs and bacon were fine, but the potatoes were boiled and bland, and the fruit that was listed on the menu amounted to a garnish of three apple and pear slivers. We’ll be sticking to the sandwich in the future.

Breakfast sandwich

Two egg breakfast

Annie, May and I caught up over dinner on the weekend at Shanghai 456. It’s been quite some time since I’ve been there, but this was a good reminder to make sure my next visit isn’t quite so overdue! The xiaolong bao was as delicious as I remembered, and the chive and egg pancake was also quite nice. Best of all, we split six dishes, and only paid $15 a person. Such a great value.

Xiaolong bao (I could have done with a second order of these)

hanghai chive and egg pancake

Rice cake with pork, Chinese spinach and bamboo shoots (a lighter alternative to noodles)

Hot and sour soup (great balance, and not overpowering heat)

Vegetarian Brunch: The Clever Rabbit

As an omnivore, I will admit that dining at vegetarian and vegan restaurants is partly to satisfy my curiosity. This isn’t to say I’m the kind of person that needs to have meat with every meal – it’s quite the opposite actually, as Mack and I have been actively expanding our non-meat repertoire at home. But in many ways, in order for vegetarian and vegan restaurants not to be pigeonholed into a subcategory of “alternative” or “unconventional” choice for the mainstream population that does eat meat, the food just has to be tasty. And I’m always game to see firsthand if that’s the case.

In Edmonton, Padmanadi, Café Mosaics and Noorish are among the most popular vegetarian establishments, and as I have experienced them, I really didn’t miss the meat. I was hoping to have a similar meal at The Clever Rabbit, a vegetarian/vegan eatery that opened in March in the burgeoning High Street area.

Amanda was back in town last week, so she, Felicia and I decided to meet up for brunch at the restaurant on Sunday. When I had called about reservations (and was told they don’t take them), they warned that they are usually fairly busy in the early afternoon hours. When I arrived just before noon, I was a bit relieved to find that there were only two other parties in the dining room.

There were different rabbit-shaped salt and pepper shakers on each table – too cute!

The baking case was tempting, and I considered ordering a doughnut while I waited for my sisters to arrive. But it didn’t make sense to spoil my meal, so I held off. I did order a coffee to sip while waiting, and was a little surprised when it arrived not in a mug, but in a disposable cup. Perhaps many of their patrons ask to take their remaining coffee with them after their meals?

Baking case

Perusing the menu, it is made up of just three breakfast items and six lunch options – for a small establishment, I think it is great for them to focus on doing a few dishes well. I decided to order the vegan egg and tofu biscuits ($9), while my sisters opted for lunch plates, which each came with a side. Felicia chose the Seitan vegan donair ($12) while Amanda selected the walnut chickpea burger($12).

Service was good – besides an initial blip when our server disappeared when we were ready to order, she was by a few times to refill our coffee and check in on us. Our food also arrived in a reasonable amount of time.

It was easy to see that the kitchen did their best to garnish my mostly empty plate, but the focus was on the biscuit sandwiches. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy them. The vegan egg was the best part, fried up crispy on the outside, but soft and loose on the inside, but its accompaniments overshadowed it. The tofu was hard and chewy, and paired with the dry biscuits, made me long for some sort of sauce or soy cheese to add flavour and moisture.

Vegan egg and tofu biscuits

Amanda also thought her burger could have used some sort of ketchup or other liquid garnish, though as a whole, she enjoyed her dish. She especially liked the fresh salsa side, which really was large enough to share.

Walnut chickpea burger

This was Felicia’s first encounter with Seitan, also known as wheat gluten, a simulated meat product. She wasn’t a fan of the taste of the Seitan, though I didn’t mind it as much (it tasted somewhat like tofu to me). Her side of green salad was also quite generous, and was rife with avocado, tomato and dried cranberries.

Seitan vegan donair

Based on our meal, I’m not sure I’d be rushing back to The Clever Rabbit for breakfast, but I’d be willing to come back to give their lunch menu a try.

The Clever Rabbit
10722 124 Street
(780) 455-4550
Tuesday-Sunday 9am-4:30pm, closed Mondays

Eat Alberta 2012

The vision of Eat Alberta is simple: to create interactive opportunities for people to learn how to source and prepare local food directly from the experts in our community – producers, chefs and local food advocates. We were also hoping that participants would connect with one another and perhaps foster relationships that would extend beyond one isolated event. Because after all, there are only so many farmers’ markets to visit and shops and restaurants to patronize that showcase local food in Edmonton!

I had great intentions to write a post to sum up our inaugural Eat Alberta conference last year, but it fell by the wayside. I regret it now, because it would be nice to have a reference point, since our second Eat Alberta was so different in many ways.

On April 14, 2012, we welcomed over one hundred attendees and eighteen presenters at NAIT. In comparison to Eat Alberta 2011, we had nearly doubled the number of participants and sessions offered, so our classroom footprint had to grow accordingly as well. Although there were many positive attributes about our previous base venue of Enterprise Square, it did not contain kitchen facilities, and for a hands-on cooking conference such as ours, it became clear that they were a necessity. So we were thrilled when NAIT agreed to allow us to book their kitchens and adjacent classrooms as a venue, as this was the first time they have opened their doors to an external group.

The sandwich spread from NAIT

Lunch also included this wonderful stout cake

The NAIT staff did a wonderful job in taking care of many tasks –from setting up meals to dishwashing – that had fallen to the organizing committee and volunteers last year. Of course, that did mean the cost of putting on the conference increased (and as a result, heightened the attendee fee), but from an organizer’s perspective, it allowed us the time and space to manage other things, and for a few of us, even the opportunity to take in a few sessions!

Mack learning how to make spring rolls from Elaine Wilson (a lot of the photos I’ve used in this post were taken by Maki, our volunteer photographer – she did a great job!)

The keynote from Danny and Shannon of Nature’s Green Acres was a great way to start the day. They shared their farm story – how labour intensive their methods are, how their children are involved in the day-to-day chores. I think it set the tone for the conference – one of humble appreciation for producers like the Ruzickas and the hard work involved in bringing consumers a quality product!

Danny and Shannon Ruzicka

Afterwards, I did a quick walk-through of a few of the hands-on sessions in the kitchens, and it looked like people were having a blast.

Cheesemaking with Alan Roote

Knife skills with Kevin Kent

Pasta making with Kathryn Joel

Much of this can be attributed to the stellar presenters that volunteered and took it upon themselves to plan practical and insightful workshops, and were able to impart both their knowledge and their passion in the limited time available. I think there was a lot more tweeting going on this year than last, so it was neat to see some of the real time comments of participants – talk about immediate feedback!

Owen Petersen’s class making sourdough babies

I was also able to sit in on two sessions that day. The first was with Martin Osis of the Alberta Mycological Society who addressed the topic of Foraging for Mushrooms. I’ve heard Martin speak before, and he certainly hasn’t lost his sense of humour about fungi. There was no doubt attendees were engaged, and had Martin not warned the crowd numerous times about the exceptions to the edible mushroom rules, I’m sure people would have wanted to start foraging for mushrooms right outside the walls of NAIT.

Martin Osis

In the afternoon, I joined Chef Blair Lebsack’s session on how to prepare bison. Blair was among three NAIT Culinary Arts instructors we were fortunate to have, as they are the mentors behind the next generation of the city’s culinary talent.

Blair Lebsack

Blair didn’t show us just one, but three ways of cooking bison so we could taste the difference between different cuts and preparation methods. He started with a roast from First Nature’s Farms, seasoned it, then placed in a hot oven (it reminded me that I need to get myself a probe thermometer!). Blair then pointed to a brisket he had started earlier that day, having cooked it low and slow for several hours. It was fork tender, surrounded by the aromatic bath it had been prepared in.

Lastly, Blair divided up a striploin into individual steaks so participants would be able to cook it up on their own to their liking. Many chose to pan-fry their steaks, but I went with the grill, mostly because the barbecue isn’t something I get to play with all that often!

Seasoning up my steak

The plenary panel was something we had great fun designing. “How to survive a zombie apocalypse” was an off-beat way of asking some really important questions about how one would be able to fend for themselves in our Prairie context. I think Allan did a great job moderating the panel, though I know we had some minor clarity issues for those seated at the back.

Zombie apocalypse panel

Valerie and Allan deserve all of the credit for the tasting boards served at the wine down. They were a sight to behold, all lined up in Ernest’s, and yes, they were as lovingly prepared as they appeared to have been. My favourite taste was similar to my favourite last year – the Cheesiry’s pecorino with a drizzle of Lola Canola honey.

Valerie preparing the boards

Maki’s beautiful shot of a tasting board

In all, I think it was a really successful event. We achieved what we set out to do, and hope everyone thought it was a worthwhile day as well (you can check out what others said here). That said, we know there is always room for improvement, and for the future, there will be some minor adjustments (for example, ensuring that all attendees have the opportunity to participate in at least one hands-on course). And if you have any other suggestions, please get in touch with us – we’re all ears!

In reflecting back on the day, I feel indebted to so many people. Thanks to everyone who attended, and took a chance on our event. I want to thank the tireless volunteers – the event truly could not have taken place without your energy and hard work. Thanks also to the Italian Centre, Mighty Trio Organics and Gold Forest Grains for sponsoring us – it means a lot that small local businesses believed in our vision as well. Last but not least – so much of the feeling I am left with now is an intense respect for my fellow committee members – it was such a pleasure to work with you, Allan, Mack, Ming, Nicole, Su and Valerie. Here’s to Eat Alberta 2013!

http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=109615

If you’re interested in finding out more about future Eat Alberta events, make sure you sign up for our mailing list.

Food Notes for April 23, 2012

It’s a sure sign of spring: farmers’ markets are moving outdoors! Salisbury is the first – join them for their “moving outdoors” celebration on April 26, 2012.
Cathy posted that Cally’s Teas is finally(!) open.
Marlow Moo wrote about Creole Envie, a catering company that also offers a weekly take-out special. Since good fried chicken is hard to come by, it sounds like they’re worth seeking out!
I spied Liane tweeting about My Empanadas last week. Looks like another great take-out option in Edmonton.
Marianne put up a review of Three Boars. I look forward to venturing down to try it myself soon!
It was great to hear that Leduc has chosen patios over parking. When will Edmonton do the same?
Make sure you vote for Homesteader Elementary School – they are one of ten finalists (and the only one from Alberta), who are in the running for $20,000 to construct an outdoor garden. You can vote until May 11, 2012.
Tourism Richmond has picked their twelve finalists for their Richmond 365 blogging project. Vote for your favourite – the top vote-getter will receive a bye to the finals, alongside two chosen by Tourism Richmond. It’s great to see finalists from as far away as Brooklyn, San Diego and London, England!
Perhaps set dinners will be the new way to date: New York’s Eater is a part of a dining series that offers singles a prix fixe dinner and the chance to mingle.
After visiting Blush Lane, I was hoping that Pangaea, the new organic food store located in Icon II on 104 Street, would carry similar products and variety. With only a small number of products on the shelves so far, it’s hard to judge what the store will be like when fully stocked (they plan to be ready by their June grand opening date). But for the moment, it seems like they are more similar to Planet Organic than Blush Lane, in its focus on organic certification instead of local sources.

Pangaea

I had a mid-week craving for poutine and burek, but wasn’t able to satisfy those cravings until the weekend. We headed to the Cheese Factory on Friday, and split small orders of ground beef and regular poutine, as well as beef and spinach and cheese burek. Delicious.

Poutine

Burek

Explore the North Edge: Around the World in 80 Bites

I’ve written in the past about how I’ve come to appreciate my daytime neighbourhood of Central McDougall. While those who don’t frequent it often may be a little afraid to venture through the area, as someone who spends quite a bit of time exploring its streets, I’d like to say it’s worth getting to know.

Central McDougall and the adjacent Queen Mary Park are one of the City’s four revitalization projects. As expected, progress is slow, but will hopefully pick up in the next few years given the pending arena project just to the south of Central McDougall. In the meantime, what will also help is more foot traffic through the neighbourhood – and really, what better way to do this than to highlight some of the great, inexpensive eats to be found in the area?

Food crawls have been picking up steam in Edmonton, with Dishcrawl having organized two successful outings so far this year. I would hope they start targeting less “mainstream” neighbourhoods in the future, but in some ways, perhaps their fees would prohibit some restaurants from participating anyway (Dishcrawl restaurants reportedly only receive $4 of $10 charged per diner).

For that reason, I like what the North Edge Business Association (NEBA) has done. Representing businesses in both Central McDougall and Queen Mary Park, they’ve taken it upon themselves to organize a food crawl to showcase several restaurants. NEBA Executive Director Amy Wilson recognizes that one of the neighbourhood’s strengths is its diverse food offerings, from Filipino and Chinese to Somali and Eritrean just in a three block radius.

Pho with brisket from Mama Pizza and Pho Huong (I don’t know if this is what will be served, but I can say that this was delicious!)

So on May 16, 2012, join Amy for a tour “Around the World in 80 Bites” – to start, diners will sample Vietnamese cuisine at Mama Pizza and Pho Huong, Somali delights at African Somali, and end with Filipino specialties at Fat Jakks. Beyond food, it will be an introduction to three vastly different cultures, and at $30 a ticket (not including drinks and gratuity), one laden with value.

Beef suqar from African Somali (again, I’m not sure if this is on the menu, but between the stew and the Somali rice, it was a tasty plate)

Amy acknowledged that the restaurants are struggling enough, so has made sure that each business will be given a full $10 to cover the per person cost of food. NEBA will be picking up any other expenses associated with the event – a model that if successful, should be looked at by other neighbourhoods looking to increase their profile in the food community. Amy has already mentioned that if this is well-received, she will be looking to organize more crawls.

Filipino buffet at Fat Jakks

I’m a little remorseful that I will be out of town that week, otherwise, I’d have picked up my ticket already! But act fast – there are only 30 tickets available. I hope to catch the next one!

Find out more information about Around the World in 80 Bites here.

Toronto Redux: Unique Eats

Having grown up in Edmonton, and having endured years of reading and hearing about how Canada’s largest city is the centre of the universe, I realize I should despise Toronto. But after my sister moved there, and now having spent some time with her there, it’s hard not to admire and respect Toronto, especially for their vibrant and dynamic food scene only possible in a large municipality.

In March, Amanda and I were able to take in and explore some unique food events and places – things I’ve definitely never seen in Edmonton.

Come and Get It

Pop-up restaurants, mostly in the form of kitchen takeovers and guest chefs, have been all the rage over the past six months in Edmonton. But what we’ve never seen is a truly temporary establishment, as Toronto’s Come and Get It exemplifies.

Come and Get It

Set up on the ground floor of a soon-to-be-demolished building on Spadina, entrepreneurs took advantage of the low rent afforded by an indefinite lease and installed a restaurant inside the vacant storefront. Although a condo building is slated for construction soon, no firm dates have been established, so until then, Come and Get It will be in operation.

Interior

The space is clean, if raw, but befits the concept perfectly (including the . Accents are provided by splashes of colour on the walls and kitschy, retro décor, including a neon Mac monitor, Nike shoes, and plastic Barbie lunchboxes. Our favourite item had to be the N64 (on which I pwned Amanda in a brief post-dinner showdown).

Archie comics!

Come and Get It has an ingenious menu that doesn’t overwhelm a small, makeshift kitchen. The same base combination of ingredients can be requested in either a salad, sandwich or poutine form, easily multiplying the total number of dishes offered by the restaurant. Amanda and I were disappointed to find out that they were already sold out of the Granny Smith’s chicken caesar stream of creations, so she ended up ordering a Hawaiian pork belly sandwich while I chose the chipotle beef shortrib ($8 each). We decided to share a Hawaiian pork belly poutine ($7).

Even though the food seemed like it was ideal for take-out, the majority of customers were of the eat-in variety, as we were. The wait for food wasn’t long and arrived in paper boxes. Amanda’s first impression of her sandwich was that it was quite oily, but she liked the hoisin-glazed pork and the springy bread. The short rib in my sandwich was very fatty, to the point where I couldn’t really taste the accompaniments, which included chipotle aioli, ancho chili barbeque sauce, crispy onions and sweet and sour coleslaw.

Hawaiian pork belly sandwich

Chipotle beef short rib

The poutine was enjoyable – the fries were crispy and topped with a slightly sweet beef gravy and crispy cracklins. We would have preferred that the pork belly had been chopped up so we could easily pick up bits of pork with fries and cheese curds, but that was a minor quibble.

Pork belly poutine

The menu at Come and Get It will change often – but since it is a limited engagement, I’m sure that’s enough incentive for folks to return often. It was a neat to finally be able to visit a true pop-up establishment!

Toronto Underground Market

When my sister found out when I would be in Toronto, she jumped at the opportunity to take me to one of the city’s trendiest food events. The Toronto Underground Market is fashioned after similar events that have happened in other large cities including New York. They allow upstart small businesses and passionate home chefs to share their specialities with the public. Tickets sold out almost immediately, but Amanda was able to score a pair from someone on Facebook who didn’t need the number of tickets she bought.

We took the subway to Broadview in order to catch a shuttle bus to Evergreen Brickworks, where the Underground Market would take place. Like our experience with the Fail FunBus last year to reach the Night Market, it seems to me that Toronto always underestimates the number of people who choose public transportation – again, the small bus could not accommodate everyone who was in line (those who choose public transportation shouldn’t be punished, even if inadvertently so). Thankfully, we were near the front of the line, but felt bad for those left behind.

Evergreen Brickworks

Evergreen Brickworks is a not-for-profit space built on the bones of a former brickyard. Although parts of the buildings have been renovated to house a cafe, shop and teaching centre, the majority of the space is beautifully raw and industrial. Between the brick and high ceilings, it was a blank canvas that would be suitable for many different kinds of functions.

Shop

Covered ice rink!

That said, the Underground Market was set up in a covered, but not enclosed, part of the building. As a result, the frigid air seeped into the space, and even though the thermometer read –4, it felt closer to –20, especially after nightfall. But crowds were far from deterred – the space was packed, and proved to me that Torontonians are a hardy bunch! They wouldn’t let a cold night dampen their hunger.

Inside Evergreen Brickworks

Heat lamps helped, but only if you stood right beside them

Some vendors also had great fun in spite of the cold – these vendors would randomly cheer every few minutes, perhaps to keep themselves warm

It seemed to us that most vendors used the event as a platform to connect with foodies searching for the “next big thing”, and perhaps a launching pad towards a brick and mortar storefront. One obvious example was the taqueria that was physically separated from all of the other vendors out of necessity – their line was at least a hundred people deep half an hour into the event.

The line for La Carnita

Amanda and I weren’t very strategic in our choices, and in most cases, just chose vendors with the shortest lines. Some of our spontaneity paid off, while others did not. One vendor that did work out was Babi & Co. Their congee ($3) could have done with more of their delicious sweet soy reduction, but the egg and pork belly also added some needed texture to the soupy rice base. Their pork satays ($5) were freshly off the coals, but even better, the meat was tender and flavourful. The pickled cucumbers were a nice touch as well.

Congee

Pork satays

The Popover Girl had a neat concept – essentially a sandwich made using a popover in place of bread. But it probably wasn’t ideal for such a chilly night because the popovers really should have been enjoyed warm. My savoury popover was the better of the two, with hot chilli on the inside, but Amanda’s, filled with a Nutella mixture, ended up more like a very dry ice cream sandwich.

Savoury chilli popover

Amanda’s happy she scored a chocolate popover!

Our plunge into the crazy lines was at Comida del Pueblo. Amanda really wanted the jalapeno cornbread sandwich ($5), but even she didn’t think any food item would be worth a forty-five minute wait. Still, we couldn’t leave the line once we committed, so we shivered along until we reached the front. By that point, many vendors had already run out of food, so the crowds as a whole had started to thin.

No surprise, the sandwich didn’t live up to the mammoth expectations. The bread had a good crumb, but the cheese wasn’t melted. I also ordered an Ontario water buffalo empanada ($4) for good measure. It was steaming hot and was filled with a good amount of meat. The pastry was also enjoyably flaky.

Jalapeno cornbread sandwich

Water buffalo empanada

As a whole, it was a great experience, and neat to see so many people embracing small-scale vendors. I wondered if something like this would work in Edmonton, but in many ways, our farmers’ markets serve as the incubators in our city.

Longos

Longos is the largest independent grocery store chain in Toronto, but I didn’t get a chance to visit their store until this trip. Our hotel location meant we were about ten minutes away from the Longos located in the basement of Maple Leaf Square, so we were able to pick up some ready-to-eat items for a quick breakfast.

I didn’t do an extensive inventory of the store’s items, but they did carry treats by local favourite Dufflet in their freezer case.

Dufflet products

I was also impressed by how inexpensive some fresh bakery items were, that would be considered “specialty” items in Edmonton, and aren’t readily available at mainstream grocery stores.

Chapatti

Korean wheat pops (they tasted like lighter rice cakes)

My last post about Toronto will be about all of the restaurants we had a chance to try, including a few more Oliver & Bonacini outlets that we couldn’t stay away from!

Food Notes for April 16, 2012

It was a bit of an exhausting weekend, but it was worth it! Our second annual Eat Alberta food conference took place at NAIT on Saturday, and I think the event was a success! I will write more about it this week. On to this week’s food notes:

West Edmonton Mall’s annual Taste of Bourbon Street takes place from 4-9pm on April 17. Mack and I attended the event last year.
Mack and I are looking forward to letting loose at the Shaw Conference Centre’s Hot Chefs, Cool bEATS event on April 21. It should be a great time! Here’s Chef Paul Shufelt’s take on the event.
Three Boars is now open! We’ve heard nothing but good things so far – it sounds like both a welcome addition to the neighbourhood and to Edmonton as a whole!
Edmonton will have another new food truck on the streets this summer – watch for Bombin’ Berts coming soon! They will be launching their truck at the Pride Parade festivities on June 9, 2012.
Liane wrote about the revamp of the Citadel’s restaurant space, courtesy of the folks behind Normand’s and Glenora Grill. It sounds like they hope that breakfast will be their ticket to breaking the curse – let’s hope it works. It’s a shame when such a prime location is underused.
Vue Weekly had a great feature on Food Dish Wishes and The Clever Rabbit – I had no idea the two were opened by entrepreneurial sisters.
The Journal also had an article about some of the frustrating red tape restaurants and cafes have to go through in order to set up patios outside of their storefronts.
There has been quite a bit of backlash against the City’s announcement of their Food in the City conference – is it a learning opportunity or a public consultation? If it’s the former, could they have picked a more cost-conscious venue? (for a quick comparison, the 2.5 day Food Today, Tomorrow conference I attended three years ago was $160). And if it’s the latter, is $175 considered a reasonable fee to be charging citizens to contribute their opinions? Worst of all is the scheduling – most of the producers who we should be consulting will be unable to attend because it is a market day. You can let the City know your thoughts about this here.

The Cooking Chronicles: Ham and Cheese Waffles

Every so often I come across a dish that grabs me, and regardless of the calorie count, I have to have it. This happened with poutine sandwiches, and again last week with another indulgent dinner.

One of the housewarming gifts we received when we moved into our condo two years ago was a waffle maker. Due to a lack of pantry and cupboard space (and our preference for pancakes instead of waffles), the appliance languished in storage, unopened.

But when I saw this Bon Appetit recipe for ham and cheese waffles, I knew I’d be reaching for the dusty waffle maker. A savoury waffle, studded with bits of crusty ham and melted cheese? Sign me up.

The batter was easy enough to pull together, though it did require the separation of egg whites from yolks to ensure the waffles were light and fluffy. There was also A LOT of butter (an entire cup of it!), but this wasn’t the time to pull back. Cheese and ham were sprinkled on top, once the batter had been transferred into the hot iron. We found that we could have easily tripled the amount of cheese specified in the recipe, as we didn’t get the desired melt-y factor we were looking for.

Inspired by Under the High Wheel, we chose to eat these dinner waffles with poached Sunshine Organic eggs on top, the rich yolks acting as the “syrup”. Yum.

Ham and cheese waffles with poached eggs

As we had two waffles left the next day, we enjoyed them for breakfast (heated up in the waffle iron), served with warmed maple syrup. They weren’t bad with this touch of sweetness, but I think I preferred the savoury version.

With maple syrup

If you’re looking for a breakfast-for-dinner idea, I’d highly recommend these waffles. I know we’ll be dusting off our waffle maker again some time soon.

An Innovative Food and Drink Event: Hot Chefs, Cool bEATS

There’s no doubt that the appetite for food and wine events in Edmonton has been growing. In many ways, this is great for consumers who have much more to choose from, though with every passing year, distinguishing one from another has become more challenging. Every so often, however, a unique concept is introduced, and a second look is required. I think the Shaw Conference Centre’s upcoming fundraiser, Hot Chefs, Cool bEATS, is one such event.

What: Hot Chefs, Cool bEATS
When: Saturday, April 21, 2012
Time: 6:30-10pm
Where: Shaw Conference Centre
Cost: $150 (all inclusive)

Mack and I had the opportunity to sit down with Vinomania’s Gurvinder Bhatia recently to talk about the event. He and Shaw Executive Chef Simon Smotkowicz are co-chairing Hot Chefs, where funds raised will support Culinary Team Canada’s quest for gold at the Culinary Olympics in Germany this fall, as well as their High School Culinary Challenge program that supports young talent with apprenticeship opportunities and scholarships for formal training. Their driving vision behind creating Hot Chefs was actually wanting to break the mould of a typical wine-and-dinner event – how far outside of the box could they go?

As it turns out, by leaps and bounds. To start, instead of a traditional cocktail reception, guests will encounter a street festival in the foyer of Hall D. All of the food was inspired by dishes that could be found in street hawker stalls from around the world: The menu includes (all food and drink samples are included in the ticket price):

pork belly on rice from Filistix
jerk chicken with pineapple and lime slaw from Drift
barbeque duck on arepa with fermented slaw from Transcend
laksa noodles with tofu from Wild Tangerine
beef tartar from Bistecca
brisket sliders and duck fat poutine from Culinary Team Canada
tequila, Mexican beer, wine, St. Germain cocktails

The main event will move inside Hall D, which will be transformed into a culinary tourist’s dream. Gurvinder described a space where guests will not only be able to sample different types of cuisine and liquors, but will be immersed in the sights, sounds and experiences those regions have to offer:

In “Little India”, Guru will be offering Kathi rolls alongside Indian beer, and Mendhi artists will be on hand for henna art
In the “Brasserie”, Culinary Team Canada will cook up mussels and fries, croque monsieurs, and offer a selection of cheese to accompany French wines and Alley Kat beers, with French Canadian band Allez Ouest setting the tone
In “Granville Island”, Culinary Team Canada will be serving oysters two ways (on the half shell and as fried oyster sliders), salmon tacos and fish and chips to be paired with Granville Island beers
In “Little Japan”, guests will be able to try sake and roll their own sushi with Culinary Team Canada chefs, with Japanese drummers Kita-no-taiko providing entertainment

Elm Cafe, Duchess and Transcend will also be on hand sampling appetizers, macarons and coffee, respectively, and guests can also look forward to an Iron Chef-style competition featuring Culinary Team Canada chefs.

The only sit-down portion of the evening comes at the end, with a plated dessert prepared by Culinary Team Canada’s pastry chef.

In many ways, its disappointing that the vision of Hot Chefs isn’t better articulated on either the poster or the webpage. Given the number of local restaurants involved, and the street festival and culinary tour concept, I think this event is one that food lovers cannot miss – Mack and I picked up our tickets this weekend. Hope to see you there!

Find out more about Hot Chefs, Cool bEATS on their website and on Facebook.

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