Hello, winter! We knew we were in for a cold February after an above average January, but it is still a shock to the system. Bundle up! On to this week’s food notes:

• More details were announced about the second Hawkers Market, taking place on February 22, 2014.
• Daravara, the newest 124 Street hot spot, opened on February 1, 2014.
• Liane shared some news about a new coffee shop coming soon to Oliver, called Iconoclast Koffie Huis (first Sloppy Hogs Roed Hus, and now this). Look for it in the coming weeks at 11807B 105 Avenue.
• Shanghai 456 is now open in their new location (14456 118 Avenue). Time to get your xiao long bao on!
• North 53 scored a pair of reviews, from both Robyn and Liv. Their new website is also up, if you want a longer look at their menu.
• Andrea reviewed brunch at Sherwood Park’s Square One Wye Road.
• Vue Weekly checks out The Parlour.
• Liane kicked off a bi-weekly series last week which shines a light on the city’s delis. Her first piece focuses on Omonia Foods in Chinatown.
• This is certainly the first time I’ve seen a restaurant use Kickstarter to fund a campaign to make a Taste of Edmonton booth possible.
• Did you know NAIT grows microgreens and herbs year-round in their Urban Cultivator?
• With an intense craving for burek, Mack and I headed to The Cheese Factory on Friday night. It was also a good excuse to indulge in their squeaky cheese poutine.

Meat burek

Traditional poutine

• We celebrated Chinese New Year over the weekend with friends and family. Nothing like a generous spread to ring in the Year of the Horse!

Prosperity toss!

Though it feels like we just finished celebrating the Christmas season, I’m ready for another festive occasion – Chinese New Year! Happy New Year to those who also recognize the holiday! Onto this week’s food notes:

• It’s the last week for Fork Fest, running until January 30, 2014.
• Why shouldn’t a farmers’ market celebrate a grand opening January? Join the Sherwood Park Farmers’ Market at their new location (401 Festival Lane) on January 29, 2014.
• The Alberta Canola Producers Commission is hosting a fundraiser for the Heart & Stroke Foundation, taking place on February 3, 2014. Six female chefs have created the six-course meal. Tickets are $75.
• The Okanagan Food and Wine Writers’ Workshop opened up their registration this week. The event runs May 9-11, 2014.
• Marianne files the first report on North 53, the restaurant everyone has been talking about.
• Some restaurant closure news: Moriarty’s is shutting its doors on January 31, 2014.
• Woodwork was positively reviewed in the Journal last week.
• Check out Phil’s latest post on his quest for the best burger in Edmonton – this time, he focuses on diner burgers at Hathaway’s Diner and Jack’s Burger Shack.
• Phil has started a new series on his blog – “5 Questions With…”. The first iteration asks chefs about their burger-related preferences.
• Rge Rd held their first ever winter farm dinner two weeks ago, an amazing feat of planning and execution in Alberta!
• I hope Anthony Bourdain’s idea of an authentic NYC food market (patterned after the great food “courts” in Asia) comes to fruition – it sounds amazing.
• Annie sent me this link featuring punny food-related valentines (my favourite: #27, of course).
• Speaking of pho, it looks like Delicious Pho (10418 124 Street), which took over from The Makk, is now open.

Delicious Pho

• I met up with Brittney and Linda for brunch at Urban Diner on the weekend. The poffertjes, as usual, were a tasty way to start, but I was a bit disappointed with the quiche, expecting a tart crust instead of puff pastry.

Poffertjes

Quiche

• The City Market kicked off Lunar New Year celebrations early, with 5 Elements busking, to the delight of shoppers.

5 Elements @ the City Market

• Fork Fest has released their menus. I’ll be checking out the Manor Café next week!
• Hot Chefs, Cool bEATS is back this year, taking place at the Shaw Conference Centre on March 29, 2014. Tickets are $125 and all inclusive of wine and drinks. Mack and I went in 2012, and enjoyed everything from the indoor street party to the displays, and of course, the food.
• Save the date: Eat Alberta will be taking place on April 26, 2014. The line-up of workshops is already shaping up to be one of our best ever. I can’t wait to share more details soon.
• After two seasonal pop-ups, Knifewear has announced that it is staying put!
• Hoang Long is expanding again – another downtown location is joining La Prep in the First & Jasper Building.
• Liv reviews The Phork, which has taken up residence in Grandin.
• Andrea posted about her great experience at 97 Hot Pot.
• Phil’s latest burger odyssey, unfortunately, covers two burger fails from recent Edmonton restaurant additions. Better luck next time, Phil!
• K.A. Café on Whyte offers up solid Lebanese food, shares Vue Weekly.
• Valerie’s latest Canadian Food Experience round-up is all about new year’s resolutions. Click over to read for some inspiration.
• Liane wrote a great piece highlighting food waste in Canada – a little bit from each household does add up.
• On the television front, Masterchef Canada premiered tonight. No Edmonton contestants, but there are six from Alberta in the top 50.
• At the Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market on Saturday, we finally picked up a box of Frickin’ Delights Donuts – several people have recommended the treats as their favourite vegan doughnuts in the city. Good flavour, though the springy texture caught us a bit off-guard at first.

Frickin’ Delights Donuts

• Mack’s craving for butter chicken on the weekend led us to Origin India.

Happy for butter chicken!

• How’s this for random acts of kindness: Jacek Chocolate Couture is giving away 150 box of chocolates on January 16, 2014.
• Sailin’ On is hosting a pop-up on January 18, 2014 at Richie Hall. They’ll have music and some of the truck’s brand new food items!
• Another Fork Fest is upon us it runs January 19-23 and 26-30, 2014 – menus aren’t up yet, but you can see the list of participating restaurants here.
• Craft Beer Market is hosting their inaugural Brewmaster’s Dinner on January 22, 2014. Tickets to the multi-course dinner are $60.
• The Cavern Cheese School will be in session on January 26, 2014. It sounds like it will be a wonderful palate exercise through the tasting of various cheese and wine pairings. Tickets are $75 each.
• Planning your escape from Edmonton? Join Liane on her next food tour to New Orleans in May 2014.
• Liane has more details about perhaps what is the most anticipated restaurant of the year: Daniel Costa’s Bar Bricco, to open in early February.
• Liane also dishes on Daravara, a new bar/eatery to hit 124 Street.
• Andrea reviewed The Glass Monkey.
• Sushi Sugoi is a good addition to South Edmonton, shares Eat Your City.
• Liv dined and wrote about Woodwork.
• This sounds epic: Phil is going on a burger odyssey, and is looking for input on what should be considered in his quest for the best in Edmonton.
• Hopefully we’ll have more than this to look forward to in the arena district, food-wise, but – a Joey’s Restaurant has been proposed to be built just north of the Bell Tower.
• Liane wrote a piece about what to look for in 2014.
• Jason Foster has an interesting comparison of the four beer markets in Edmonton, and what he sees as their distinct approaches.
• First pho (of many) in the New Year!

My usual at Pho Tau Bay

I feel like I’m finally catching up on things, which feels even harder to do because Edmonton’s food scene didn’t take a holiday this year! If anything, our city’s gift from local food entrepreneurs was the breadth of new restaurants to try in 2014. What resolutions?

• Deep Freeze is this weekend! Looking forward to checking out the festivities, but only after filling up on an Elm Café brunch, January 11-12, from 10am-2pm at 9132 118 Avenue.
• If you missed Elm Café’s last feature dinner, they will be cooking up a Burns Supper on January 25, 2014 at the Queen Alexandra Community Hall. Four courses for $40.
• The Tomato is offering a peek into their test kitchen – join Mary Bailey and Chef Brad Smoliak as they offer their tips and tricks through a cooking workshop. 10 spots only.
• Speaking of The Tomato, they are once again soliciting suggestions for their 2014 Tomato Top 100 – the deadline is January 25, 2014. I can imagine it will be hard to top last year’s list without too much repetition.
• Remedy Café is expanding again! They will join Credo Coffee’s second location on 124 Street.
• A sushi wave has broken in Edmonton – Liv reviews new Japanese restaurant Kamiyo (10846 82 Avenue) on Whyte.
• Kenko Japanese Cuisine (9543 42 Avenue) is another newcomer on the south side – both Andrea and Linda checked it out.
• More details have surfaced about the new Tres Carnales project to open in the Mercer Warehouse this summer.
• Liv sums up her review of 2013 and her predictions for 2014.
• Vue Weekly looks back on the Edmonton dining scene in 2013.
• Where Magazine crowned its best new restaurant of 2013: RGE RD!
• To echo Mack, one National Geographic writer’s favourite market that he happened to visit in a calendar year somehow mutated into the accolade of “world’s best farmers’ market”.
• Chopped Canada started last week. Are you watching? Apparently a lot of people are – it smashed Food Network premiere records.
• Eater National has a round-up of what’s hot and not in the US – it’s a great herald of what we can expect to trickle down to us in a few years.
• A well-known New York critic unmasked himself last week – you can read why here.
• Your lesson for the day: the history of the chocolate chip cookie.
• The Greenhouse finally opened their downtown location (10119 101 Street).

The Greenhouse

I would apologize for my extended absence, but a vacation and extended time spent with family and friends was just what my soul needed. I feel rested and ready to take on the new year! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with loved ones, and hope you have a fabulous 2014! Here are some of my catch-up notes that cover the past few weeks:

• A number of new restaurants opened up in December such as Woodwork, the storefront from the folks behind Nomad. Vue Weekly provides a portrait of the restaurant in progress, as well as some of the philosophy behind the food and drink. Andrea had lunch there, while Chris also has an early review, noting that the temperature of the restaurant has been impacting dining experiences.
• The Glass Monkey, replacing the Jack’s Grill in Lendrum (5842 111 Street) is now open. Anyone been yet?
• The Phork (101, 9707 110 Street), occupying the revolving door space in Grandin most recently occupied by Antonio’s, opened on December 13, 2013 (thanks, Eva, for the heads up!). They are ambitious, serving up breakfast to late night. Perhaps this is the magic needed for that location?
• Craft Beer Market, a Calgary import, opened at 10013 101A Avenue on December 19, 2013. They have over 100 beers on tap, and a large food menu. Several bloggers attended their opening event, including Cheryl, Chris and Liv.
• Even Sherwood Park has a new restaurant: Square One Wye Road (#32, 993 Fir Street). Liv has already tried some of their diverse menu items.
• If Urban Shabu is busy, you can now head down the block to 97 Hot Pot (10602 97 Street). Linda checked it out and loved their broths!
• Lincoln spotlights Tasty Choice (107, 2920 Calgary Trail) in his YEGventures series, offering Asian comfort food.
• Sushi Sugoi (2874 Calgary Trail), in the former Outback Steakhouse location on Calgary Trail, is now open.
• No photo, unfortunately, but a restaurant called Delicious Pho is coming soon to the space that previously housed The Makk (10418 124 Street).
• Learn more about North 53 (10240 124 Street), another restaurant in the growing inventory of establishments on 124 Street. They are accepting reservations starting on January 15, 2014.
• The big news this December was twofold – Roast (10359 104 Street) in the Mercer Warehouse closed, ending the presence of another independent coffee shop downtown, but a day later, it was announced that Tres Carnales would be taking over the space, offering a new Mexican concept.
• Congrats to the winners of the city’s Winter Drink competition, Transcend and Jasper Place High School!
• Do your 2014 resolutions include learning more about food? Check out Shovel & Fork’s winter class calendar.
• We had a smashing time in New York, exploring places old and new. I felt we knew a bit more about the city on this visit, so was better able to maximize our time there. There were lots of memorable moments, but as some of you already know, Mack asked me to marry him in Central Park, and I said yes!

At The Mall in Central Park

I’m counting down the days! Mack and I are heading to New York on the weekend for a long-awaited vacation. Although there’s quite a bit standing between me and that flight (namely, work and last-minute Christmas errands), I’m starting to get excited. I won’t be blogging while I’m away, but I’ll be back towards Christmas. On to this week’s food notes:

• Christmas Reflections, an annual event at Fort Edmonton Park celebrating Christmas through the ages, is on December 6-23, 2013. Now that the mercury has risen a little, it should be more bearable to take in the outdoor streets.
• Looking for something other than turkey for Christmas? How about afternoon tea and a tour of an Edmonton landmark? The Hotel MacDonald is offering their Nutcracker Tea and Tour from November 30-December 29, 2013.
• On December 19, 2013, the businesses on 104 Street will be hosting customer appreciation events, ranging from discounts to samples.
• RGE RD may be known for the summer farm-to-table dinners, but on January 19, 2014, they will host their first winter feast out on Nature’s Green Acres.
• Mark your calendar – the second Hawkers Market is taking place on February 22, 2014, and tickets are already available.
• Woodwork, the restaurant from the folks behind Nomad and the Volstead Act, is now open! Check out the menu here.
• A tale of two reviews: Twyla and Andrea give you their takes on Century Hospitality’s newest restaurant, Parlour.
• The Journal reviewed Fired Up BBQ last week (this has to be the year of the smokehouse in Edmonton).
• Liane shared that Kathryn Joel of Get Cooking will be opening up a standalone cooking studio in the new year.
• There’s been some discussion about what dish should represent Edmonton. Is it green onion cakes?
• Looks like Irie Foods is no more, and has been replaced by Kaengthai Bistro (10152 82 Avenue).

Kaengthai Bistro

• Season’s eatings: this time, it was for my work team’s Christmas lunch, at Viphalay.

Pad Thai

While I’m not looking forward to the temperature drop this week, we were certainly treated to a gorgeous snow fall tonight, shimmering in the air and beneath my feet. It’s easy to forget how beautiful winter can be when we’re bundled up! On to this week’s food notes:

• Though there have been a rash of restaurant closings in the past few weeks, we’ve been buoyed by a similar number of opening announcements: Chic-Hog-O’s is one, replacing the former Chateau Beirut at 10058 112 Street (disappointingly, I couldn’t find anything to link to, not even a Facebook page). Liv has already visited and posted about her meal here.
• Century Hospitality Group’s newest restaurant, The Parlour, is also open. Looking forward to trying one of their signature pizzas.
• It was great to hear that Credo, our beloved neighbourhood coffee shop, is expanding! Expect their second location to open some time in the spring/summer in the Limelight Building (10350 124 Street).
• Nearby, Colonel Mustard’s, which was devastated by a flood in February, is looking to tear down the building and rebuild.
• Are fresh vegan convenience meals a myth? Not if VegPalette has anything to say about it. They offer different meal plans based on the needs of the customer.
• Liane Faulder, fresh off the heels of a successful culinary tour in Italy this year, will be hosting an 8 day food and wine tour in Barcelona in March 2014. It sounds like a great combination of food experiences, cultural site visits and walking tours.
• This is such a neat idea (thanks to Jill for sharing!): a pop-up restaurant in Austria accepted food scraps as payment for a meal. Given the amount of food thrown away daily, it was an opportunity to highlight the possibility of converting compostable waste into biofuel.
• First Urban Shabu, and now, Hot Pot 97 to come. It makes sense for a winter city to embrace hot pot – maybe this can be one of Edmonton’s signature dining experiences.

Hot Pot 97

• Bannock Burger (10704 – 124 Street) is now open!

Bannock Burger

• One of the Boards I volunteer for hosted a lovely Christmas dinner at ZINC last week. The service was attentive, and the meal was well prepared. As one of my colleagues noted, it was a great way to kick-off a season of eating!

Sablefish with green pea and asiago risotto

• Mack and I took Grandma Male to Izakaya Tomo on the weekend. It was her first time there, and she enjoyed being able to sample a multitude of dishes. It was also a good excuse for us to indulge in a second order of chicken kara-age…

Chicken Kara-age

Less than a week out from December, folks! It’s my favourite time of year, and I’m looking to finally put up the tree this weekend (Mack’s Christmas tolerance begins, of course, at the conclusion of American Thanksgiving). Hope you’re enjoying the start of festivities as well! On to this week’s food notes:

• Looking forward to attending the first ever Hawker’s Market in Edmonton on November 30, 2013! Get your admission tickets in advance and save $5.
• The Parlour (10334 Capital Boulevard), the newest Century Hospitality Group restaurant, will finally be opening up this weekend.
• It looks like we can look forward to a December 19, 2013 opening of the Craft Beer Market downtown.
• Liane gives us a sneak peek of the forthcoming North 53 restaurant. Their menu will offer “progressive Canadian” cuisine.
• Lillian visited Coco Deep Fried Chicken, where the “K” in KFC stands for “Korean”!
• Not surprisingly, the Journal wrote a positive review for the newest Cactus Club location in the city.
• The Journal also profiled the GF Diner in Old Strathcona, the first restaurant in Edmonton offering an exclusively gluten-free menu.
• Two Montreal-area servers share their twenty pet peeves about restaurant diners.
• Was a documentary about jet-setting foodies really necessary? I guess it’s not too much of a stretch from the excess already shown on television.
• We took in the first annual All is Bright on 124 Street on Saturday. They really went all out, with a street closure, massive stage, and a good-sized food and beverage area. It was great to see so many families out enjoying the activities, and several businesses participating as well.

Sleigh ride

Food trucks are still alive and well!

Ice sculptures

• I met up with Mack at Pho Tau Bay last week for lunch. Needless to say, it hit the spot.

Pho for two

I feel like I’m still catching up from being away last week, but it was nice to be able to visit Ottawa for the first time. Sadly, when we left for Edmonton, it was +14. On to this week’s food notes:

• I’ve been looking forward to 124 Street’s All is Bright for some time! It’s a winter festival with food, hot drinks, sleigh rides and light displays. See you there!
• Just in time for Christmas, Knifewear is back with a pop-up in the city, at 10816 – 82 Avenue. The shop will be open from November 23 through to January 28.
• Hawkers Market is a Vancouver-based event that’s coming to Edmonton on November 30, 2013. The event gives food businesses, “a platform to cook, test ideas, meet customers”. It sounds a lot like the Toronto Underground Market I attended last year, which seemed to be a great opportunity for entrepreneurs to gain traction.
• It’s winter all right! Celebrate the season by submitting your best brew (alcoholic or non alcoholic) in the Winter City drinks competition! Prizes include a staycation package and in-home tasting parties. The deadline to enter your recipe is December 8, 2013.
• Sushi Sugoi will be opening soon in the former Outback Steakhouse on the south side (2874 Calgary Trail).
• Liane had some more information about the forthcoming Glass Monkey gastropub in Lendrum (5842 111 Street). It is set to open in mid-December.
• La Oliva, a gluten-free kitchen, celebrated its grand opening this past weekend at 10575 114 Street. The business offers catering and cooking classes.
• Liv checks out the new Rock Wood Fired Pizza.
• It would be wonderful to see a restaurant in the building adjacent to Beaver Hills House Park.
• Love chocolate? Check out Choklat’s series of tastings, called Choklat Snobbery 101, featuring tastings and wine pairings. Tickets are $40.
• Don’t click on this post hungry – Valerie’s sixth Canadian Food Experience Project round-up features numerous photos of comfort food.
• Did you know about Coca-Cola’s “assault on tap water”?
• On our way to the Italian Centre on the weekend, we noticed signage for an Allegro Italian Kitchen on 95 Street and 108 Avenue. Anyone know if this is a second location or if the restaurant is moving?

Allegro Italian Kitchen