Back in the 6ix: Escape to Niagara

As much as I love Toronto, I was happy with our decision to escape the bustling city for two days. We rented a car and drove out to Niagara wine country.

Jordan, a real life Stars Hollow

I was enticed by the photos and reviews online for the Inn on the Twenty in Jordan, and it was possibly the best decision we made on the trip. The boutique hotel was charming and situated on a street that could have doubled as the set for Stars Hollow. Breakfast was included in the restaurant, and the dinner we enjoyed the night prior was well done. I’d heartily recommend a stay to anyone considering a night in the area.

Perfect pickerel and fiddleheads

We also joined a wine tour so neither of us would have to worry about driving. Crush on Niagara Wine Tours offers pick-ups from area hotels, which was perfect for us. It was supposed to be a group tour, but the bonus of travelling in the off-season is that it ended up being a private tour just for the two of us!

We visited 4 larger (160 acres) and smaller (10 acres) wineries, which was a good representation for us. They all offered something interesting – Flat Rock Cellars had the best view, with their tasting room on stilts allowing a glimpse of Lake Ontario and even Downtown Toronto.

At Flat Rock Cellars

DiProfio was obviously a family-run business, and provided the best hospitality during our tasting, with generous pours.

DiProfio Winery

GreenLane was the most educational, and my favourite stop, as Jane, our guide, was thorough and able to answer all of our questions about the type of grapes that thrive in cold climate viticulture (explaining why you find so many Ontario Rieslings but never any Malbecs). We had no idea the last two winters had done so much damage to the area’s wineries, some losing as much as 65% of their vines.

A revelation in discovering the difference made by aged vines

The sommelier at Vineland Estates was clearly experienced and had a fine palate, but both Mack and I were suspicious of the technology they chose to adopt. They’re the first winery in Canada who has invested $250,000 in an optical-based camera that only selects the ripest grapes for inclusion in their wine (everything else is blown off the conveyor belt, and not considered even for compost). It seemed unnecessary and wasteful, but then again, what do we know? At any rate, the tour was a great way to get a feel for some of the area’s wineries without the stress of having to navigate the wine trail on our own.

Vineland Estates, complete with two helipads

Before heading back to town, we made a pit stop at Dillon’s. The distillery is not only known for their spirits, but also for their bitters (found in Edmonton at The Silk Road and Habitat, among others). We didn’t have enough time for a full tour, but did taste some of the products not available in Alberta. I really enjoyed their Limoncello, sweeter than the traditional liqueur. But we both found their gin 22 (with 22 botanicals without a juniper-forward taste) to be the one we will pick up in the future (thankfully, available in Alberta, including Everything Wine, where we picked it up in Sherwood Park).

The very photogenic Dillon’s tasting bar

We didn’t even make it out to Niagara Falls this time but neither of us regretted that decision – there was just so much else to experience! If you’re able to schedule a day trip out to Jordan or the surrounding communities the next time you’re in Toronto, I’d highly recommend doing so.

Food Notes for May 30, 2016

Though I’m sad the Raptors couldn’t advance to the Finals, it was a pretty great run. Looking forward to next season, and hoping they can keep DeRozan! On to this week’s food notes:

There will be a ton of things to check out on June 4, 2016, with it being Make Something Edmonton’s 100in1day Project, but one of the events I’m looking forward to is the Meet me in McCauley Market, from 10am-4pm on Church Street (96 Street from 107A Avenue to 108 Avenue). There will be workshops on urban agriculture and food security, vendors, and other programming.
On June 6, 2016, Three Boars will be featuring a collaboration dinner with “a menu juxtaposting sad bastard bachelor foods and high end restaurant ingredients. Foie, instant ramen, donair, caviar…you get the point.” Reservations recommended.
The 18th annual Zoo Fest, in support of the Valley Zoo, takes place on June 18, 2016. They’ll have wine and samles from New Asian Village, Sage and The Melting Pot.
Kitchen by Brad (10130 105 Street) is hosting “Meatball Madness” every Friday from 11:30am-1pm, where you can pick up a quick bite to eat.
Uccellino, completing Chef Daniel Costa’s trifecta of restaurants, is now open at 10349 Jasper Avenue, from Wedesdays to Sundays, 5-11pm. Half of the seats are unreserved.
Cafe Linnea, Duchess Bakery’s forthcoming breakfast restaurant, will be opening this summer!
Diane linked to a new noodle restaurant in Chinatown called Fuqing Lanzhou Noodle located at 10824 97 Street.
Avenue has the details about the newest board game cafe in Edmonton, The Gamers Lodge, which features food items named after pop culture references.
Jonny checked out Nudoru, and contributed another so-so review.
Uber Eats finally launched in Edmonton last week, offering another option for food delivery service in Edmonton. We rarely have food delivered, but I’m looking forward to trying it. I had nothing but positive experience with Uber, so I’m certain that will carry forward with Uber Eats.
Liane’s latest market vendor profile focuses on Caramia Caramels, who sells at the City Market.
CBC’s This is That spoofs high-end chef programs by providing pub fare with the same treatment: “Food doesn’t have to be interesting, it just has to be edible.”
The Edmonton Food Council is recruiting new members to start September 2016. The application deadline is June 20, 2016.
The first What the Truck?! of the season took place this weekend at the Expo Centre, gathering nearly 40 trucks together each day. I tried some new dishes, including a savoury pizza crepe from Divine Crepes, Alberta Fried Karaage from Northlands Truck 1879 and the sweet chicken curry from Pink Taffeta. All in all, it was a great kick-off to the summer! The next event takes place on June 18, 2016 at Blatchford Field.

Pizza crepe from Divine Crepes was all right, but I should have selected a dessert crepe instead

The Alberta Fried Karaage was hot and crispy, but was missing something

The sweet curry chicken from Pink Taffeta was enjoyable enough, with a nice cashew garnish

Back to the 6ix: All About the Food

Even though we were only in Toronto for a week, we managed to cram in many restaurants new to us.

Smoke’s Burritorie

A surprising highlight was Smoke’s Burritorie (how can you not love it based on the name alone?). We stopped there for a pre-Jays game lunch, after we found the wait at Amanda’s neighbourhood brunch place, Mildred’s Temple Kitchen, was upwards of 1.5 hours. As it turns out, we were the only customers in the Burritorie.

Smoke’s Burritorie

Their poutine burrito, customized with any number of meats, rang in at just $7.49, but with the crispy grilled exterior, slightly sweet gravy, and delectable chorizo, was one of the best things I ate all trip. Smoke’s most recent offshoot, the Weinerie, will definitely be on our to-go list the next time we’re in town.

Kinton Ramen

I’ve been wanting to try Kinton Ramen for some time, and we finally made it in on this trip. The Queen West location was quiet when we arrived around 4pm, but I imagine service to be efficient anytime in this well-oiled machine. The tonkotsu broth was deliciously creamy, and perfectly seasoned, though Mack’s shoyu broth was on the salty side.

Tonkotsu ramen

The thin noodles had a nice bite to them, while the pork shoulder and belly was torched to order, further enhancing the flavour. With five locations in the Toronto area, we can understand now the quality that has led them to a ramen empire.

Valdez

Amanda had been wanting to try Valdez, a new-ish Latin American restaurant, down the street from her condo. The bumpin’ vibe reminded me of Rostizado, with menus also driven by the ever-popular family-style philosophy. The standout dishes for me included the chaufa, a duck confit fried rice dish, and mofongo, a plantain-based dish that made me entirely rethink plantains (and for Mack, lived up to the SNL David Ortiz joke).

Chaufa

I also liked their take on chips – beyond tortillas, they included fried plantains and root vegetables.

Chips and five layer dip

Figo

Figo was my post-Jays game pick, one of Toronto Life’s best new restaurants this year. It is a simply stunning room (made for Instagram), with marble table tops, soft lighting and a Parisian feel. I’m still not sure the server should have been so enthusiastic about the feature wine that I tried (a clay-aged white from Slovenia that tasted closer to a cider than a wine), but we really enjoyed their signature zucchini fritters – tempura-battered ribbons of zucchini (and at $9 per plate, must be a huge money maker).

Zucchini fritters

Mack’s scallops were well-prepared, while the pasta in my wild boar bucatini should have been cooked further.

Scallops

Figo would be a lovely spot for lunch to take full advantage of the windowed space.

Sweet Jesus

Sweet Jesus, a Milk Bar-style soft serve parlour, seemed to be the hottest thing in Toronto, with line-ups easily 50 deep at any given time. The weather wasn’t even particularly fitting for ice cream during our stay, but we braved the lines and tried it anyway. The soft serve centrepiece was noticeably thick and creamy (meaning in the cold we didn’t need the benefit of the melt guard around the base), and held up well to the ridiculous topping combinations. For Mack and I, it was bits of smashed Christie’s cookies, and for Amanda and Jason, studs of birthday cake, complete with a lit candle to celebrate. Is it worth the wait though? It was probably more satisfying than our New York experience of Milk Bar, if that speaks to our enjoyment of it.

With our Sweet Jesus ridiculousness

DaiLo

DaiLo, a hip Asian fusion restaurant, had an interesting menu. It was packed to the brim even on a Tuesday night, with a noise level that nearly rivalled People’s Eatery. Another establishment that is set-up for family-style sharing, the server started off on the wrong foot by suggesting we "order more dishes than we think we could eat" when asked how many she would recommend for a party of four. Then, when our first two dishes arrived, comically tiny, we thought the small-plate trend had gone to the extreme. By the end, our other plates balanced things out.

Pureed salt cod dip and Chinese doughnuts

Jason couldn’t get enough of a puréed salt cod dip, served with Chinese doughnuts, and Amanda and I appreciated the masterful hands behind the fluffy steamed buns that formed the basis of a build-your-own char siu sandwich.

Char siu with steamed buns

The Korean confit duck legs also had great flavour, with crispy skins and just a hint of gojuchang heat. With the packed Bar Raval next door, it’s a way for out of towners to get a 2-for-1 experience of what’s hot in the T.O.

Saturday Dinnette

Our friends Janice and Bennett suggested a new restaurant in their east Toronto neighbourhood for our dinner out. Saturday Dinnette has a great story – the chef/owner found out she was pregnant soon after opening the restaurant, so had no choice but to raise her child at the restaurant, so to speak.

Saturday Dinnette

When her son Miles was a baby, the crib was parked next to the stove, and servers would take turns bussing tables with Miles on their hip as his mom cooked. Miles is a toddler now, so his crib has since been moved, but it’s a great reminder of the adjustments some working moms have no choice but to make. The diner-inspired menu featured a creamy mac ‘n’ cheese, though our favourite dish was the cornbread, dusted with icing sugar and sweet enough to be a dessert.

Corn bread

Rose and Sons

Four years ago, we checked out The Drake when it was one of the new anchors of West Queen West, and Chef Anthony Rose was an up and coming name. Now, he has an empire of his own, so we were curious to see what one of his standalone restaurants would be like.

Rose and Sons

Rose and Sons at Dupont had some of the most laid back but solid service we had experienced on the trip. It was a bit strange to us that they didn’t have their blue plate special up until an hour into their dinner hour, but I did enjoy the matzo ball soup, with its simple but showstopping smoked chicken and generous whack of dill.

Mac ‘n’ cheese and matzo ball soup

Khao San Road @ Nana

Thai restaurant Khao San Road is known for its epic evening line-ups (my sister had to wait close to two hours once), so we felt fortunate to be able to try their menu as a daytime lunch "pop-up" at their sister restaurant Nana. It felt pricey for the portion size, but that’s typical of Toronto.

Pad Thai

At least Mack’s green curry had a generous amount of chicken, and by the end, I was satisfied with my Bankok-style pad thai.

Green curry

Colette Grand Café

Colette Grand Café was Amanda’s pick, and very much could be the sister restaurant of Figo. It had the same Parisian feel, with natural light, pastels, and marble tabletops, and felt like the sort of restaurant frequented by girlfriends in heels. Our server thankfully removed any pretentiousness we would have otherwise felt. I really enjoyed their version of French onion soup, enhanced with textures of oxtail pieces and crispy fried onions. The roasted carrot salad with flavours of cumin, coriander, creamy sheep’s milk and Aleppo pepper is also something I will try to replicate at home.

French onion soup and roasted carrot salad

Amanda most liked the dessert, a delectable layered raspberry cheesecake fit for Instagram.

Raspberry cheesecake

Old School

Old School, a Blog T.O. recommendation for brunch, was perhaps our most disappointing meal. Everything in the restaurant, from the fake chalkboard wallpaper to the leather apron-wearing servers, seemed manufactured and disingenuous.

Old School

The food was just not good – the fruit was obviously past its prime, and the chive biscuits were several days old. Their "butchers crack" sugared bacon was also unnecessarily chewy.

The Standard plate

White Squirrel and Thor

We also hit up a few coffee shops that were new to us. I’ve been wanting to stop by White Squirrel for a while, and finally made it in. It wasn’t warm enough to order from the take out window facing the sidewalk, but I still got to snap a picture next to a pair of sweet pugs just outside the cafe.

At White Squirrel

Thor was a sanctuary off busy Bathurst, and produced the best Americano I’ve had in some time. In the middle of the afternoon, it was busy, but not at all with sit down patrons – folks rushed in for their shot and were out the door in no time.

Mack’s latte at Thor

I’m glad we found some new favourites in Toronto, and had the chance to get outside of the city too – more on that next week.

Build Your Own Ramen: Nudoru

It was only a matter of time before Edmonton’s ramen game was elevated with a restaurant making its own noodles from scratch. Unfortunately, since Nudoru’s opening in early April, it hasn’t been smooth sailing. The Old Strathcona eatery has fielded numerous lukewarm reviews relating to inconsistent service, incorrect orders and questionable food quality. In some ways, a slow start for new restaurants are inevitable as they try and find their footing. However, with the added pressure of being the first to craft the alkaline noodles in-house, expectations were higher than normal. Mack and I chose Nudoru as a pre-theatre dinner option on Friday before a show at The Backstage Theatre.

Mack had already been to Nudoru once before a few weeks prior, and enjoyed the experience well enough. Friday was probably an even more ideal evening for ramen though, with the drizzly cool temperatures conjuring up the desire for warming soups. It seemed many others had the same inclination, as Nudoru was completely full by the end of our visit.

I liked the clean wood-based interior, and the fun pops of orange throughout the space. The feature mural was definitely eye-catching, with a samurai pictured fighting various elements of a bowl of ramen, all while wearing Nike sneakers. It was also nice to be able to see inside the kitchen, with windows offering diners a peek.

We elected to each try one of their sake-based cocktails. I probably should have known better than to order one named Pretty Princess ($10), with sake, peach schnapps, cranberry juice and calpico, but it was much too sweet and lacked any nuance at all. Similarly, Mack’s Island Hopper ($10), with sake, malibu, lime and cranberry juice was also fairly one-note.

Cocktails

On the food end of things, Nudoru offers several small plates and three pre-assembled ramen bowls. But no doubt, besides the in-house noodles, they are unique because of their build-your-own ramen option ($13 for one meat protein and 3 toppings). Mack and I both chose this route.

Our orders arrived promptly, steaming hot from the kitchen. I was pleasantly surprised with the creaminess of the miso broth, and thought it was well-seasoned. The pork belly (which we had both selected as our protein), was on the fattier side, so I would likely choose the pork shoulder next time. The soft boiled egg was perfectly prepared, with the yolk a creamy yellow. The noodles had a nice chewy consistency, though to be honest – in a blind taste test, I’m not sure I’d be able to distinguish the freshly made variety.

Miso broth with pork belly, egg, bean sprouts and scallions

Mack went with his usual shoyu (soy sauce) broth, and found it fairly consistent with his previous visit. He commented that the serving size seemed fairly generous, and I had to agree that I was very satisfied by the end of our meal.

Shoyu broth with pork belly, egg, bamboo shoots and pickled onion

It’s been great to see the proliferation of more ramen options in Edmonton, from the fusion stylings of Prairie Noodle to concepts like Nudoru’s create your own. My visit to Nudoru was also better than I was expecting, so I will certainly be back. I hope they’ve managed to work through their early kinks and can maintain this level of experience!

Nudoru
10532 82 Avenue
(780) 757-6836
Tuesday-Saturday 11am-10pm, Sunday 12-5pm, closed Mondays

Food Notes for May 23, 2016

Are you following the Raptors in the Eastern Conference Finals? They’ve played some great basketball these last two games. Go Raps go! On to this week’s food notes:

Are you ready for this year’s first What the Truck?!, taking place May 28-29, 2016 at the Expo Centre? Check the website for the menus on Tuesday.
Edmonton’s Craft Beer Festival is coming up, taking place on June 3-4, 2016 at the Expo Centre.
Edmonton’s newest craft brewery, Situation Brewing, has been open since the weekend, but their grand opening is slated for May 25, 2016. Jason Foster has the lo-down on Situation.
One of Downtown’s most consistent revolving door spaces is again changing hands – The Burg (10190 104 Street) is becoming Stage 104 after May 24.
Jonny is the latest to visit The People’s Perogy.
Last week, the Journal posted the first positive review of The Almanac that I’ve seen.
I missed linking to the Journal’s review of Malaysian restaurant Island Cafe and Bistro in the west end.
Vue Weekly profiles East African restaurants Mareeg Cafe and the newer Samosa House on Alberta Avenue.
Make sure you read your menus carefully and ask questions, otherwise, you can be duped: Liane tackles the confusion around restaurants claiming to serve kobe beef.
Western Living Magazine just released their list of 2016 Foodies of the Year, and Edmonton has some great representation, with Italian Centre’s Teresa Spinelli, food activist Kevin Kossowan, Prairie Noodle Shop’s Eric Hanson, and chocolatier Jacqueline Jacek.
Liane wrote a great article about the good intentions of restaurants that try – but cannot sustain – the support of local producers.
Phil’s latest Off Menu podcast features local butchers Elyse Chatterton and Corey Meyer.
Liane profiles Ian Truer and Winding Road Cheese. I hope to make it out to the French Quarter market soon to pick some up for myself!
Did you know Edmontonians have had a sweet tooth from our inception? Lawrence Herzog covers our love affair with candy since the 1900s.
If you’re looking for some great excuses for a road trip to Central Alberta, check out this AMA article.
Ocean Odyssey Inland has a great new space at 10019 167 Street to house their frozen products, but also to offer customers convenient, quick meals solutions such as marinated seafood and fresh options from Iceland.

Ocean Odyssey Inland

It was a soggy first outdoor market day for the City Market on Saturday, but we love that it’s back on our street!

City Market

Edgar Farms asparagus for miles

Inspired by Dinner with Julie, I picked up some rhubarb from Sundog Organic and made some rhubarb cream scones on Saturday. They were a tasty treat!

Rhubarb cream scones

Back in the 6ix: Toronto Attractions

My sister Amanda moved back to Toronto in the fall, and I promised to visit her in the spring. I was finally able to keep that promise in April. It’s no secret I love visiting the city, and each trip allows us to discover (and in some cases, rediscover) our new favourite spaces, places and events.

Nathan Phillips Square

Evergreen Brick Works Farmers’ Market

Many years ago, Amanda and I had complained our way through a covered-but-outdoors Toronto Underground Market at Evergreen Brick Works. I haven’t been back since then, but their weekly farmers’ market seemed like a great opportunity.

Evergreen Brick Works

We probably shouldn’t have taken her boyfriend Jason’s vehicle, given the number of times we had to circle around, but it did make us wonder why anyone would drive there on a regular basis at all – it would incite road rage in most people. Inside, there weren’t as many produce vendors as we were expecting (recognizing that farmers are now down to their cellared products), and not one greenhouse producer. We did pick up some Best Baa sheep’s yogurt to try (not as tangy as the cow’s yogurt we’re used to), and refilled our supply of my favourite mustard, Kozlick’s.

Shipping container vendors

The covered part of Evergreen housed vendors in shipping containers (great idea, though it must have still been chilly for the vendors), and some food trucks. It was our chance to try Eva’s Chimney Cakes, a genius marriage of Hungarian cinnamon-sugar doughnuts (available one year at K-Days) and soft serve.

With my doughnut cone

The "cone" had to be cooled in order to not immediately liquefy the ice cream, and lost its chewy doughnut quality in the process. I did enjoy the mix-in of apple preserves though.

Gladstone Flea Market

The Gladstone Hotel is considered (along with The Drake Hotel) the anchor of West Queen West. They host a monthly flea market curated with unique, independent vendors.

Gladstone Flea Market

Amanda and Jason sampled some sustainable pasta sauce (with mealworms blended in), while Mack and I picked up some Toronto Bee Rescue honey, made from undesired hives rescued from homes or construction projects. Best of all, there was no entrance fee to the market.

The Social

Mack had never been to a television taping in Toronto, but was still a good sport when he agreed to accompany me to an episode of The Social. It’s not something I watch regularly, but on and off if I happen to be home during the day. Still, it’s always interesting to see how they produce the show behind the scenes (set changes, cues, etc.). Mack’s highlight was getting a high-five from actress Arielle Kebbel, who was the guest host that day.

With The Social hosts Melissa Grelo and Cynthia Loyst

Battle Sports

I stumbled upon the Battle Sports website after learning about their Rage Room on a segment on The Social. They were featuring 50% off their archery dodgeball, and Amanda and Jason were game, so we tried it.

Our Battle Sports team

In hindsight, even an hour in the arena wasn’t a good idea for our out-of-shape bodies, as we were not used to all of the crouching and quick movements required of us to stay in the game. At any rate, this sport required the use of foam arrows and axes to fell opponents, and between the adrenaline-inducing music and some overly aggressive participants, it was much more stressful than I thought it would be. While I enjoyed the actual archery, I could have done without the format.

New Urbanism Film Festival

I convinced Amanda to join us for the New Urbanism Film Festival, in its second year. It was a screening of a collection of North American short films, ranging in topic from the blight of raised freeways to the failure of pedestrian malls. As expected, some films were more engaging than others, but I would have appreciated a more localized context following the screening. A panel discussion about ideas as they related to Toronto would have been fascinating.

Toronto Blue Jays

Mack hadn’t been to a live Blue Jays game before, so Amanda made sure that was on our agenda.

Our view at Rogers Centre

The tickets were so reasonably priced ($26), and there was even a giveaway that day – Josh Donaldson bobbleheads. It was great to be in a packed house (46,000+), much different than the last game I attended. And even better, the Jays beat the White Sox, 6-2!

With our Bringer of Rain bobblehead

Toronto Raptors’ Jurassic Park

Before our date with Real Sports (a tradition whenever I’m in Toronto), we had the chance to visit Jurassic Park outside the Air Canada Centre before Game 4 during their series with the Pacers.

Jurassic Park

It wasn’t as packed as we expected (we learned later that the crowd is smaller for away games), but there was great energy in the square, with a live DJ, a big screen, and alcohol available.

Ready to beat Jason one on one

I know there are plans for something similar in Ice District’s winter plaza (if the Oilers ever get to the playoffs), so it’ll be interesting to see how an Edmonton version of Jurassic Park would play out. And yes, I’m still keeping my fingers crossed for an Edmonton branch of Real Sports in the District.

We the North!

I’ll be back with a food-centric post later this week.

Just Off 124: The Local Omnivore

Mark Bellows and Ryan Brodziak are among a small but growing number of entrepreneurs who’ve successfully transitioned to a brick-and-mortar establishment from a mobile food truck. The Local Omnivore has been open since January, located a few blocks away from the burgeoning 124 Street restaurant district. However, given the impending arrival of Duchess’ long-awaited expansion next door, there is no doubt this area will soon see its own increase in foot traffic. After work on Saturday afternoon, Mack picked me up and we seized the opportunity to finally give this incarnation of The Local Omnivore a try.

The space is much larger than it seems from the outside, accommodating a lengthy open kitchen and bar, 40 seats, and a generous prep kitchen. The interior has a DIY feel to it, with painted walls seemingly unfinished, tools visible, and repurposed wood pallets used as space dividers. As a result, the room seems lived-in and comfortable, even though they are still growing into the space (their liquor license was just granted last month). Lunch and weekend brunches remain their focus, but they will be easing into evening hours at some point in the future.

Interior

The brunch menu is small but interesting, with six dishes on offer, some incorporating the house smoked and cured meat they’re known for. Mack selected the Fraulein sandwich ($12.50), while I couldn’t pass up the brunch pirate poutine ($12.50).

So many brunch purveyors feel the need to tack on a fruit cup, so I appreciated that The Local Omnivore doesn’t mess around with unnecessary garnishes – our plates arrived in their unapologetically indulgent glory. My poutine layered spicy shoestring fries with cheese curds, vegetarian gravy, green onions, two fried eggs and a citrus hollandaise. The hollandaise cut through the spice for me, and the fries stayed remarkably crispy.

Brunch pirate poutine

Mack’s Fraulein sandwich was comprised of a Russian rye grilled Swiss cheese sandwich stuffed with super smoked bacon schnitzel topped with a fried egg and citrus hollandaise. He struggled to finish the generous portion, and really liked the bacon schnitzel.

Fraulein sandwich

Service was relaxed but solid throughout, with just a few other tables during our stay. For those interested, The Local Omnivore also runs a deli counter that sells their bacon, garlic sausage, corned beef and smoked turkey, but I’m keen to return to try their lunch menu.

The Local Omnivore was a great place to kick back and start our weekend off. A belated congratulations to Mark and Ryan on the space, and I look forward to what is still to come.

The Local Omnivore
10933 120 Street
(780) 660-1051
Tuesday-Friday 9am-5pm, Saturday-Sunday 11am-2pm, closed Mondays

Food Notes for May 16, 2016

Several outdoor markets have already started this year, but my personal favourite kicks off this Saturday – the City Market returns to 104 Street on May 21, 2016, and runs from 9am-3pm. See you there!
The YEG Market District is taking place Friday evenings from 4-8pm at 152 Street & Stony Plain Road, and will host vendors, craft sellers and food trucks.
The first What the Truck?! of the season is coming up on May 28 & 29, 2016, with over 40 trucks expected each day. Check out the line-up here, and check out Liane’s profile of some of the new trucks to expects out on the streets this summer.
Cravings, a gluten-free food sampling fair and expo, takes place on June 12, 2016 from 11am-3pm.
The Canadian Food Championships, taking place July 22-24, 2016 in conjunction with the Taste of Edmonton, are recruiting competitors. The categories are: bacon, burger, dessert, steak, sandwich and seafood.
Satisfy your Korean street food craving at NongBu every Saturday from 11am-3pm.
If you’ve ever wanted to try the University of Alberta’s Faculty Club but didn’t know someone with a membership, now’s your chance – the Club will be open to the public on Wednesday evenings and for Saturday brunch.
Quick-serve chain Blaze Pizza opened their first Edmonton location at 15709 37 Street. It’s similar in concept to local establishments Urbano Pizza and Love Pizza.
Millwoods is home to a new bakery and cafe called Reinette Cafe and Patisserie, located at 301 Woodvale Road.
Chef Lindsay Porter of El Cortez shared some information about the forthcoming restaurant Have Mercy, located above El Cortez. Have Mercy will offer Southern comfort food.
Old Strathcona will also be home to a new teppan and bar soon, Seorak (10828 82 Avenue).
Cindy sampled her way through most of Chartier’s menu.
Ms. Hangry is the latest to check out Quickly, the newest bubble tea chain to hit Edmonton.
Vue Weekly reviews Juniper Cafe.
Buzz Feed compiled a list of 31 Coffee Shops To Visit Before You Die, and three local cafes made the cut: Coffee Bureau, Elm Cafe and Transcend.
Meat will be featured on an episode of You Gotta Eat Here on May 20, 2016!
The West End Food Hub Alliance has rebranded as Food4Good, and hopes to one day open a grocery store that will offer targeted discounts to those most in need.
Vue Weekly has some ideas for some great agriculture tourism day trips.
I failed to link to it last week, but Earls backtracked on its earlier announcement that it was switching to exclusively American-sourced Certified Humane beef, and will now continue to serve some Alberta beef.
Mack and I met up with some friends at 1st RND on Friday (hoping that the Raptors would close out the Heat that night). I enjoyed the atmosphere, and would definitely go back to watch a game. The perogy burger was great, and I appreciated the option of tater tots instead of fries.

Perogy burger from 1st RND

After dinner, Linda introduced Mack and I to our first escape game experience at GTFO. It was more challenging than we expected (we blew through all three hints), but managed to make it out just in time!

We GTFO of Visiting Room!

We finally made it out to CoCo Fresh Tea and Juice tonight. The salty cream chocolate wasn’t quite as advertised, but we enjoyed the passion mango slush.

CoCo to go!

Sourdough 2.0 at the 2016 Edmonton Resilience Festival

The second annual Edmonton Resilience Festival took place on April 30 – May 1, 2016 at the Boyle Street Plaza. The festival continued the themes it began to explore in their first year, encouraging attendees to learn new skills and adopt a "do it yourself" mentality.

2016 Edmonton Resilience Festival

Organizers from The Local Good, the volunteer-driven organization behind the festival, seemed satisfied with the attendance this year. The shift in timing of the festival (changed from February to May) did make it easier to program outdoor activities, and did promote more food truck foot traffic. Workshop pricing also changed to much more differentiated ticket prices, ranging from $10-$50.

Sourdough Surprise workshop

I decided to sign up for Sourdough Surprise: Naturally Leavened Biscuits, Waffles and Muffins after Su, my sourdough companion from last year, tipped me off. It was led by Owen Petersen of Prairie Mill. I really enjoyed Owen’s Bread Making 101 session at the inaugural festival – he demystified sourdough for me, and made scratch bread seem much less daunting. I’ve made many loaves since then, and (a personal achievement), have managed to keep the starter we were given that day alive for more than a year. In many ways, I went in to this class treating it as "Sourdough 2.0", eager to build on the base of knowledge I had already learned.

Owen Petersen

Most in the class were new to the idea of sourdough, so Owen provided an overview about the starter (affectionately named Julie) as well as a basic sourdough bread recipe. Even though it was a review for both Su and I, I appreciated the refresher, as there were some things I had already forgotten. The intimate two hour class also permitted the luxury of time, and we were able to move through each topic at a leisurely pace. Owen is such an enthusiastic teacher that you can’t help but be inspired to pick up his baking mantle.

Su and I show off our dough babies

We ended up only making muffins and waffles. The recipes called for starter-based batters, which lent the final products textures slightly different than more traditional flour-only based recipes. The muffins, for instance, had a much tighter crumb and were more dense than I’m used to, but will be worth a try at home.

Sourdough muffins

The waffle recipe, however, will go into our immediate rotation. So simple, the resulting waffles had a nice chew and a slight tang. I can envision making batches large enough to freeze and have on hand.

Sourdough waffles

My only disappointment was that we didn’t have the chance to make the biscuit recipe as originally advertised. I recognize that festival finances change, so I don’t begrudge the fee increase (from $25 in 2015 to $50 in 2016), but the takeaways this year didn’t seem to have the value that I was looking for – besides sampling some muffins and waffles, we took home the same amount of sourdough as last year.

Mixing up bread dough

Overall, I enjoyed the chance to learn more tips and tricks from Owen, and look forward to experimenting further in my own kitchen! Thanks again to Owen for sharing your gift and to the organizers behind the festival for putting on the event.

Food Notes for May 9, 2016

Many Edmonton restaurants have stepped up to collect donations or donate proceeds from meals served to support the Fort McMurray fire evacuees. One of those is a dinner on May 16 at BLVD, involving several local chefs. Tickets are $125 plus fees. Remember – you can also donate directly to the Canadian Red Cross.
Missed the first Northern Chicken pop-up? Not to worry, they’ve announced the date of their second pop-up at Belgravia Hub, taking place on May 16. Details to come.
Vue Weekly released the winners of their 2016 Golden Fork Awards. The issue also features articles on Farm to Fork Eatery in Sherwood Park, Workshop Eatery, The Local Omnivore and Love Pizza.
Square One Coffee is Edmonton’s newest coffee shop, located at 17 Fairway Drive.
V Sandwiches on Rice Howard Way has finally re-opened!
St. Albert darling Jack’s Burger Shack now has a food truck, enabling them to serve the City of Edmonton! Follow them on Twitter to find out about their next location.
I’m sorry to hear that Sabzy Persian Grill announced their closure last week.
KB and Co, a plant-based cafe, is set to open in the Fox Tower on June 1. With all of the challenges faced by Earth’s General Store, it’ll be interesting to see how another vegan/health-conscious business does on 104 Street.
Ms. Hangry Foodie checked out Nudoru Ramen Bar and was hoping for more.
Jonny visited Workshop Eatery and had a mixed experience.
Cindy recapped the final Comal Mexican Table Dinner of the season.
Phil’s latest Off Menu podcast is all about Twyla and Steve Campbell’s Northern Food Night.
Looking for some ready-made meals for the freezer? Modern Mama tried Funky Fork, a local catering business that offers freezer meals.
I missed this last week – it’s great to see Pat’s shop, Ocean Odyssey Inland, get some great coverage on their expansion.
It wasn’t a good sign at Tappen Taro (380, 800 Broadmoor Boulevard) on Saturday night when we arrived to a near-empty restaurant. My Mum had seen an ad in a local paper and wanted to try it. The food was okay, but during the meal, we were longing for Izakaya Tomo.

Appetizer platter for two at Tappen Taro

It was great fun to help Annie host her baby shower on Saturday! I probably bit off more than I could chew, but everything came together in the end. It was also great to have a Sugared & Spiced cake for our finale!

Baby shower goodies!

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