Category: food

RestorAction Charity Gala

Mack invited me to be a guest at the second annual RestorAction Charity Gala on Saturday. As a volunteer for the Youth Restorative Action Project (YRAP), Mack had been helping with the organization of the gala for a number of weeks, so it was nice to finally be able to see the culmination of their efforts.

The event was formal, so decked out in a suit and party dress, respectively (haha), Mack and I headed out to the Coast Edmonton Plaza Hotel. While he set up the slide show he had put together, I perused some of the silent auction items up for bid in the hallway. Among the goods were an Oilers jersey that had been autographed by the entire 2007-2008 team (which ended up fetching $675), and two gold section seats to an upcoming Oilers game donated by Mayor Mandel (who was in attendance at the gala, at least initially), sweetened to include access to his exclusive parking spot.

Dressed and ready to go

Dinner was served right on time, and included two appetizers of Italian style tomato, basil and gin soup, and a salad of market field greens in a cucumber ring with balsamic vinaigrette. The soup was regrettably on the sour side, and tasted more like pasta sauce or flavoured tomato paste as opposed to soup, while the salad was all right but unremarkable. The main course, a roast supreme breast of chicken stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese, was dry, and try as I might, my aversion to cooked spinach continues. For dessert, we were served a chocolate croissant pudding with caramel sauce. This was my first sample of a bread pudding style dessert, and though it wasn’t bad, I think I’d sooner choose a cake or tart of some kind in its place.

Market field greens in a cucumber ring


Roast supreme breast of chicken


Chocolate croissant pudding

After dinner (or to be technical, during dessert), the program began. A number of people were invited to speak about their involvement with the program, but the most memorable speech of the evening belonged to Mark Cherrington, the adult advisor to YRAP. He presented a heartfelt poem of experiences drawn from real mentors of young offenders that chronicled the cultivation of trust leading to change.

Mark Cherrington

The entertainment portion of the evening consisted of a variety of dance demonstrations from the University of Alberta Dance Club instructors, spliced with comedic sets. The second comedian, Dawn Dumont, used Native stereotypes as a launching pad for her jokes (she is Cree herself), but more often than not, the audience wasn’t certain whether it was politically correct to laugh at all.

Dance demonstration (the rest of Mack’s pictures are here)

Thanks for the invitation, Mack! It was fun!

Better than a Buffet: Olive Garden

It’s a wonder how I’ve managed to have this blog for nearly a year and not yet have written a post about Olive Garden.

As chain restaurants go, Olive Garden is pretty consistent – service is friendly, portions are generous, and of course, the unlimited salad/soup and breadsticks that accompany entree orders deserve praise of their own.

Dickson and I hadn’t been to the restaurant in quite some time (their long wait times are a deterrent for empty stomachs), but despite the expected 25 minutes of idle hunger that night, we stuck it out.

It didn’t take us too long to decide on our dishes – I chose the Lasagna Classico (layers of pasta, meat sauce and mozzarella, ricotta, parmesan and romano cheese), while Dickson opted for the Chicken and Gnocci Veronese (sautéed chicken with traditional Italian dumplings and roasted red peppers in a parmesan and ricotta cheese sauce). Of course, we both knew the pasta would play second fiddle to his breadstick obsession.

After some salad, soup and breadsticks, our entrees arrived. I was curious to see how their lasagna would taste compared to Sorrentino’s, and I’m sad to say that the latter won this battle. The pasta was a tad overcooked, and there wasn’t enough sauce to moisten the too-dry meat contained within the layers. Dickson’s gnocci, on the other hand, was excellent. I really should have ordered that dish instead.

Everyone has those select few establishments that seemingly can do no wrong. Olive Garden is one such place for me.

Lasagna Classico

Chicken and Gnocci Veronese

Food Notes

  • Sorrentino’s really is taking over the city – a second location of Caffè Sorrentino is set to open in the old space previously occupied by the Polka Cafe in Edmonton City Centre.

  • Daawat, purveyors of Indian cuisine, just opened up a second location on Whyte Avenue, with a third planned for Mayfield Common. I’ll have to try it some time to see how it holds up against New Asian Village.

  • A bistro called The Passionate Plate will be opening soon next to the south side Italian Centre. New food related ventures are always exciting. I can’t wait to pay it a visit.

  • Speaking of the Italian Centre, I shared a panini with my family at Spinelli’s, the cafe attached to the grocery store. After high expectations fueled by a glowing review I read, I was quite disappointed with the cold sandwich. Perhaps we have been spoiled to anticipate warm or toasted sandwiches, but the cafe was not equipped with anything to heat the panini up. I will say that the spread used on the bread was quite tasty, but other than that, the panini was like any other cold cuts sandwich.

  • Via eat drink one woman, I found out about the Edge Brownie Pan – where every square is guaranteed two edges. Genius!

  • Bacon lovers unite! The Grateful Palate will help you demonstrate your love of pork with bacon scented candles, a bacon-shaped ornament, and yes, even bacon-print toilet paper.

The Cooking Chronicles: BBQ Pizza

Taking advantage of what may have been the last warm day before the cruel plunge into winter, I pulled out a recipe I had wanted to try all summer – pizza on the barbecue.

Using Ricardo’s recipe for dough, and guidance on grilling pizza from an MSN Lifestyle page I can no longer locate, I can’t say this is one for impatient cooks. Waiting the hour for the dough to rise was painful, and as I had got started late to begin with, I’m not sure I wouldn’t have been better off heading to the nearest grocery store in that time to pick up frozen bread dough to work with instead. For toppings, I went with a blend of asiago and mozzarella cheeses, roma tomatoes and green peppers (I couldn’t for the life of me find fresh basil that afternoon).

After the hour, I split the dough in half, and Amanda and I each pounded out a disc with our hands. With my Dad’s help, we toasted one side of the bread for a few minutes, flipped it over, then topped it with tomato sauce, cheese and vegetables. The last step involved closing the lid and allowing indirect heat to melt the cheese and finish cooking the pizza.

I was quite happy with the finished product – the dough was crunchy, and the grill for the most part acted like pizza stone of sorts.

So, perhaps it may be time to invest in a pizza stone (just in time for winter)…

On the grill (it was dark by this time…)

Ready to eat!

Brought to you by Sugar: Vi’s for Pies

In an effort to kill two birds in one night, May and I followed up on a new restaurant with dessert at a cafe we had both been meaning to visit for some time – Vi’s for Pies (13408 Stony Plain Road).

Not too far from our next and last destination, we had just enough time to ogle the dessert case and have something to round off our meal. There were at least fifteen tempting selections to choose from, including various cheesecakes, tarts, cakes, and pies. May could not resist trying their mango cheesecake, while I opted for a lemon tart and a hot chocolate. But beyond sweets, Vi’s also serves homemade soups and sandwiches,and instead of the traditional paper menu, display their daily creations on a chalkboard and easel moved to accomodate patrons still deciding.

While we waited for our plates, we admired the cute outdoor patio (it reminded me of the location of Carrie’s simu-date in an episode of Sex & the City), and is definitely worth checking out in warmer seasons. The dining area itself wasn’t too shabby either, featuring a fireplace and walls painted in a warm red tone.

Our desserts were ready in no time, and we were both pleased with the presentation – little florets of whipped cream dusted with cocoa accented the plate. When we sampled our treats, however, we found them much too sweet for our liking. The lemon essence in my tart was much too strong; the shortbread base wasn’t bad, but the overpowering tartness of lemon flavor prevented me from enjoying my dessert as a whole. This pattern of saccharin saturation was also continued in my drink, unfortunately.

I would return to Vi’s for Pies in the future, but only to sample their hearty lunch/dinner options…or perhaps their pie.

Vi’s for Pies

Outdoor patio

May admires the dessert case

May’s mango cheesecake (top) and my lemon tarts

Another Bacon: Skinny Legs and Cowgirls

May and I were late to the party. After most of the city’s food critics jumped to review Skinny Legs and Cowgirls (9008 Jasper Avenue) in the spring, we tried valiantly to secure reservations to this “sort of bistro”, but the timing was never right. On Tuesday, we finally made it.

Pulling into the parking lot just after five, we more than beat any rush the restaurant might have seen later that night. The dining room was tiny, a total of seven tables occupying the small space. The decor was undoubtedly charming, with a cozy, autumn-perfect color scheme of orange and red running up the walls, continued on the place settings, and in the Chinese lantern stem on each table. However, the room itself was virtually unlit and seemingly unheated, forcing us rely on the tabletop candle as not only the light, but the main heating source as well.

The menu reminded me very much of Bacon (which I visited in June, but have yet to post about) – organic, sparse, and without many dishes that appealed much to my personal taste. Our server explained that all of their plates were built to be shared. Their piece de resistance was the “mixed grill”, a platter with several different kinds of meat, including rack of lamb and striploin steak, but priced at a staggering $73, it was something we couldn’t stomach on that particular evening.

Instead, we ordered the Chorizo Plate (chorizo sausage sauteed with onions, tomato, cilantro and finished with red wine), and the Franco Pollo (chicken sauteed with spices, onions, tomato, lemon juice and finished with fresh cream). In hindsight, we should have also selected an accompanying carb of some kind, but as the prices of the polenta and rice plates equalled that of the chorizo and chicken items ($15!), we didn’t think we would get our money’s worth.

With a cool, unobtrusive Sirius Radio station on in the background, dim lighting, and an intimate setting, I could see how Skinny Legs and Cowgirls would make a good date venue. The service was all right, but erred on the side of giving us too much space.

Our food arrived on very stylish rectangular plates, coupled with serving utensils that allowed for easy sharing. Our favorite was the chorizo dish – the sweet tomatoes complemented the savoury sausage slices nicely. The Franco Pollo wasn’t bad, but with a thick orange sauce, I had trouble convincing my eyes that I wasn’t eating some variation of butter chicken.

While we didn’t have a bad experience, May and I agreed that Skinny Legs and Cowgirls wasn’t appealing enough to add to our short list of restaurants. Still, I wouldn’t mind giving their mixed grill a go some time in the future…just to see what haute meat really tastes like.

Exterior

Dining room

Choizo Plate

Franco Pollo

The Cooking Chronicles: Chocolate Brownies

Debating between a recipe of low-fat brownies by America’s Test Kitchen and a regular-fat one from Jamie Oliver, I selected the latter and began the prep work.

Besides the inconvenience of having to convert the measurements, it was a fairly straightforward recipe (and I must say I adore melting chocolate in a double boiler for some odd reason). I used semi-sweet baking chocolate squares instead of the recommended dark chocolate, but the final product turned out just as rich.

My goal with this recipe was to try to achieve the perfect chewy coating and gooey centre, but unlike with cookies, I wasn’t able to watch for batch browning to guide me. As well, because I ended up using an 8 x 8 pan instead of a 12 x 12 dish, I couldn’t rely on the recipe’s suggested baking time. Though I left the tray in oven ten minutes longer to compensate for its increased thickness, it turned out not to be enough. After cooling, I cut into the tray and discovered what was essentially a molten chocolate pudding underlying the crisp crust. Thankfully, after fifteen additional minutes in a reheated oven, the brownies came out edible and held their shape when cut.

Definitely fit only for those with a sweet tooth, the richness of these brownies are best experienced as a full-fledged dessert – warmed in the microwave slightly, then served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Yum.

Chocolate brownies (before reheating)

Poor Planning and Bad Timing: Sorrentino’s

I have mentioned Dine Alberta a few times this month, it being a September program that promotes the use of local ingredients at select restaurants across the province. I finally got around to arranging for dinner at Sorrentino’s, a much-loved local Italian chain that seems to be something of an institution in Edmonton (beyond Sorrentino’s proper, the purveyors also maintain That’s Aroma!, Oliveto Trattoria, Caffe Sorrentino, a sports bar, and a pub). I poked around the website and was looking forward to trying something off of their featured Mushroom Harvest menu – specifically, the porcini mushroom risotto.

With Dickson at the wheel (though that phrase is a bit redundant…), we headed for the downtown location. Count me embarrassed when we were confronted with a closed sign. Vowing better research before future outings, we checked to make sure the southside location was open before driving there.

Arriving around 8:30pm, we were given the “S-Bar” menu, a condensed selection of dishes meant for late diners. I inquired about the Mushroom Harvest menu, but to my disappointment, was told that it wasn’t offered on Sundays. The website failed me – nowhere on their otherwise comprehensive webpage was it written that the specials were only served Monday to Saturday. So not only were we deprived of sampling the regular fare (of which a chef’s daily risotto is a part of), but I also wasn’t able to get my Dine Alberta fix.

That said, the after-9 menu isn’t bad; there were quite a few comfort dishes that were tempting. I settled on a margherita pizza, while Dickson opted for Mamma’s lasagna. The food arrived after a bit of a wait (the main dining room had been fully booked for a private function), though Dickson would have been appeased had they simply brought more baskets of their salted baguette. The pizza wasn’t great, and tasted very much like the fare I had at Three Bananas Cafe, and easily loses up against the phenomenal slices at Leva. Dickson’s pasta was quite good, but he was left wanting more because of the small portion.

When the bill was presented, we were surprised to see we had been charged full price. Checking the time our plates were entered, we realized that had we waited twenty minutes to order, we could have saved $6. Sure, that isn’t a lot of cash, but after the mushroom menu mix-up, it was another instance of our bad timing that night.

I’ll have to return to Sorrentino’s for a full, triple fact-checked dinner to see if it really can live up to the hype.

Margherita pizza
Mamma’s Lasagna

Ripped Off and Ticked Off: Wok Box

After a valid but ultimately failed attempt at catching a play at the Arts Alive! Festival in the afternoon (there’s always next year), Mack and I killed time in the downtown core, and ended up at Wok Box (10119 Jasper Avenue) for dinner.

I’ve been to the franchised takeout restaurant twice before, and after finding the fare extremely overpriced, I vowed not to return unless equipped with a coupon. Luckily, I just purchased an Entertainment Book containing a Wok Box coupon, so with a 2-for-1 mentality in mind, we saddled up to the counter to order.

But rebuffed, we were. The employee mentioned something about the store not being consulted before the address was printed on the back of the coupon, and couldn’t accept it. Because we had a show to get to in less than an hour, Mack and I sucked it up and ordered the teriyaki chicken stir fry and butter chicken (Violet’s recommendation). The bill was over $21.

Thankfully, our wait wasn’t too long (unlike my other experiences), and though the novelty of eating out of a “Chinese” take-out box still tickles me somewhat, I recognize the inflated cost of fanciful packaging. In the end, my butter chicken was all right (the sauce was rich and tasted great with the rice), but without a side of vegetables, was a fairly dense meal, and was not worth what we paid for it.

Take-out boxes are cute, but cannot make-up for the restaurant’s small portions and mistaken advertising. I’d choose a Chinatown establishment over Wok Box any day.

Mack “smiles” with his Wok Box order
Teriyaki chicken, butter chicken and “naan bread” (looking pretty unappetizing)

Brunch as it Should Be: Blue Plate Diner

After a walk about the City Market downtown (where I was disappointed that both Inspired Market Gardens and Whimsical Cupcakes were absent this week), I treated my parents and Amanda to brunch at Blue Plate Diner (10145 104 Street).

I’ve posted before about dinner at Blue Plate, but brunch at the Diner is truly one of my favorite meals at the city. There’s just something about the combination of the brick, the buzz in the air and the charm of their retro furniture that I cannot resist.

I ordered the pancake breakfast (2 buttermilk pancakes, eggs, choice of meat side), while my sister opted for the mornin’ sandwich (fried egg, cheddar cheese and tomato with herbed mayo on toasted multi-grain and served with potatoes), and my parents selected the big breakfast (2 eggs, potatoes and multi-grain toast and choice of meat side).

The pancakes were great – moist and fluffy, they soaked up the maple syrup nicely, and as always, their potatoes were crispy and delicious. My Mum really liked the bread, which we found our later was brought in from French Meadow, the artisanal bakery a few streets down.

After brunch, we headed to deVine Wines on the corner of Jasper Avenue and 104th Street for a free wine sampling they were hosting that afternoon. Though I didn’t buy the red Chilean wine I tried, I did come away with a bottle of German Riesling wine, in the hopes that it would taste similar to one that I sampled in St. Goar this summer.

The City Market is open for its last hurrah this Saturday, and I highly recommend a morning of produce shopping followed by brunch at Blue Plate. You won’t regret it!

Pancake breakfast

Mornin’ sandwich

Big breakfast