Food Notes for August 4, 2014

Mack and I were away most of the long weekend at Goose Lake with his family. Given cell coverage in the area is sporadic to non-existent, we were able to focus on time outdoors and around the fire. Hope you had a relaxing weekend as well! On to this week’s food notes:

Did you hear – Drift is hoping to move into a storefront! Help them pay the rent at their Burger Night pop-up from 5-9pm on August 9, 2014 at 10721 124 Street. Check out the menu.
Save the date: our next What the Truck?! is taking place Saturday, August 16, 2014 in Borden Park, featuring ten trucks. RSVP to the Facebook event!
Help Mother’s Market celebrate their grand opening on August 17, 2014.
Great news – Elm Café is expanding again downtown! No official word on where downtown just yet, however, though I have a good guess.
Karlynn gives us a sneak peek of El Cortez, the tequila bar everyone has been waiting for. It hopes to open August 15, 2014.
It sounds like Twyla found a gem in the Portuguese restaurant A Taverna.
The Green & Gold Garden now sells locally-roasted coffee sourced from a co-operative in Rwanda, with some proceeds going to Tubahumurize (the non-profit the garden supports that helps marginalized women in Rwanda).
I loved this “Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables” campaign launched by a supermarket in France, which convinced producers to purchase the usually less-than-desirable imperfect produce with a clever marketing idea. Bravo.
Congrats to Jacqueline and the rest of the team at Jacek Chocolate Couture for a fantastic opening weekend for their new shop on 104 Street (10140 104th Street)! It’s great to have another specialty business on the street – welcome to the neighbourhood!

Jacqueline in her new downtown store (she insisted on not being in the photo alone)

Mack’s parents were in Edmonton during the week, so we decided to introduce them to The Parlour. The pizza was a hit!

Calamari (loved the charred lime on top)

After our engagement shoot with Bruce & Sarah, we wound down over a bottle of wine and some food close to home at Tzin. Kelsey and her staff were incredibly accommodating (as we were running late), and were open to us taking a few shots on the patio as well. Thanks for the wonderful evening!

I will never pass up an opportunity to order the pork belly

As I mentioned above, we spent the weekend at Goose Lake. A final parting shot!

Goose Lake

Food Notes for July 29, 2014

Mack’s parents are in town for part of this week, and we ended up visiting later into the evening last night than we had originally planned to. Hence – a belated Food Notes:

Jacek Chocolate Couture on 104 Street will be opening on August 1, 2014! I can’t wait to check out the new shop.
Food Day Canada is taking place on August 2, 2014. See which local restaurants are marking the occasion.
The Heritage Festival runs August 2-4, 2014. If you haven’t already, check out the full menu, and then pick up discounted food tickets at your nearest Servus Credit Union (a sheet of 30 for $20 instead of $25).
I was sorry to hear Everything Cheese closed its doors last week. As they shared in their last mailout: “Running a small, independent retail business is tough at the best of times, but when struck with calamity [a flood], it can be a deal breaker. So this dream and adventure has come to an end, but other adventures await us.”
Have you heard of Loma House (9143 – 23 Avenue), a new vegetarian restaurant in Edmonton? Me neither, until I read Cindy’s post, anyway.
Liv paid a visit to Maritime Concession in the west end.
Andrea ventured into Ha Phuong. It looks like I’ll have to check it out myself some time soon – those green onion twists look great!
Vue Weekly reviewed Sushi Sugoi last week.
First there was Taco Day, now there’s Fondita Day at Expressionz Cafe – read all about it on Lillian’s blog.
The City is looking for feedback on urban agriculture. The survey deadline is August 31, 2014.
A new law just came into effect in France, where restaurants can declare that certain dishes are house made. Unfortunately, the law is problematic and confusing, full of exceptions to the rule.
Congratulations to Earth’s General Store, who opened their second location on 104 Street just north of Jasper Avenue on Friday! Particularly with the impending closure of Sobeys, it is great to have Earth’s so close at hand.

It’s great to see the shelves full again!

We had a staff lunch at the nearby Padmanadi today. It’s been a while since I’ve had it, but their ginger “beef” is so close to the real thing it’s scary. Delicious!

Ginger beef

Taste of Edmonton 2014

The Taste of Edmonton has been getting a lot of love this year, and it couldn’t be at a better time. Celebrating its 30th anniversary, Taste is very much a staple in the city’s busy summer festival calendar. But the organizers haven’t been resting on their laurels – over the past few years, they’ve strived to make changes in order to continuously improve the festival experience, and to try and expand their appeal to an even larger audience. To that end, I think they’ve succeeded.

Taste of Edmonton

Sip ‘N Savour, Taste’s effort to involve chefs and restaurants who might otherwise not participate in the festival with a regular booth, was introduced in 2013. This year, the special workshops and pop-up evenings seemed to have something for everyone, and I loved the idea of the culinary adventures that saw off-site food and drink excursions (in a way, I’d have to think they’d be even more successful in the fall or winter, when festival calendars just aren’t as packed as during the summer months).

There was a lot more non-beer garden seating this year – hurrah!

But the heart of the festival – the food samples served by restaurants – is the real draw. And with a high menu turnover, and the average item priced at 3 tickets, the value for dollar was better than ever before, and patrons were able to sample an even greater variety of dishes. The complaints heard in previous years about the price of food seemed to fall away this year, as the festival returned to again offering taste-sized portions.

I wish more booths hawked their wares like Guru

The crowds have been out in full force, and Wednesday was no different. Lines were twenty deep at some booths, and available standing rom in some areas of the Square was sparse. But even at the dinner hour, it only took us about an hour and a half to sample more than a dozen dishes.

The dinner crowd

One of the highlights for me was the pizza from Canicus Catering. In a way, the food trucks have been a blessing for Taste of Edmonton (introduced in 2012). Whereas restaurant booths are immobile and harder to change over, the addition of trucks provides the festival with the ability to offer “limited edition” items, and with a rotation of trucks throughout the ten days, patrons can return over the course of the event and still try something new.

The line-up

Canicus Catering is perhaps the most unique food truck in Edmonton, serving up wood-fired pizza cooked out of a converted fire truck (where the water tank has been retrofitted with a pizza oven). It was great to see the pizzas being cooked in front of us (whereas in some cases, restaurants employ the “scoop and serve” model).

Canicus Catering

The pizza had a wonderfully crisp crust, and bubbly cheese atop the prosciutto. The fact that it was freshly prepared made all the difference.

Canicus Catering’s prosciutto pizza

Mack’s favourite item was the chicken marsala perogies with sauteed bacon and onion from Select. The tangy flavour was a bit off-putting for me, but Mack had a different opinion.

Select’s marsala perogies

Although many restaurants claimed to use local ingredients, few named the producers, or, in Culina’s instance, put them front and centre. Listing Calgary’s White Gold and Gull Valley as its primary suppliers for its “Prairie” caprese skewer, it really did live up to its name. Mack didn’t find fault with the chicken and bacon kofta with tomato chutney either, remarking that the dish had a lot of flavour.

Culina’s caprese skewer and chicken and bacon kofta

Mack, of course, couldn’t turn down crack chicken from The Lingnan. It was actually the perfect portion size in my opinion!

The Lingnan’s dry spicy chicken

The ricotta cheese fritters from the Edmonton Petroleum Club were disappointing. We had high expectations, but unfortunately, the fritters just needed more salt.

Edmonton Petroleum Club’s ricotta cheese fritters

Creole Envie’s fried green tomatoes are probably an acquired taste, as they were a little too tart for me. But I did anticipate a thicker breading that would hold up a bit better.

Creole Envie’s fried green tomatoes

We ended our meal with Eva Sweet’s liege waffle – one of my favourite sweet treats!

Eva Sweet’s liege waffle

I’m already looking forward to what Taste of Edmonton may have in store for us in its 31st year – see you then!

Food Notes for July 21, 2014

Cathy shared a bit about the forthcoming Rocky Mountain Icehouse (10516 Jasper Avenue), brought to you by the folks behind Cask & Barrel. The grand opening is taking place on July 25 and 26, starting at 4pm.
Elm Café’s Dining Room (9132 – 118 Avenue) will be open for business on July 25 and 26, from 5pm-late, with a theme of Southern BBQ. Make sure to call ahead for reservations.
I love the ideas behind this event on August 7, 2014: Ladies on the Green is a charity golf tournament where golf is optional! Food and indulgences are included, and even golf lessons for those so inclined.
Vue Weekly previews the hotly anticipated El Cortez Tequila Bar + Kitchen.
I didn’t know Pampa was offering cooking classes about Brazilian BBQ. The cost is $90/person, and upcoming dates include August 23 & 24 and September 20 & 21. Unfortunately, Pampa doesn’t have any information on the website to link to – interested parties will just have to call the restaurant.
Karlynn shared that the new fair food winner at this year’s K-Days was the Angry Birds candy apple.
Lillian reviewed a new Korean/Chinese restaurant on the south side called Rae Mi Hyang (10625 51 Avenue).
Have you heard of The Carrot Project? It’s a fundraiser for E4C’s School Snack Program, where they’ve partnered with Meadow Creek Farms (located 1.5 hours outside of Edmonton). For $75, donors will receive over 20 pounds of vegetables in early October, while a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Snack Program.
Congrats to everyone involved in planting the city’s first food forest in the river valley this weekend!
I didn’t hear about the French food blogger fined for a negative review she wrote until I saw the story linked on Cheryl’s blog.
We had our latest What the Truck?! meeting last week at The Parlour (where on Wednesdays, the wine is half price!). The pizzas, as expected, were delicious.

The Gamberi (garlic prawns, sriracha pesto, fior di latte, lemon)

The Hangover (pancetta, fior di latte, fried egg, potato fritto, green onion)

Food and Fun at K-Days 2014

Mack and I may not be the target demographic for K-Days, but we love it regardless. It’s an annual summer tradition for us – there’s just no other festival in Edmonton that offers the variety of attractions, or a midway of that scale.

Midway

We were fortunate enough to have been asked to eat our way through some of the new food items offered this year. And knowing our consumption capacity, we thought it best to invite Amanda and Felicia with us on Saturday, two people also used to testing their limits.

Ready to eat!

Like last year, the one page map produced by K-Days helped us to locate the new dishes on the midway. However, it wasn’t as intuitive as it could have been, as many of the vendor names didn’t match the signage on the actual booths (Tin Lizzy for instance, home of the porcupine corn dog, was branded “Wiggle Chips” instead). I also had to wonder if the list was comprehensive, as none of the local food trucks participating were included on the listing (even though it was their first time at the fair), and Expo Centre vendors were conspicuously absent.

Juicy’s Outlaw Burgers (home of the world’s largest commercially available hamburger and hot dog)

We started our indulgence indoors at the Taste of Canada in Hall H. In 2013, we found the dishes inside to be of the best value (not to mention their relative distance from the deep fryer). Unfortunately, things changed, and the average price for a sandwich with a side of chips has risen to $13. Disappointingly, the menu was smaller and less enticing than last year. Given the recent launch of Northlands’ Alberta Flavour initiative, it’s surprising they couldn’t have somehow incorporated more local ingredients in some of the dishes. We did note the cooking stage located in the same area, but without a posted schedule, we didn’t know when the next demo would be conducted.

We ended up with a Montreal-style house smoked meat sandwich ($13.25). The sandwich itself was fine, if unremarkable. The side of kettle chips was the highlight for me, lightly salted and addictive.

Montreal-style house smoked meat sandwich

Back on the midway, Mack’s annual corn dog was from a maple bacon breakfast corn dog ($7), served with a side of maple syrup for dipping. It was definitely light on the bacon, but Mack enjoyed it all the same.

Mack’s maple bacon breakfast corn dog

Amanda’s porcupine corn dog ($5) was the better deal, and more unique – a corn dog studded with French fries. She remarked that the fries themselves could have used a bit of seasoning, but other than that, she gave it a thumbs up.

Amanda and her porcupine corn dog

I was happy to see the return of Rib Fest. The theatricality of the staff is as much of a spectacle as the food itself.

Rib Fest

That said, I’m not sure why the lines moved so slow this year. It took us more than 30 minutes to reach the front of a modest sized line, even though the transaction time for us between ordering and receiving our food was less than two minutes. The big attraction was Gator BBQ’s pulled pork sundae ($9), a savoury concoction comprised of layers of mashed potato, baked beans and pulled pork.

Success!

The serving size was not for the faint of heart, and from a conception standpoint, I loved the idea of the sundae. Execution-wise, everything from the pulled pork to the potatoes was over salted to the point that we struggled to finish it.

Pulled pork sundae

My favourite item that night was the Royal Street turkey dinner poutine ($12) from Mardi Gras Grill. It was a creative take on comfort food, topping a bed of fries with cheese curds, gravy, slices of roasted turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce. All of the individual elements were well-prepared – the roasted turkey would have been equally delicious on its own – but together, it was a tasty, one box meal.

Royal Street turkey dinner poutine

On the sweet side, I was most looking forward to the deep fried cookie dough ($7). Three generously battered and fried balls made up the serving, lightly dusted with powdered sugar. And though we all remarked that they were intensely sweet, they delivered – the chewy coating gave way to a soft chocolatey centre. Our only suggestion for improvement was to make them two-bite treats.

Deep fried cookie dough

Cin City Donuts offered a different take on the fair favourite of mini doughnuts. We tried their s’mores mini donuts ($5), which saw marshmallows, chocolate sauce and graham crackers replace the traditional cinnamon sugar topping.

S’mores mini donuts

It’s worth noting that when I mentioned that Felicia is allergic to chocolate but still wanted to try it out, they ended up giving us two servings for the same price – one minus the chocolate sauce. Their generosity aside, we had assumed the dish would have been quickly broiled to melt the marshmallows, but no dice. As a result, the donuts themselves were on the dry side. We decided the traditional cinnamon sugar was the way to go.

Interspersed between bites, we took our time to explore the grounds as well.

One of the mini-parade floats

I had been hoping to catch a glimpse of the futuristic robots in the Techlife exhibit, but they had been packed up for the day. Still, there was lots to see in that pavillion, from the Hacklab where kids of all ages were putting together different models, to the mock stadium view they had set-up for gamers on stage.

Hacklab

Gamers on display

Next door in Hall C, we had the chance to indulge in a little gaming ourselves of the retro variety. There was an NES and a Super Nintendo set-up, with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and MarioKart on rotation, respectively. I have to admit, I’m a bit out of practice – Amanda schooled me on MarioKart.

Out of practice

We also took in the Hockey Canada exhibit, and didn’t pass up the chance to have our photo taken in front of a memorable backdrop (we think it’s Eberle’s tying goal in the 2006 World Junior Championships, but we may have heard wrong).

Felicia and I weren’t ready for the photo

Hall A hosted the Farm exhibit, and we loved seeing the live animals.

The three little pigs

How about these three day old chicks?

We closed out the night with a final walk around the midway and fireworks.

Ferris wheel

At Northlands Park

All in all, we had a great day. Thanks again to K-Days for the chance to sample the breadth of this year’s fair food!

K-Days runs July 18-27, 2014.

East Meets West Festival 2014

Mack and I met up with Maria and Roxanne last Saturday to check out the East Meets West Festival in Chinatown, now into its sixth year. In the past, the timing usually coincided with an event in Little Italy (hence the name), but this year, the Business Revitalization Zone-organized Chinatown portion took place about a month earlier.

97 Street

It was great to see the festival return to 97 Street, the main artery of the neighbourhood, and a location that gives the event much more prominence. A stage was set up near 105 Avenue, while vending tents and food trucks were spread out on the street.

Stage

No doubt the weather was much improved from last year (when a flash hailstorm forced the event to shut down early), but I had to assume it was the poor experience the organizers had with small tents in inclement weather that caused them to go with the larger, heavier-duty cover this time. Though its hard to argue with their sturdiness, the walled structures felt disconnected from the rest of the street.

Inside the tent

Most of the vendors beneath the tent sold items typically found at Chinese markets – trinkets, small toys, clothing and accessories. The theme didn’t necessarily continue throughout the marketplace – while it was great to see the Organic Box’s Fruit Truck, it would have been great if they had been able to incorporate some Asian produce into their wares.

Fruit Truck

East Meets West chose to partner with Hawkers Market to organize a combination of pop-up food vendors and food trucks. I was hoping more of the trucks would be serving Asian-themed menus, but it was a bit hit or miss.

Knosh and So-Cal Smoothies

Long Lost Foods was one that absolutely hit the mark with their unique vegan donair made with green onion cakes. Given the recent debate about whether the donair or green onion cake should be crowned Edmonton’s official dish, it was an ingenious way to settle the argument – why not combine the two?

Long Lost Food’s green onion cake donair

With the scorching hot weather, we also couldn’t resist an ice cream sandwich from One Cool Cookie. The trailer is not only equipped with ovens (fresh baked cookies, anyone?), but because they assemble the sandwiches on-site, we were able to personalize our treat with our choice of cookie and ice cream.

One Cool Cookie

I ended up with one of their suggested combinations – skor cookies with Pinocchio’s salted caramel ice cream. The thin, room temperature cookies made this one of the easiest homemade ice cream sandwiches I’ve ever had, and it was darn tasty, too.

Mack’s double chocolate and black cherry ice cream sandwich

It was a great day to be outside, and though the heat may have chased away mid-afternoon revelers, we hoped more foot traffic would come in the evening.

Squinting in the sun

If you missed this event, not to worry – we’ll be announcing the details of our follow-up to our successful 97 Street Night Market shortly. Stay tuned!

Yelp’s Ultimate Science Party @ the Telus World of Science

Ever since the success of the Art Gallery of Alberta’s Refinery series, other cultural and learning institutions have jumped on the bandwagon to replicate their success of drawing young professionals into their folds. The Royal Alberta Museum has started their semi-regular Museum After Dark events, while the Telus World of Science organizes bi-monthly Dark Matters evenings.

Telus World of Science

Yelp partnered with TWOS for their most recent Dark Matters event in order to throw Yelp’s Ultimate Science Party. It was a night to appreciate the Yelp community by merging food and drink with opportunities for adults to indulge in their childish wonder.

The Telus World of Science staff were great, patiently explaining how their stations worked and the science behind them. I made my hair stand on end, while Mack took part in a flaming karaoke device.

Whee!

Do re mi

A ton of people also took the “hovercrafts” for a ride – leaf blowers attached to perforated boards to be maneuvered with sticks. Not exactly what I pictured from Back to the Future, but close enough.

Hovercrafts in action

Yelp had also organized a variety of pampering stations so guests could have their hair and nails done as well. A more popular unisex vendor involved balloon animals, which, according to those who lined up, could have also taken on a more naughty slant.

Diane, Teresa and Brittney and their balloon masterpieces

Of course, a big draw that night for everyone was the food! Tasting stations were set up throughout the building, and stumbling upon them was almost half the fun.

Mini Swiss2Go sandwiches

Food truck bay

Taste of Edmonton, to help promote their upcoming 30th anniversary year (the festival starts July 17, and runs until July 26, 2014), had organized several of their restaurant vendors to offer a sampling of what to expect at the festival.

Miles from The Lingnan dishes up kung pao chicken

The green onion cake from Hong Kong Bakery was irresistible, but the real surprise for me was the cheese fondue in a bread cup from The Melting Pot. It’s hard to mess up melted cheese on bread, but boy, was it delicious.

Green onion cakes!

This was my first Yelp event in some time, and I was quite impressed with how many local businesses were a part of it! And though it was not a typical Dark Matters evening, I could see how the adult-only concept is a great program addition for the Telus World of Science. Mark your calendar for their next Dark Matters, a “Cowboys and Aliens”-themed event on August 28, 2014.

Thanks to Jennie and Yelp for a fun night!

Food Notes for July 14, 2014

It’s almost easy to forget how great summer in Edmonton can be until we have weeks like this. Hope you’re enjoying the weather, too! On to this week’s food notes:

Mealshare is a non-profit that works to help feed Edmonton’s less fortunate by partnering with restaurants for a “buy one, give one” model (certain dishes with a Mealshare logo next to them will result in meals donated to a charity). To mark the addition of six new restaurants to the Edmonton program, they are hosting this year’s pancake breakfast on the morning of the K-Days Parade on July 17 from 7:30-10:30am in Churchill Square. Each $5 breakfast of pancakes + sausage or fruit and yogurt will result in a donated meal. Great cause!
Mark your calendar: Slow Food Edmonton will be hosting several Open Farm Days events in August. The first is on August 23, 2014, and involves a pig roast and other seasonal goodies at Get Cooking’s new digs at MacEwan University. On August 24, 2014, Slow Food will be leading a walking tour through Reclaim Urban Farm’s plots in the Garneau neighbourhood, cumulating in a Ukrainian-themed lunch at the St. John’s Institute. Check out more Open Farm Days events here.
Lux is hosting their fifth annual Bacon Day fundraiser on August 29, 2014. Tickets are $75, with $25 going towards Youth Empowerment & Support Services.
Phil posted a great recap of some of the best burgers he encountered through his Burger Odyssey. I did want to see one awarded a bronzed burger trophy, however.
Speaking of Phil, he’s already onto another new series, this time, to find the best of Edmonton’s patios.
City and Dale shares their favourite picnic spots in the city, with some ideas of how to fill your picnic basket, too.
Check out these visual representations of the last meals consumed by twelve death row inmates (thanks for the tweet, Liane!)
There’s something about the first ripe tomato among the green vines that is just such a satisfying sight.

Sweet baby girl tomatoes from Sundog Organic

Recap: Truck Stop at Boyle Street Plaza

What the Truck?! has always been at the mercy of the elements, and this was no more evident than on Thursday. Boyle Street Plaza played host to our second Truck Stop of the year, a burger-themed event. And though the forecast had been beautiful in the days leading up to Thursday, that evening was incredibly windy and mostly overcast.

Boyle Street Plaza

On the bright side, the lines were short, so it was perfect for folks looking for a quick dinner fix before heading off to make the most of their summer evening.

A break in the clouds

Among the three trucks present (one had to pull out due to mechanical difficulties) was Funky Mango, a Fort Saskatchewan-based truck who specializes in burgers. Mack and I had the Kahuna and the Thai shrimp burger, respectively, and found them to be very good. The latter in particular was very unique, with a handmade shrimp patty, impeccably seasoned, topped with a smattering of peanuts and served in a soft bun.

Thai shrimp burger

We were happy to have Now Radio’s Trucksicle on site, complementing the savoury menus with a free sweet treat.

The ice cream men

Our organizing team also debuted our new volunteer t-shirts on Thursday! It’ll now be easy to find us, if you have a question while you’re on-site.

Just look for the blue and yellow!

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t share at least one picture of the cutest puppy to venture down to the plaza that day: Lemons, a four-month old corgi. Couldn’t you see him as our animal mascot?

Lemons!

Thanks again to the City of Edmonton and the Boyle Street Community League for your support! Our next What the Truck?! will be taking place on Saturday, August 16, 2014. Check back on our website for more information closer to the date!

City Market 2014

I haven’t been up early for the City Market much this season, but in preparation for a potluck tomorrow, I thought it best to make sure we had our pick of produce. Good thing too, given how busy it was right at the start!

Overhead view

I haven’t written much about the market this year, a deviation from previous summers, and because of this it’s harder to reconcile that we’re nearly halfway through the outdoor market season already! On the bright side, it means we’re that much closer to some of my seasonal favourites, including green beans and field tomatoes. But in the meantime, this week saw the return of carrots, new potatoes and peas.