Food Notes for September 7, 2009

The Old Strathcona Foundation is hosting a Taste of Old Strathcona fundraiser this Friday, September 11. Along with samples from Hudson’s, Flirt Cupcakes and New Asian Village, expect entertainment and a silent auction.
The Marketplace at Callingwood is hosting its 11th annual CornFest on Saturday, September 12, in support of the Firefighters Burn Treatment Society.
Liane posted about two upcoming points of interest for the city’s culinary scene – starting September 25, the Hardware Grill is joining the fray of competitively-priced dishes with a $35 “grazing menu” featuring appetizers and desserts. Offered only from 5-6:30pm, its intention to appeal to those spending less freely and for those requiring a pre-show meal is very similar to the Blue Pear’s “Baby Blue Pear” menu.
Secondly, Liane notes that David Cruz (formerly of Sage) will be opening up a restaurant on Jasper Avenue, hopefully by December. I love when new establishments decide to open up in the core.
While I would have loved to be present at the filming of the Edmonton episode of The Endless Feast, I was happy to see a photo-filled account of the dinner on Colleen Ingoldsby’s blog.
The Journal filed the second mainstream media review about Indian Fusion, also with a passable verdict.
I had the opportunity to interview Sabor Divino’s Lino Oliveira for a piece in Vue Weekly this week. I find it interesting when chefs aren’t formally schooled in the culinary arts.
Also in Vue – an article worth reading about the new Alberta Sustainable Agriculture Apprenticeship Program (ASAAP) that seeks to connect young people with apprenticeship opportunities on local farms.
I appreciated Cheryl’s candid post about her first year with a CSA – her point about having to love salads would make or break my own experience, if I were to ever join one.
See Magazine had an article this week about the “cupcake war” on Whyte.
On a related cupcake note – Slate had a well-written piece about the potential crash of the cupcake market.
Mack and I have been spending most of our Saturday mornings this summer at the City Centre Farmers’ Market, and absolutely loving it. And more than other years, we’ve been making it a point to try out different vendors. This week, we were early enough to have the chance to pick up a bag of Montreal-style bagels. At 6 for $6, they’re not for the cash-strapped shopper, but for handmade bagels, they have a great texture, with the right amount of chew and varnish. The sourdough taste of the bread was something I wasn’t expecting, but it wasn’t overly strong. Starting October 22, the vendor will be at the Salisbury Greenhouse market.

A plain Montreal-style bagel

Weekend Road Trip 2009: Family Edition

During the long weekend in August my family (plus Mack) did something we haven’t done in a long time – take a road trip together. The destination wasn’t far – just Drumheller and Calgary – but while neither the time spent or the drive down was particularly long, it was such a throwback to summer vacations in the past that it didn’t matter.

Drumheller’s a sightseeing haven

Our first stop in Drumheller was lunch. I looked in vain prior to the trip for some independent dining recommendations in a chain-saturated town, but couldn’t find much. I decided upon The Whistling Kettle, mostly due to its quaint exterior, but when we arrived, we found it closed due to a death in the family. We walked back towards main street and after surveying very limited options (for whatever reason most of the restaurants were closed on Saturdays), decided upon Gus’ Corner Restaurant. The food really isn’t worth mentioning; everything was coaxed back from frozen hibernation.

After lunch, we walked over to the tacky-but-clever World’s Largest Dinosaur attraction. Tacky because really, it’s just a large covered metal staircase, but clever because tourists seem to flock to it (it has even won a national award). Priced at $3 per person or $11 for a family of five, it’s a “why not?” type of expense, and yes, our family succumbed to it too.

World’s Largest Dinosaur

Felicia at the foot of the World’s Largest Dinosaur

Mack and I in the mouth of the dinosaur

By this time, we were crying for air conditioning (I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it cloudy or rainy in Drumheller – in my mind, it’s a toasty 35 degrees year round). The Royal Tyrrell Museum was thus the next logical step, and would hopefully bridge us through the warmest part of the afternoon.

Cute prairie dog outside the Museum

The parking lot was absolutely packed, with overflow parking similarly jammed. We had passed by several RV lots full of vehicles, and it seemed that the staycation mentality was in full effect.

I haven’t been to the Tyrrell since high school (hurrah for school field trips!), but short of the small exhibits about Darwin and some of the pioneer archaeologists who helped develop the museum into what it is today, the Tyrrell seemed largely unchanged. I suppose it was a bit disappointing, largely because we had visited the incomparable Smithsonian earlier this year. I know funding must be difficult to come by, but I do hope the Tyrrell is able to build additional galleries that would provide the option of rotating exhibitions – having reached a milestone in visitors this year, I do hope they can continue to attract a record number of tourists.

My parents at the Tyrrell Museum

T-Rex

Stegosaurus was my favourite dinosaur as a kid

Eerie Woolly Mammoth display

The freakiest looking salamanders (called axolotl)

It was still blazingly hot outside after our museum visit, but we had no choice and headed to the next attraction – hoodoos!

My sisters at the hoodoos

There were two tourism employees placed around the hoodoos to prevent visitors from breaching out-of-bounds areas – on smouldering days like that, I can’t imagine being in the sun for eight hours straight.

Mack on top of the world!

Hoodoos of a different sort (such a cheesy picture, but I love it)

We had some more time to kill before needing to head to Calgary, so decided to stop at the nearby Rosedale Suspension Bridge. Nothing particularly special, the swaying structure was enough to keep my mum on the side of the parking lot while the rest of us crossed to see what was across the river. It turns out, nothing much.

Rosedale Suspension Bridge

Amanda and Felicia on the bridge

The next day in Calgary, we didn’t do much except eat and shop. And, well, visit the Calgary Farmers’ Market.

Too cute watering cans

Mack knows well enough by now that I can’t leave a farmers’ market empty-handed, so goaded me into buying a few things lest he have to hear about the missed opportunity to try a different local vendor. As we were away for the weekend, it also meant we had missed our usual Saturday trip to the City Centre Farmers’ Market, so we needed some produce to tide us over anyway. We didn’t have much cooler space left, so opted for heartier broccoli and cauliflower from Beck Farms that would easily last the ride home, and a 950g(!) loaf of multigrain bread from Rustic Sourdough Bakery.

Weighing out our bread options

I’m not sure when our whole family will be able to take another road trip again, but it was fun to get away together this year!

You can see Mack’s photoset of our trip here.

The Cooking Chronicles: Spicy Tofu and Pork

Instead of The Cooking Chronicles I feel like I should create a sub-category containing all of my tofu-related experiments titled “The Tofu Trials”. At any rate, a Company’s Coming Cooking at Home spicy pork and tofu recipe was my third attempt to gradually introduce tofu into our diet, a slow road to my eventual hope of edging Mack’s tolerance for tofu into a fondness.

Armed with Ying Fat tofu and Four Whistle Farms ground pork, I set to make the quick stir-fry dish. I thought the half pound of pork would be overwhelmed by all of the tofu, but the proportion was just right, really highlighting how economical the dish is to make, so long as the cook’s pantry is stocked.

The result? A textured dish full of subtle heat with just the right amount of sweetness for balance. I would double the sauce mixture next time, however, as there was only enough to coat the ingredients in the pan, and not enough to drizzle on our accompanying rice. And while Mack would have preferred more meat, this was his favourite of the three tofu dishes we’ve tried thus far.

Spicy Tofu and Pork

It’s All About the Whimsy: Delux Burger Bar

Delux Burger Bar is a prime example of the type of restaurant doing gangbusters right now – a perfectly executed “upscale casual” eatery that pairs a chic interior with a laid-back atmosphere. Why Delux wins my vote as one of the best in that ubiquitous class, however, has to do with their whimsical extras that go beyond smartly-attired wait staff, unidentifiable pulsating music and accessible dishes. Is Delux manufactured exactly to push the buttons of diners who have a secret penchant for kitsch? Of course, but the bottom line is, it works, or at least it does for me.

Mack and I had dinner there recently before a function at Jeffrey’s Cafe & Wine Bar (a nice place off the beaten path with an interesting selection of wine). We opted for an air-conditioned seat inside, sharing the space with those unwinding with a drink after work, a few families, and several groups of friends gathered for supper.

The menu, the requisite mix of share plates, burgers and other proteins encased in buns, offers nothing extraordinary, but enough variety to please all eaters. I went with the day’s special, called Out of the Wild, a bison burger topped with bacon, mushroom, lettuce and tomato basil havarti ($12). Mack decided to satisfy his hot dog craving with the Delux Dog ($8) with caramelized onions, double-smoked bacon and cheddar. We topped off our order with a Delux Duo of French and sweet potato fries ($6).

Our food arrived surprisingly quickly, though for a place that serves a fairly straightforward menu that was expected. What I didn’t expect was a truly messy burger to eat – it probably should have come with a bib of some sort. The Portobello mushrooms caused most of the grievance, unleashing their moisture content with no mercy. And while they lent some interesting texture to an otherwise standard burger, I found them a bit too meaty as a topping. Thankfully the rest of the burger – including a notably moist patty and a fresh bun – made the mess worthwhile.

Out of the Wild Burger

Mack enjoyed his hot dog (perhaps more so, because it was the more dainty of the two entrees), though he did relay that the idea of a bacon-topped hot dog wasn’t quite as well realized as he had hoped for.

Delux Dog

The fries were really what we had been looking forward to, served a la “carts”. I had seen the mini shopping carts in a gift store in Germany years ago, and have been kicking myself for not picking up a few then – the serving vehicle gets me every time. As for the fries themselves, I loved the sweet potato crisps, especially paired with the tangy dipping mayo.

Delux Duo (a la cart!)

The complimentary meal-ending cotton candy is another fanciful touch that scores points with me, even if we never manage to finish the dome. A sticky throwback to childhood beats peppermint sweets every time.

Cotton Candy finish

Century Hospitality’s Chris Lachance indicated in May that a second Delux is in the works for November. I haven’t heard anything about it since then, but don’t be surprised if another Burger Bar pops up in the city. With their formulaic flair for whimsy, I have no doubt a second Delux would be also be a smashing success.

Delux Burger Bar
9682 142 Street
(780) 420-0101

Food Notes for August 31, 2009

Mack and I signed up for the AIDS Walk for Life this weekend – we had a blast last year, and think it’s a great cause to support. It’s taking place on September 20, beginning at Churchill Square. If you would consider sponsoring either Mack or myself, that would be awesome! On to this week’s food notes:

Has the downturn affected consumer spending in the food industry? Maybe, but data from Stats Can indicates it might be less than expected – sales in June of this year were down 1.2% from one year ago. Chances are – people are opting for cheaper meals, but not eating out any less.
Kelly posted about Urban China, a new Asian eatery which is set to open in the space formerly occupied by Rosie’s on 101 Street.
Vue Weekly reviewed the new-ish Indian Fusion restaurant this past week, granting it a mostly positive write-up.
Jon in Calgary wrote about his recent visit to a hybrid Tim Horton’s and Cold Stone Creamery – looks like it would be worth a try!
September’s edition of Avenue Magazine has a good article about the craft brewing business in Alberta.
It’s that time again – the Prairie Regional Barista Championships are just around the corner, taking place in Calgary on September 12. Transcend Coffee posted several links where you can follow their baristas in competition (we picked up a bag of their Sin Limites coffee from Costa Rica this weekend, which we were told Chad will be bringing to the competition – it’s great).
Starting September 29, VIA, Starbucks’ venture into instant coffee, will be available in all Starbucks locations in U.S. and Canada. I can’t say I’ve ever been a fan of instant java, but I’ve heard good things about VIA.
The NYT wrote about “haycations” last week – where instead of a typical vacation involving a hotel, travellers are paying for the privilege to see what life on the farm is really like, complete with chores.
I think I’m in a bit of Frank Bruni overload (I just got my copy of his memoir, Born Round), but I did like this exit interview he did with a crew from Eater.
The Italian Centre in Little Italy has joined Wild Earth Foods as the second store in the city subscribing to the Eat Local First labelling system.

Eat Local First labels denote Bles Wold‘s “local” status

Hellmann’s Eat Real, Eat Local Campaign

I have been meaning to write about Hellmann’s Eat Real, Eat Local campaign for quite some time, but didn’t get to it until now. It’s old news now – a multinational launched a campaign this spring in an attempt to brand their mayonnaise as a local product, with the crux of the advertising directing consumers to their Eat Real, Eat Local website. The site did reach a milestone in August, reaching 100,000 “actions” for real food, which means Hellmann’s will donate $25,000 to Evergreen, a national organization that supports community food resources.

The Eat Real, Eat Local website has many noble facets: encouraging discussion surrounding what Canadians eat (particularly around imported products); offering concrete modes of action (e.g. pledging to take action, signing a petition to get grocers to offer more local products); and providing resources for how concerned citizens can redirect their spending habits and make more conscious choices. At the end of the day, the fact that a multinational with money is choosing to raise awareness about this important issue is good news for local organizations who are often running campaigns by the seat of their pants (I remember Jessie Radies explaining to me that the Eat Local First promotion is essentially done out of the back of her car).

That said, the website’s national scope fails to really capture the “local” movements at the root. Nothing says local better than those who live and thrive in the community – in Edmonton’s case, organizations like Slow Food Edmonton, Just Food Edmonton, or resources like the Alberta Farmers’ Market listing, Go Organic, and Eat Local First should have a place somewhere. The Flash design of the website also reduces the ability for users to easily share pages without permalinks.

There is some helpful information on the site, but users will have to dig – the Evergreen-compiled Real Food Guide is a good starter guide for those looking for concrete instructions on how to eat locally and get involved in the local food scene. Even with its Prairie scope, it’s the best thing on the whole website (click on “Learn” at the bottom left of the site, and download the PDF Prairies guide), and should have a more prominent placement. I will admit that there isn’t currently a “one-stop shop” of Edmonton-centric eat local resources in existence, so for the moment, the Real Food Guide isn’t a bad placeholder until something better is developed.

So because of the spotlight on choosing local, does it even matter that the involvement of Hellmann’s is a stretch? That their justification of using Canadian eggs and canola oil is enough to string a whole campaign on? That by pointing to community-based farmers’ markets, they seem to undermine their whole definition of Canada as “local”? If this is the campaign that opens the public’s eyes on what can be done to support local farmers, and Hellmann’s sells more mayonnaise in the process, then so be it. Hellmann’s can do what they want to try to identify themselves as “local”, but hopefully as consumers learn more about eating locally-sourced products, they will realize they can do better than picking up a jar of mayonnaise.

The Cooking Chronicles: End-of-Summer Chili

Never take ingredients in your fridge for granted, particularly if expiration dates or other people are involved. I learned this lesson recently while making Rachael Ray’s end-of-summer chili.

I was near the end of the recipe – a chili packed with more vegetables than meat – and asked Mack to retrieve a bottle of beer from the fridge in our office to add to the simmering dish. He came back, regretfully empty handed, and said that he had drank the last bottle the night previous. I had sworn we had multiple bottles of beer just a few days back – and we did – but Mack’s hot weather thirst had to be quenched somehow. We resorted to using one of my beer coolers: Alley Kat’s Aprikat, which actually didn’t end up sweetening the dish as much as we thought it might.

I loved the chili, mostly because it was packed with vegetables (our default chili recipe involves the slow cooker, which would have pulverized the zucchini), and had decent flavour considering the quick cooking time. Mack would have preferred something with more meat (as always), but liked it. We did end up straining out some of the liquid, as it didn’t reduce much at all, and next time, would drain the canned tomatoes first.

End-of-Summer Chili

An easy meal to help bridge summer to fall – what could be more seasonal?

Country Cuisine: Tomato Fare

Though we missed this year’s Taste of Summer in St. Albert, we trusted from our previous experience with Edmonton’s Countryside’s Country Cuisine that their first ever Tomato Fare event would be just as festive and delicious.

Tomatoes galore!

Mack and I met up with May at the Country Road Greenhouses in Strathcona County. Parking attendant volunteers were out in full force, directing traffic to spaces still available – though it seems like a minor detail, given how hodgepodge the cars could have been scattered, it was much appreciated.

For $15 admission, we were given 6 taste tickets right off the bat (additional tickets could be purchased for $1 each), and a welcome bag that included, among other things, an Atco Blue Flame cookbook. A folk singer helped set the tone (Mack observed that all food events of this nature default to folk), and the atmosphere was light and carefree. A few of the food vendors (and lone beer purveyor) were set-up outside along the perimeter of the designated eating area, but the majority of them were inside one of the stifling greenhouses. And though having the option of shelter was good given that clouds threatened rain, the setting definitely wasn’t as glorious at the St. Albert Grain Elevator Park.

Country Road Greenhouses

Pretty zucchini and squash

Tomato Fare is an event similar to Taste of Edmonton, but all of the dishes incorporated fresh, local ingredients. In an effort to decide what to sample, the three of us did a round past the vendors. Unfortunately, everything looked so tempting that the only thing the visual preview determined was that we would all have to top up our ticket wealth. Eventually though, we all bit the bullet and redeemed our tickets (most of the utensils and containers used were biodegradable, but we should have brought our own regardless).

Inside one of the greenhouses

Mack chilling with his beer

An unusual tomato muffin by the Country Road Greenhouse won my first vote, even though it was tiny and garnered the price of 1 ticket. It was slightly sweet, and had a rather mild, but fresh, tomato flavour.

Savoury Mini Tomato Muffin

Barbecued suckling pig from the Pipestone Food Company looked and sounded promising, but never having been the most graceful eater, and combined with the fact that the fatty pork hadn’t been sawed into cubes meant it was one of the messiest dishes I have ever eaten in public. While it was good, I can’t say I enjoyed it.

BBQ Suckling Pig with Bread

The best deal of the lot was an Irving Farm Fresh sausage roll, made by Cook’s Corner. Nothing beats puff pastry stuffed with ground sausage, and all three of us indulged in one each.

Sundried Tomato Basil Sausage Roll

Mack’s favourite dish was the butter chicken from Taste of India.

Butter Chicken

A refreshing carrot and cilantro salad from Cafe Haven finished off my tickets. I loved the bright orange ribbons specked with bursts of green, dressed with citrus juice and sesame oil.

Carrot & Cilantro Salad

Mack opted to end his sampling with dessert – ice cream with saskatoon berry topping from Shallow Creek Nursuries. The fruit topping was more like a jam, and overwhelmed the ice cream in both consistency and concentration. Still, it was a treat that helped cool us off in the glaring heat.

Ice Cream with Saskatoon Berry Topping

Feeling satisfied, we wandered to the family-friendly games area, with tomato bocce ball and putting green. I tried my hand at the latter – it was harder than it looked!

Trying my best

Before we left, I picked up a container of heirloom chocolate cherry tomatoes – the deep purple, almost brown colour of the tomatoes was too unusual to resist. They tasted slightly sweeter than the usual red cherry tomatoes.

Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes

Given the quality and creativity behind the food, Edmonton Countryside’s tasting events are worth seeking out. Their next big promotional event will be the Fall Country Drive event – check here for dates.

You can see Mack’s full photo set here.

Food Notes for August 24, 2009

I started my day off this morning with fantastic news – Edmonton’s Fringe reigns supreme! Stage a Revolution absolutely smashed Winnipeg’s 81,000 record – 92,100 tickets were sold this year. Way to go Edmonton! Now on to this week’s food notes:

I finally finished reading Julia Child’s My Life in France. Though this was my second attempt at reading it, I have to say watching Julie & Julia gave me the needed push to finish the book. It’s a lovely memoir, filled with vibrant prose and hilarious accounts of Julia’s trials at Le Cordon Bleu and her decade long struggle to publish Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I loved her use of words (“marketing” and “cookbookery”), and do think the movie undercuts how much work really went into Mastering (for example, I cannot imagine communicating exclusively via air mail…in this age of technology, I can’t fathom anything less than instant). I appreciated the glimpse into the making of an American legend, and reading about the absolute joy that Julia found in cooking.
On the topic of books – Edmonton Public Library is having their back-to-school booksale this weekend – pick up some new reading material for next to nothing, and perhaps a new cookbook or two!
The Endless Feast is a PBS show that explores “the connection between the earth and the food we eat, one incredible feast at a time”. They will be filming an upcoming episode in Edmonton on Friday at Peas on Earth and at the City Centre Market on Saturday. It’s awesome that an American show will be featuring our city in all its glory.
I missed out on Mary Ellen and Andres’ picnic on their Greens, Eggs and Ham Farm this year in favour of the Fringe and another local food event, but I was happy that Valerie wrote a detailed account of it.
This is old news by now, but in case you missed it – Transcend Coffee’s second location is official: they will be taking over the Garneau space formerly occupied by Pharos Pizza. The cafe is set to open in January 2010.
Speaking of coffee – Vue Weekly had a short piece about the relatively new JoJo’s Cafe, located inside La Piazza Dasee, this week. Turns out the barista learned his chops from Transcend (every new cafe seems to have a tie to Transcend, eh?). On a related note – the Edmontonian reviewed some of JoJo’s brunch offerings here.
The Journal had a piece on Saturday featuring the results of a gelato taste test. The unlikely winner? Chocolate Exquisite. I’ll have to make a point to stop by sometime soon.
If you’ve walked past Rice Howard Way, you probably noticed this sign on Co Co Di’s doors – it reads: “Co Co Di will be reopening later this year. We look forward to serving you in our new location on Jasper Avenue between 114 & 115 Street, north side”. I hope they get some foot traffic with the move west.
Janice tipped me off that there will be a third location of Famoso in South Edmonton Common (in the area with the new Gap and Banana Republic outlets). They do already have an address and number ready to go – 1437 99 Street, 780-468-0000.
President Obama said that he would like to see a farmers’ market set up in front of the White House. Who knows if that would ever happen, but how cool is it that POTUS made mention of it?
The second artsScene Party took place at Latitude 53, and allowed us to scope out what is billed as the “only downtown rooftop patio”. Being at the top of a two-storey building wasn’t what I had in mind, but it still picked up a nice cool breeze. Of course, the gallery itself has a few pretty cool exhibits right now, including Trespass Act and a community gallery featuring this striking work by a Victoria High School student titled “Between Liberty and Freedom”.

Latitude 53 Rooftop Patio

On our way to the City Centre Market on Saturday, we stopped to gawk at the new community garden in Mack’s neighbourhood. It’s beautiful, with circular paths in between plots, benches, and perhaps even a future water feature.

Oliver Community Garden

Starved and with only $5 cash between us, Mack and I wracked our brains for something affordable to eat on the Fringe grounds on Sunday. Luckily, we remembered Chicago Deep Dish (8114 104 Street, 780-413-8866). At $2.50 a slice, it’s still the most economical purchase on Whyte.

Ham & Pineapple Slice from Chicago Deep Dish

Chris had mentioned something food-related was under construction next to Bubble Juice on Whyte. Turns out, he was right – Irie Foods will be open on September 1, 2009. It looks like they have another location in Mill Woods – anyone know if this is replacing that store or is an additional one?

Irie Foods on Whyte

It will be hefty competition for TZiN, but Kelsey seemed to know it was coming: Lit Wine Bar will be opening up on the ground floor of one of the Icon Towers.

LIT Wine Bar on 104th Street and Jasper Avenue

There’s also a new bubble tea place in Chinatown on 97th Street. What downturn?

Bubble Tea Cafe

East Meets West Festival

After a trip to the City Centre Market (after a few busy weekends and the Fringe, I think I was going through withdrawal), Mack and I walked over to Chinatown to check out the first East Meets West Festival.

We weren’t sure what to expect – the grassroots committee had put together the festival as a means to promote the Chinatown and Little Italy neighbourhoods – but if anything, we were happy that the event seemed to attract locals that perhaps wouldn’t otherwise set foot in the area.

Lion Dance

We arrived just on time for the opening lion dance, and ended up wandering up 97th Street which had been closed to traffic. As Mack noted, the tables were too spread out and sporadic, and there was a definite lack of food vendors (food smells are half the reason outdoor fairs attract crowds). Still, knowing that this is hopefully the first of many such festivals, I’m sure it will be much improved next year.