What a beautiful long weekend! It feels nothing like September – let’s hope this weather continues on into the month. On to this week’s food notes:

• A reminder that the 124 Street Red Shoe Crawl is on September 8, 2013. Tickets are still available!
• Tavern 103, Larry Stewart’s venture in the Alberta Hotel (9802 Jasper Avenue), is now open!
• Su alerted me to the forthcoming The Italian Place that looks to fill the vacancy left by That’s Aroma (11010 101 Street). Anyone know more?
• Vue Weekly reviewed Japonais Bistro last week.
• Chris wrote about the most recent 10 Mile Meal that took place in August. Sorry to have missed it!
• I love reading about some of things being done to try and direct people to pick up more produce items at the grocery store.
• I’ve always ordered pho when it is offered on a Vietnamese menu, but last week at Mama Pizza, opted for a vermicelli bowl instead. On a day when I wasn’t up for soup, it hit the spot!

Grilled chicken and spring roll vermicelli bowl from Mama Pizza

• Mack and I had dinner at our neighbourhood Blue Plate Diner on Friday. The shepherd’s pie was delicious, and their sweet potato fries are among the best in the city.

Shepherd’s pie from Blue Plate Diner

This has probably been the worst August on record for this blog – my apologies for the lack of posting – but after foolishly committing myself to running events three Saturdays in a row, I had to prioritize! The last of this month’s festivities takes place on August 31, and I hope to write a bit more about it tomorrow. In the meantime, on to this week’s food notes:

• State & Main, the newest Calgary-based pub/restaurant franchise to hit Edmonton, opens its first location in our city at Southgate Centre on September 1, 2013.
• Liane has a few more details about North 53, a forthcoming locally-themed restaurant in the 124 Street area. When it opens, it will inevitably draw comparisons to its similarly- named Toronto establishment, Mark McEwan’s North 44.
• Vue wrote a nice profile on one of our newest neighbours, The Cavern.
• I realize I don’t have an accompanying photo, but over the weekend at the Fringe, we were quite disappointed with the food options. So much so that we ended up at Zaika two days in a row, as nothing else really appealed to us. It was a little surprising that there was not a single non-special event food truck at the event, given they’ve been popping up at so many of the city’s festivals.
• While strolling through the neighbourhood, we encountered Budding Rose Teas (10728 82 Avenue), a two-month old tea shop on Whyte. They sell loose teas, but also offer edibles, including vegan, soy-free and gluten-reduced options.

Budding Rose Teas

• It looks like Calgary’s Choklat (Alberta’s only bean-to-bar maker) will be opening up an Edmonton location on Whyte on September 7, 2013 at 8111 Calgary Trail. We checked out the Inglewood shop in Calgary several years back.

Choklat

• Another meeting over food, this time at De Dutch over the weekend.

Denver Omelette

Have you had a chance to check out the menus for Saturday’s What the Truck?! It’s our second last event of the year – hope to see you there! On to this week’s food notes:

• Kerstin’s Chocolates is having a liquidation sale on August 22, 2013 of the items in their old shop.
• To celebrate the Valley Zoo’s newest exhibit, the Urban Farm, the site is also hosting a special mini farmers’ market outside the zoo’s gates on August 24 and 31, 2013. Proceeds raised will support Hope Mission and the Edmonton & Area Land Trust.
• Blue Plate Diner is hosting another Farm to Fork dinner on September 5, 2013. Tickets are $75 each.
• The big news this week is undoubtedly Daniel Costa’s expansion, taking over not one, but two spaces adjacent to Corso 32.
• The Journal reviewed Belgravia Hub last week.
• Twyla wrote about her recent experience at Rge Rd – I’m salivating at the photos alone.
• Liv reviewed Knosh, the British-themed food truck that took over Nomad’s wheels.
• I didn’t end up attending the preview of Plow & Harvest, Edmonton’s newest restaurant, but perhaps I didn’t miss too much. I have to agree with Liane’s take on its ambiguously “local” philosophy.
• I had no idea the person behind the Lay’s Perogy Platter flavour is from Edmonton! I haven’t yet tried it, but the fact that this is the hometown favourite is another reason to do so!
• Valerie’s latest round-up of the Canadian Food Experience Project is all about regional food heroes. Click on to read some inspiring stories!
• I was so ready for a glass of wine on Friday. I couldn’t think of a better place to unwind than at The Cavern, over a cheese and charcuterie plate, and of course, a cold glass of vino.

The Cavern

It’s been a whirlwind to plan, but it’s finally here – I hope to see you at the 97 Street Night Market on Saturday! On to this week’s food notes:

• The Edmonton Latin Festival is coming up this weekend, August 17-18, 2013 in Churchill Square.
• The next Ten Mile Meal will be taking place on August 24, 2013. Check out the activities and menu here.
• Also that day is the 4th annual Bacon Day at Lux Steakhouse & Bar. Tickets are $70, with $25 from each ticket going to support of the Youth Empowerment & Support Services.
• Sabor Divino’s tapas and wine bar is now open.
• For the first time, En Route Magazine is offering readers the opportunity to vote for the “Best New Restaurant” category. Edmonton’s Canteen is among the restaurants being considered – so support your local favourite!
• The Journal asks, “What is local?”
• The City of Edmonton released their new food truck operating guidelines this week – it’ll be interesting to see if more trucks do take advantage of the longer service hours.
• Phil blogged about some of his unsung local food heroes, recognizing Joveena Holmes, Su Dennis and Cynthia Strawson. I heartily concur!
• Would you eat meat grown in a lab?
• Yes, Taco Bell is now offering waffle tacos for your breakfast pleasure.
• Three Amigos is opening up a second location downtown at 10247 Jasper Avenue.

Three Amigos

• Lays is currently running a contest where Canadians can choose the next feature flavour. For your consideration: Maple Moose, Perogy Platter, Grilled Cheese and Ketchup and Creamy Caesar Salad. Mack and I tried the last two – they taste disappointingly like ketchup and ranch chips, respectively.

Choose your Lays

• Cask & Barrel has been a great post-work meeting place, and even better last Wednesday when we found out they offer free wine tastings on the first Wednesday of every month. Score!

Free wine tasting @ Cask & Barrel

• Mack and I were in Calgary over the weekend for a Jack and Jill party. We managed a few food stops, including Kingsland Market, Phil & Sebastian and Village Ice Cream. I’d highly recommend the latter – my salted caramel and Mack’s spiced banana were among some of the best ice creams we’ve ever had.

Phil & Sebastian’s bottled cold brew coffee

Village Ice Cream

It was such a gorgeous long weekend, I’m a little sad it’s coming to an end! I hope you made the most of it also. On to this week’s food notes:

• The 10th annual Summer Latin Fest is taking place on August 11, 2013 from 10am-5pm at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish (11310 111Avenue). Expect food and entertainment by over 15 Latin American cultures found in Edmonton.
• A group called Mirepoix (“dedicated to the values of good cooking and sustainable living, with culinary experience from all walks of life around the city and around the world”) is hosting a 5-course vegan pop-up dinner on August 19, 2013 at Noorish.
• Plow & Harvest is a new restaurant opening up at 10041 170 Street. They seek to redefine the art of comfort food while sourcing ingredients from local producers. They are hosting a Sneak Peek Tasting event on August 13, 2013 from 5-8pm, to which I have a double guest pass to give away. To enter, simply leave a comment below (with a valid e-mail address) that indicates you would like to attend the event by 11:59pm on August 7. The winner will be randomly chosen and contacted by e-mail. Good luck! (August 9 EDIT: Congratulations to Ronnie, Glenda and Ashley – enjoy the sneak peek!)
• Bannock Burger seems to have found a new location at 10704 124 Street, opening soon.
• Also in that neighbourhood, the forthcoming North 53 restaurant at 10240 124 Street.
• Yes, there is another new food truck on the streets, though it might seem familiar at first glance. Knosh, specializing in British comfort food, has taken over Nomad’s truck.
• Sabzy is moving from its Old Strathcona location  to 9314 34 Avenue.
• Liv reviewed RGE RD last week.
• Linda e-mailed me raving about Pita Hut (4916 50 Ave), a relatively new family-run business in Leduc. She says, “It’s a tiny place, with a few tables (most of their business is take-out), friendly staff, and delicious food.”
• Remedy’s new Whyte Avenue location at 10404 Whyte Avenue is now open!

Remedy Café

• This has been a month of dinner meetings – last week, it was over pho at Xu Hue in Chinatown.

Pho with beef balls

Where has the summer gone?! We’re already into August this week, and the hours of daylight seem to be slipping away ever so slowly. To help you make the most of what’s left of the season, I’m almost ready to share more about some of the exciting projects I’m involved in (besides What the Truck?!). Stay tuned! On to this week’s food notes:

• A reminder that Fork Fest finishes up this week on August 1, 2013. Check out the menus here.
• Dishcrawl announced a new event series last week, called Neighbourfood, an “an afternoon celebration of food, family, and the community we live in.” The August 25, 2013 inaugural Neighbourfood centres on 124 Street, and part of the proceeds will support the Youth Empowerment and Support Services. A $15 advanced ticket will give you the opportunity to take in a food or drink at one of the eight participating locations, while you can purchase additional tickets for $5. It sounds a bit like the Red Shoe Crawl to me, but with less detail about exactly how much goes to the charity in question.
• The next Writer’s Corner focuses on food writing! Join Mary Bailey, Jennifer Cockrall-King and Tina Faiz at Stanley Milner Library on August 25, 2013 at 1:30pm.
• I walked past a new food trailer, the Blue Giraffe Creamery, the other day, but didn’t have a chance to stop. Thanks to Marlow Moo’s post, I now know what I missed – liquid nitrogen ice cream!
• Also new to the food truck scene, Liv reviewed the Black Bull Grill.
• Phil and Robyn went on a tasting tour of Central Alberta – what’s better than dining in a caboose?
• Valerie shared her gorgeous photos of what looked to be another amazing RGE RD 135 dinner at Nature’s Green Acres.
• Vue Weekly profiled Lactuca, the extremely local greens you’ve seen at the 124 Grand Market and on menus around town.
• Congratulations to the members of the new Edmonton Food Council! They begin meeting this fall.
• Did you know Yellowhead Brewery serves lunch? I had heard something to that effect, but could never find anything on their website. Though that is still true, I can now confirm that the Brewery serves up a “wurst lunch” from 11am-2pm, Monday to Friday in the Tasting Room. I was invited to a drop in tasting on Friday, and sampled the lamb wurst and fabulous housemade soft pretzels myself. Check out the menu here.

Wurst lunch tasting

• It’s been a chilly summer, made apparent to me last week on the Cask & Barrel patio. As soon as the sun disappeared, we were all shivering in our summer wear! Hence the order of fall-appropriate comfort food.

The Heritage meatloaf

• A group of us celebrated May’s bachelorette party at her favourite restaurant, Café Amore. I hadn’t been to the new location yet, but I’m happy to say the food is just as good!

Truffle chicken pasta

Tiramisu

Just a reminder that our next Truck Stop is taking place this Thursday, July 25 downtown at the Boyle Renaissance. It’s an opportunity to try out four of Edmonton’s newest trucks and explore the new facility in The Quarters. Hope to see you there! On to this week’s food notes:

• Fort Edmonton Park has organized a “Food Through the Ages” event running at the site from August 3-5, 2013. Every day, visitors will have an option to work for their food, through a period-appropriate chore, and will be awarded with a period snack. Interesting idea of incorporating a participatory history lesson with food!
• Looking for something new to eat at K-Days? Liane writes that the deep-fried apple caramel pie was awarded the “best new food” on the midway this year.
• Liane provides a backgrounder to Rge Rd, the newest restaurant to open in the city.
• The Journal reviewed The Burg – it’s been hit or miss for diners, so good to hear they had a positive experience.
• Andrea posted about her experience at a recent Dishcrawl in the Southgate area.
• Sustainable Food Edmonton is looking to raise $250,000 to bring City Farm back.
• I’ve been dreaming about a Diner en Blanc in Edmonton since we were inspired to pull off the pedway pop-up last year, but it’s nice to see the event done closer to home – in Calgary, at Central Memorial Park in early July.
• Since Credo began closing early, I’ve had to look for another post-work meeting place. Though Roast does the job, it’s a bit inconsistent. THIS Place (10382 105 Street), however, has become my new favourite. On a hot summer’s day, what’s better than a popsicle and a freshly-squeezed lemonade?

Raspberry lemonade popsicle and lemonade

I strong-armed Mack into the Vietnamese iced coffee popsicle since I already ordered  – so unique!

• We used up some free pizza vouchers at the Whyte Avenue location of Famoso on the weekend. I’m happy to say it was a much better experience than our visit to the South Common branch.

Margherita pizza from Famoso

• Mack and I have also been craving ice cream and gelato like nothing else this past week! It meant a walk over to Cococo on 124 Street over the weekend – not a bad way to work for a treat!

Crème brulee gelato

It’s hard to believe we’re already in the middle of July – where has the summer gone? On the bright side, I do feel like we’ve been taking in a good variety of all that’s available to us in Edmonton. It really is a great place to be during festival season. On to this week’s food notes:

• Liane previewed the upcoming Taste of Edmonton Festival, which is helpful to parse through all of their new events this year. I’m looking forward to being a part of the judging panel at the ATCO Blue Flame Black Box Competition on Sunday!
• In the midst of festival season, I almost forgot about Fork Fest, which runs July 21-25 and July 28-August 1, 2013. Menus are forthcoming.
• Ration is a pop-up restaurant taking place on July 25, 2013 at Sabzy. Their 5-course vegetarian dinner will focus on celebrating the seasonal bounty that can be harvested locally. The event is led by Mithalee Rawat, the head chef at Pangea’s deli.
• Love Salvadorean food? Head to the Pupusa Festival on July 27, from noon-8pm at the Alberta Avenue Community Hall.
• Heritage Days food tickets are now on sale! You can also see the food menu here.
• Go now, Edmonton: RGE RD, Chef Blair Lebsack’s new restaurant in the former Blue Pear space, is now open!
• Yes, there is another food truck. Liv gives us the low-down on the comfort food of Street Eats.
• Speaking of food trucks, Bully handed out more than 400 free turkey dinners on Saturday outside the Bissell Centre. Bravo.
• Curious about how The Burg came to be? Check out this article in Vue.
• Thanks to the City’s streamlined rules on sidewalk cafes, it has been wonderful to see them blossom all around downtown, including at Tres Carnales.
• Mack and I stopped by the St. Albert Farmers’ Market on our way to an errand in the area. Though we had already done our shopping that morning, it was great to wander through. It was neat to see they had free bike parking!

Bike parking

• Oh how I missed you, Pho Tau Bay – after their two month hiatus, I was more than happy to fall back into a bowl of your comforting noodle soup.

Pho!

• The nights have been somewhat chilly, but Mack and I are still trying to take advantage of the al fresco dining window!

Pizza on the patio

We’re not able to harbour pets in our current building, but it doesn’t mean I can’t love dogs! I’ve heard so much about the Avenue Goes to the Dogs Festival on Alberta Avenue but we’ve never been – when I saw that they will have wiener dog races at noon on Sunday, I knew where we’d be this weekend. Hope you’ll be out and about as well! Onto this week’s food notes:

• Add another market to the Sunday list: the Century Park Sunday Market runs every Sunday from 9:30am-2pm until September 29, 2013. It just started on June 2, so it isn’t surprising they only have 8-10 vendors, but given the sudden increase in Sunday markets, I’m not sure how many more they can realistically attract.
• It’s great to see The North Edge (Central McDougall and Queen Mary Park, just north of downtown) repeating their successful series of food tours, now called Flavour Journey. Tickets are just $30, and grant you samples at three restaurants in the area. The event will run July 17, 31 and August 7, 2013.
• 10 Mile Meal has announced two of their upcoming events. The first is an urban meal in partnership with a Taste of Edmonton on July 27, 2013, where tickets are $60. The second is in Calmar, Alberta, the summer fair meal will celebrate German recipes made using locally-sourced ingredients. Tickets range from $65-80, depending on the inclusion of a farm tour.
• Speaking of Taste of Edmonton, they have released a full printable menu online. The festival runs July 18-27, 2013.
• Dishcrawl is already planning their next event, and it is right in my neck of the woods, 104 Street! The event runs on August 6, 2013, and tickets are $50.
• RGE RD, Chef Blair Lebsack’s new restaurant in the former Blue Pear space, is set to open this week! Keep your eyes peeled on Twitter.
• Avenue Edmonton’s fifth 25 Best Things to Eat List is finally online. For an annual feature that readers anticipate, you would think the editors would get it up sooner.
• The Act Out & About was featured on Eat St. last week! Great to see Edmonton representation on the show.
• Liane wrote about one man’s quest to quietly promote beekeeping in the city.
• I didn’t really understand the reason for the hype around “cronuts” (a cross between a croissant and a doughnut) until I read this.
• Mack sent me a link to a Business Week article about the McWrap at McDonald’s, and how it will not only position themselves as a “Subway buster”, but also will change the cucumber industry.
• Grub Street reports that Hostess products (think: Twinkies) may be getting makeovers in the near future, with health-conscious labels such as gluten-free, whole grain, and stevia-sweetened snack cakes. Well, if Kraft Dinner did it, why not Twinkies?
• Mack spied that Irie Foods (10152 82 Avenue) on Whyte Avenue is no longer, soon to be replaced with Pho 102.

Pho 102 Noodle Soup

Happy Canada Day! Hope you were out enjoying the glorious weather today, and taking in all the myriad activities happening all across the city. On to this week’s food notes:

• The Green & Gold Community Garden opened its market on June 29. Check their website for hours and a weekly produce update. Run by volunteers, all proceeds from the garden go to a non-profit organization in Rwanda that supports marginalized women.
• Liane had more details to share about Tavern 1903, the new resto-bar from the folks behind Hardware Grill that is set to open in the Alberta Hotel in August.
• Avenue Edmonton released their 5th edition of the 25 Best Things To Eat this week (unfortunately, it is not yet online – hopefully they will rectify the print and online connection soon). They are also hosting a party on July 4, 2013 to celebrate the issue. RSVP here.
• Von’s will be unveiling their new menu, designed by Chef Shane Chartrand, on July 2, 2013.
• Marlow Moo was disappointed with her recent experience at The Burg.
• It was interesting to read about Stony Plain Road’s plans to become Edmonton’s “Market District”.
• Phil offers a peek at three of the new Sunday farmers’ markets in Edmonton.
• I noticed that Syphay is now in Chinatown (94 Street & Jasper Avenue)! I haven’t been down Calgary Trail in a while, so don’t know if their other location remains intact, or if they moved, since their website is not up-to-date.

Syphay

• Mack and I always try to make our way to The Works, which is never too crowded and is great to explore at your own pace. This year, I was delighted to find a shopping cart carousel, constructed from metal barricades and shopping carts. Even cooler, the ride was human-powered – I bet the volunteers ended up with a good workout at the end of their shift.