Though I wouldn’t expect anything less, Canada is embroiled in Olympic Fever! I have to say I am enjoying my share of the Vancouver coverage, but there seems to be a daily limit of how much I can watch. In other news, have you taken a look at the plan for Fort Edmonton Park yet? It proposes the inclusion of several new restaurants, among other additions. I encourage you to take the survey – it’s a piece of the puzzle that will help shape the future of one of the city’s attractions. On to this week’s food notes:

• Jeff and Sally of The Edmontonian posted a great article on Culina – definitely worth a read. Also on the Culina front – the family of restaurants has started a blog. Knowing that this is their second attempt at this (the “blog” link on their revamped website was rarely used), I wish them luck with keeping it up!
• Farmers’ market news from Liane: Sparrow’s Nest Organics won’t be returning to the City Centre Market this year. However, interested consumers can still buy into their CSA program.
• Mary Ellen and Andres Gruenberg of Greens, Eggs and Ham are offering their pre-payment plan for a second year in a row – a minimum of $25o will guarantee you a great selection of products year round. I participated last year, and found it to be a convenient way to access local goods from a farming family that I trust. E-mail Mary Ellen for more information.
• Look out for a new Famoso to open soon in Christy’s Corner (13655 St. Albert Trail, 780-732-0222). The suburbs are just bursting with restaurants, aren’t they?
• I wrote a short profile on Brett Roy of Sweet Lollapalooza that appeared in this week’s Vue Weekly.
• Also on the subject of chocolate, Valerie wrote an exhaustive post about her recent single origin chocolate tasting at home. I think I experienced cocoa fatigue just reading it!
• Though I’ve seen online “cooking challenges” before (Food Network Canada has a monthly recipe invitation, for example), I think Valerie and BruleeBlog’s joint trial of a Momofuku recipe was a first at the Edmonton blog level. I hope to see more such challenges!
• Though Valentine’s Day is over – an interesting article from the NYT about new insight into the world of aphrodisiacs, and an amusing list of the ten most romantic restaurants in Edmonton from Urban Spoon that demonstrates the dire need for critical mass in some situations (Taco del Mar made it onto the list.  Twice.).
• I stumbled upon Ottawa Citizen food writer Ron Eade’s blog this week – it is fantastic. A notable post – his musings on the “Canadian credibility gap” between what the country says they buy…and what they actually buy.
• I forgot to link to this last week – Canadian Tire is venturing into food.
• I hope everyone had a good Valentine’s Day! Though Cookies by George has made a killing on their “Because you can’t eat flowers” slogan, someone should play on the cookie idea with bread. Who doesn’t love the smell and taste of freshly baked bread? Anyway, knowing my weakness, I came home on Friday to homemade bread. Given that it was his first attempt, Mack wasn’t expecting much, but his loaf turned out great! I especially loved the crust. The only downside is that I may now expect a loaf at every special occasion…

 

Mack’s first loaf!

• In lieu of our indulgent dinner at Madison’s Grill a few weeks back, Mack and I decided keep our expenses in check for Valentine’s Day. So we ended up at one of our favourite joints in the city to share a plate of poutine.

 

A Route 99 specialty

 

Fin!

Excellent, non-POTW (patient of the week) episode of House today – great to see Lisa Edelstein getting the opportunity to flex her acting chops. In other news, I’m happy to see America’s Best Dance Crew back on TV! But with the addition of a Canadian crew from Montreal this season, perhaps they should change the name to North America’s Best Dance Crew? Anyway, on to this week’s food notes:

• Chris and I are organizing the third Edmonton Foodie Meetup, to take place on March 3. Check out the wiki and add your name if you’re interested in attending, and let us know your restaurant choice!
• I’m looking forward to West Edmonton Mall’s celebration of Mardi Gras, taking place on February 16 from 4-9pm, called the Taste of Bourbon Street. There will be food samples, cooking demonstrations and entertainment.
• Think you make the best grilled cheese? Slow Food Edmonton just announced their first-ever Grilled Cheese Olympics, to take place on March 13. Judges include Chad Moss from Transcend and the Journal’s Liane Faulder. I think it will be a great event!
• Bravo to Julie van Rosendaal for putting together the Blog Aid cookbook for Haitian relief. 27 food bloggers contributed recipes and photos to the wonderful book, which, from the preview, looks gorgeous. To order, click here.
• Three local professionals are repeating their Working Poor Diet challenge in February – spending only $80 on food for a month, and doing their best to adhere to Canada’s Food Guide. Their hope is to raise awareness of the reality those working minimum-wage jobs face, in addition to raising $5000 for the Edmonton Food Bank.
• Kelly of Crazy White Girl with a Kitchen posted an early review of ZINC. On a related note, I’m disappointed that the restaurant didn’t opt to use OpenTable as their online reservation system.
• The Journal reviewed Avocado, the first of the Calgary-based franchises to open in the Edmonton area (expect a few more before the year is out). Verdict? Unremarkable.
• Alberta Venture has a great interview with Julianna Mimande on her side of the Bacon-fallout story (I interviewed Cindy Lazarenko back in November 2008 for Vue).
• I had read about the chicken + burger + fish + egg burgers at McDonald’s, but didn’t know they would actually serve it here – until Chris posted about his special request. What a combination.
• Liane wrote about the subject of plating design – L2 Chef Shane Chartrand provides home cooks with some useful pointers.
• An insightful, must-read piece by NY-based food critic Robert Sietsema on the evolution of the restaurant review in New York. And a response from Grub Street on the future of food media – in their opinion, the next step involves, “reviewers (or bloggers, at least) outright collaborating with chefs and restaurateurs.”
• With all eyes on Vancouver, NYT critic Sam Sifton provides visitors with a guide of the best restaurants the city has to offer. I’d be keen to visit the re-branded Refuel, and of course, dine again at Vij’s.
• Also on Vancouver – I couldn’t resist snapping a photo of the Vancouver Barista Bear at Starbucks. But shouldn’t it be wearing a parka, or at least a raincoat?

Too cute!

Anyone know what the “WHEN?” billboards all around the city are about? Though the campaign seems to be working because I’m asking the question, doesn’t it seem passé to use a similar technique so close to Southgate’s “August 5” campaign? At any rate, here are this week’s food notes:

• ZINC, the restaurant inside the sparkly new Art Gallery of Alberta, opened for full service today. Menus aren’t up on the website yet, but Liane wrote two articles about the establishment that provide an idea of what to expect. Also worth a read – a NYT article published this weekend about the trend of solid eateries in museums (partly as an effort to help make the museum some money).
• Though I liked Liane’s article about the current “rock star” quality of local butchers– I couldn’t help but think of this similar article in the NYT, published last summer.
• I forgot to link to this article last week, but I think it’s a clever idea – kitchen demos are the new showhome hook. Homes By Avi hired a chef to create appetizers for four different showhomes as a means of encouraging visits, and for potential buyers to see the kitchen “in use”.
• The second annual Winefest returns to the Shaw Conference Centre on February 27. Looks like tickets are available for the afternoon session at this point.
• Century Room, the revamped Century Grill lounge, is set to open this week.
• Unfortunate news – Sysco takes over Fin’s.
• To celebrate their one year anniversary, Flirt Cupcakes is giving away cupcakes to the first 100 visitors on Valentine’s Day!
• The Alberta Avenue Farmers’ Market is hosting a Customer Appreciation Day on February 11.
• Speaking of farmers’ markets, this is pretty cool – the CBC Broadcast Centre in downtown Toronto will be hosting a farmers’ market every week until April. How great would it be to have access to local food year-round in the core?
• Valerie (aka A Canadian Foodie) is inviting prosciutto lovers to take her taste challenge – she picked up prosciutto de parma, Serrano ham and Iberico ham for a savoury taste-off.
• Second Cup is really pushing their coffee – we found a card in our mailbox that entitles one to a free medium coffee after each similar purchase…11 times. Too bad I didn’t have one close to my office, or I’d be heading for numerous coffee breaks during the day.

 

Second Cup’s new loyalty program card

• Sweet Lollapalooza announced that they will be hosting chocolate making workshops in the coming weeks (February 20 and March 9) – contact them to sign up. I swung by there this evening and picked up some of their chocolate chip cookies I’d been wanting to try. Though the chocolate coating wasn’t as overwhelming as I expected, I think the cookie would have been better if it had been soft and chewy.

 

Sweet Lollapalooza cookies

• Before the wine tasting last week, I stopped by Blue Plate Diner for a comforting bowl of mac ‘n’ cheese. It was a cheesy bowl of warmth, but surprisingly, the soup of the day (Southwestern potato and sausage), stole the show.

 

My blue plate special

I know I am probably going to be saying this a lot this year, but I can’t believe it is already the last week of January! Help make it count by voting for Edmonton so we can be a part of the latest edition of Monopoly Canada. On to this week’s food notes:

• This is your last week to participate in Original Fare’s Fork Fest, with pre-fixe deals at some of Edmonton’s best restaurants going for $25 and $45. Marianne filed a review about The Blue Pear last week.
• Looking for something different to do with your loved one on Valentine’s Day? Check out Love is Freedom – for $195 per couple, you will get a 4-course cooking lesson, wine pairing, chocolate tasting, live band, and limo service home. Talk about decadence!
• Looks like L1, the lounge accompaniment to the Fantasyland Hotel’s L2 Grill, is set to open in March.
• Vue Weekly published an interview with Paulina Meza Romo of The Old Bread Factory last week.
• Bruce posted some shots of a delectable creation by Delux’s latest celebrity chef: Warren Smith of Wild Game Consultants. I have to say Bruce has the best job – he gets to sample each burger!
• Slow Food Edmonton has some great events planned for 2010 – I have to say I am particularly looking forward to the grilled cheese smackdown in February, and of course, Indulgence.
• The Journal published a story this weekend about why it’s tough to get reservations in some of your favourite restaurants. They also had a story about three lovely cafes to visit – The Wired Cup, Mandolin Books and Coffee Co. and Zocalo.
• I spotted a new-ish Vietnamese restaurant called the Basil Leaf (10023 107 Avenue) on a walk back from Chinatown today. It looked open, with cars outside and people inside. Around the corner from Basil Leaf was another new-to-me restaurant – Samurai Bistro (10003 107 Avenue). No activity around it though, so not sure if it is yet open.

Basil Leaf Kitchen & Sports Bar

• Hurrah – Edmonton finally has its own Starbucks mug! I have mentioned before that Mack and I collect these mugs on our travels, but of course, wanted to have one that celebrates our own city. I’m not sure I would have chosen the Edmonton Queen as our “defining image”, but then again, apart from the River Valley, I can’t think of anything else that would be suitable. I found the mug at the Starbucks on Jasper and 109 Street (thanks Maria for the tip!).

Starbucks’ Edmonton mug

I am loving this warmer weather, and though the slush is hard to wade through at some junctures, I’d much prefer this to colder climes. Anyway, on to this week’s food notes:

• Original Fare’s Fork Fest is on! Running January 17-21 and24-28, pre-fixe meals are on for $25 and $45, and is a great way to try out a new restaurant (or return to an old favourite). Remember to sign up for a VIP card if you haven’t already.
• The NAIT Culinary Arts program’s next Chef in Residence is Restaurant Makeover’s David Adjey (you may remember the school brought Rob Feenie in 2009). Adjey was in town recently for Capital Ex, where he conducted some cooking demos at the Sip stage.
• Liane posted that Century Hospitality is on track to finally open its second Delux Burger Bar in May 2010 in West Edmonton Mall (Chris Lachance had originally pegged the expansion to take place by November 2009) – curious that they would choose a location so close to Crestwood, where their first branch is, but then again, they are probably actively seeking the same clientele that would patronize Cactus Club.
• Also from Liane – a feature on The Bothy and three pubs with good grub (Red Star, Bibo and Filty McNasty’s).
• Twisted Yogurt, the frozen yogurt outlet in Sherwood Park, has a website up with its forthcoming locations listed. I’m looking forward to their growth!
• Also growing is Avocado (how could you not love the name?!), a Mexican restaurant. A St. Albert location opened up in the fall of 2009, but it looks like several more franchises are coming to Edmonton, including one in Ellerslie, coming soon.
• Shark Club in the west end of the city has shuttered after 18 months of business.
• Julie van Rosendaal wrote about her experience introducing Anthony Bourdain to a crowd of ravenous foodies in Calgary last week. While I wasn’t there, I’m sure she did a fabulous job – it’s too bad some people chose to rain on her parade.
• Chris posted about the first Five Guys location in Canada, to be in Medicine Hat of all places. Mack and I had the chance to visit Five Guys while in DC – I hope they expand to Edmonton soon.
• I guess it was just a matter of time: Guy Fieri will be hosting a game show on NBC, debuting in March.
• Mack snapped a photo of the new lower-calorie snacks now available at Starbucks. While I don’t often buy food at Starbucks, it’s always nice to have more options, just in case.

Starbucks’ snack display (at the store on Jasper Avenue and 109 Street)

• I heard about the Le Gnome closing early this week – they were unable to come to “reasonable terms” with their landlord, and will cease operations as of January 31, 2010. With a gift certificate I got for Christmas I needed to spend, Mack and I headed to WEM on Sunday. It was pretty busy (as you can see from the photos), but our wait in line wasn’t long. Everything was 30% off, but even with the discount, many things were still out of our price range, and like Brulee Blog, we kept our spending to a minimum. We ended up picking up a quartet of Emile Henry ramekins, a vegetable scrubber, and a soap dispenser – things we wanted anyway.

At Le Gnome

Inside the store

Mack and I made it back safely from Yellowknife on Sunday afternoon, just in time to watch the Canadian Juniors defeat Switzerland! Unfortunately, a volunteer commitment will prevent me from watching the final against the US (sniff), but Mack has faithfully agreed to update me via text. On to this week’s food notes:

• Looks like Melting Pot, the US-based fondue chain, is targeting Valentine’s Day for its grand opening (117, 2920 Calgary Trail, next to Cora’s).
• Lea’s handy site reports that popular Chinatown eatery Pho Tau Bay is closed January 3 – March 5, 2010.
• In case you missed it, watch for Original Fare’s Fork Fest later this month, January 17-21 and 24-28. Hopefully the menus are released a bit earlier this time.
• Local bloggers Chris at Eating is the Hard Part and Valerie at A Canadian Foodie started off the new year with new blogs. Go check them out!
• Liane wrote a good piece on educating Edmonton about food, published last week.
• Vue Weekly also had a wrap-up article – the best and worst trends of the last decade.
• Besides being in the press for their abysmal season thus far, the Edmonton Oilers were also in the news for a disputed bill at Osteria de Medici, an upscale Italian eatery in Calgary. Their disputed bill rang in at $16,796.39, including tax and tip. Interesting related thread on Chowhound about the restaurant – and it isn’t positive.
• I watched the lobster episode of Lynn Crawford’s new Food Network series Pitchin’ In and was not impressed. I was hoping it would be a sort-of farming counterpoint to Bob Blumer’s very well done Glutton for Punishment, but Crawford comes across whiney and condescending. I think it is partly due to choppy editing, but there was nothing of value in the episode – I didn’t learn any more about lobster fishing (techniques or sustainability), cooking techniques, or recipes. I guess it can only get better from here, but I won’t be watching.
• I finally perused Maple Leaf’s Republic of Bacon site and have to say, it is darn amusing (the “bacon porn” is worth a look, as are the restaurant menus). And though it’s not the same focus as the Hellmann’s Eat Real, Eat Local site, I think it is a better campaign because even though Maple Leaf is behind it, their logo and name aren’t stamped everywhere.
• Is Christine the new Jared? She could be, with a ridiculous campaign called the Drive Thru Diet from Taco Bell.
• Food Network Humor has some cute photos of your favourite Food Network chefs when they were younger.
• I’m sure the Vancouver 2010 merchandise will be even more ubiquitous as the Games approach, but I couldn’t help but snap a photo of the cute bottles of maple syrup bearing the Olympic logo that we saw at a Co-op in Yellowknife.

 

Does it taste like the Olympics too?

• Mack’s parents are tea aficionados, and have an entire cabinet devoted to loose leaf teas. In addition to a selection of fine teas, their brewing system also involved a cool Teavana tea maker that, once steeped, would dispense tea into a matching cup placed underneath.

 

Teavana Perfect Tea Maker

• Mack’s parents also have a Breville Keurig single-cup coffee maker. While I won’t be giving up our grind and brew system any time soon (nothing beats the smell of fresh-ground beans), it was neat to have a selection of over a dozen coffees at any given time. Mack was particularly blown away by how quickly the K-cup was able to brew a cup of coffee.

 

Breville single-cup coffee maker

• Seeing the new Skinny Legs and Cowgirls sign up, Mack and I stopped to check if they were open. While they aren’t yet offering lunch (they will be on January 9), they have been offering dinner and brunch since December 17! It looks beautiful inside, with the tinned ceiling and tiny chandeliers. Can’t wait to try out our new neighbourhood eatery!

 

Skinny Legs and Cowgirls (12202 Jasper Avenue, 780-423-4107)

I hope everyone had a good Christmas! We seemed to leave Edmonton at the worst time, just as the city was warming up! And though it’s not as cold as it could be here in Yellowknife, it’s still pretty darn chilly. A quick post of this week’s food notes:

• I liked Liane’s article about upcoming food trends published this past week for the most part, but it should have read with a caveat that Edmonton tends to be way behind in embracing the trends, especially for her sidebar about trends that are “gone” – pork belly, cupcakes and finishing salts are still firmly entrenched in our city. I also had to chuckle at the quote from Dana McCauley about S’Mac, one of the mac and cheese restaurants  in New York – it’s been around for a few years now.
• Chris has a great round up of the decade in food.
• Many people were shocked when they read Liane’s post that Tree Stone owner Nancy Rubuliak has sold her beloved bakery to a couple originally from Montreal. I am glad the new owners said they will be keeping many of the same products, and are looking at installing a wood burning oven to recreate Montreal-style bagels.
• Liane also had a preview of the cover of The Tomato, the newly-named City Palate magazine, which will hit the newsstands on January 2, 2010.
• Both the Journal and Vue Weekly filed rave reviews for the Hardware Grill’s newly minted lunch menu. I can’t wait to check it out with the gift card from Mack’s parents – thanks again!
• Interesting gadgets I read about this week: the first sous vide machine for the home cook (retails at $450 US), and an all-in-one Cuisinart Soup Maker, which combines a blender with a heating element.
• I met up with Dickson for lunch at Dahlia’s Mediterranean Bistro in the High Street area last week. They don’t have an extensive menu (soups, sandwiches, and the like), but the interior is clean and the service is friendly. I had a late breakfast that day, so decided to order their last cup of lentil soup ($3.95) – it was delicious, and the addition of rice was a nice touch. Dickson had a chicken breast sandwich with spinach-basil pesto, roasted peppers and melted mozzarella. He said it was all right, but nothing special. Apparently they get their smoked meat sent from Montreal – I’d love to go back and try it.

 

Lentil Soup of the Day

 

Chicken Breast Sandwich

• Mack and I finally decided to cook up the Greens, Eggs and Ham turkey bombs for my family that we had been saving in our freezer. Turkey breasts stuffed with orange-cranberry stuffing, it is the perfect seasonal dish for someone like me who is afraid of preparing a whole turkey. Unfortunately, we overcooked them, but they were still pretty good.

 

Turkey Bombs

• My family doesn’t really have any Christmas Day traditions besides opening presents together in the morning. Sometimes after that, we end up at Denny’s for breakfast, for an early movie, or like this year, for dim sum. It was a packed house at Dynasty Century Palace – I haven’t been there for dim sum in a while, but I can see why it was so busy – almost all items are priced at $3.25. Quality-wise, we were pretty disappointed, but I was happy we were able to have another meal together.

 

My family at dim sum

 

Me and Mack

Have a great New Year’s eve, everyone!

Christmas is my favourite time of year, but it really is flying by faster than I’d like. We’ll be in Yellowknife in less than a week, but at least I’m now officially on holidays! On to this week’s food notes:

• Though the Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market will be closed on December 26, they will be open on December 23 for those needing to pick up a few things.
• Still looking for a last-minute gift for a foodie friend or family member? How about a monthly wine subscription from Bin 104? Or there’s always the Beer Club at Sherbrooke Liquor Store, or Transcend Coffee’s monthly coffee subscriptions.
• Liane had a great piece about three new “superstar” chefs in Edmonton – from Skinny Legs and Cowgirls, Von’s and Blackhawk Golf Course.
• Liane also visited The Bothy last week.
• An early review of Guru Restaurant on Chowhound, the new Indian establishment in the west end.
• See Magazine interviewed Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Eating Animals, a sort-of manifesto for vegetarianism, this week.
• One of the committees I volunteer for held an appreciation dinner last week at Rendezvous (10810-95 Street, 780-756-8902), an Ethiopian restaurant in Little Italy. I would never have wandered in on my own, so was really happy for the opportunity to be introduced to their cuisine. It was fantastic! The injera, which I am normally not a fan of, was not sour at all – apparently, that was a testament to its freshness. The friendly owner also conducted a coffee ceremony for our group, freshly roasting green coffee beans and brewing the result for us. I will definitely be back on my own sometime soon.

Rendevous platter

• Mack and I attended the last Tweetup of the year on Friday at Original Joe’s Varsity. I had the Sicillian Burger, which featured a whole Spolumbo’s sausage – it was a lot of meat, but was an interesting combination, even though I think the sausage overwhelmed the beef and the rest of the toppings.

Sicilian Burger

Happy Holidays!

It really sucks for Top Chef watchers in Canada – not only do we get a delayed finale (five days late), but there are ample opportunities for us to be spoiled of the result, as I was watching Conan O’Brien last week (“…and the Top Chef winner, __!”). Worse than that, they just aired part one of the finale a second time! Arg. Anyway, on to this week’s food notes:

• Week 2 of Planet Organic’s Meet the Locals Food Festival kicked off today and runs until December 20. Check the schedule for tasting tables and cooking demonstrations! I checked out the festival back in November, and highly recommend it.
• Guru Restaurant, located in the old Julio Barrio’s building in the west end (17021 – 100 Avenue), is now open. It looks very sleek from the website photos. Anyone give it a try yet?
• L2 Grill, the revamped Fantasyland Hotel restaurant, received a glowing review in the Journal this weekend.
• Early reviews of The Bothy: from Foodie Suz and Chowhounders.
• Liane had several great heads-up posts on her blog this week, including word of a new foodie group called Les Marmitons coming to town, the impending relocation of Skinny Legs and Cowgirls to the space formerly occupied by Ziveli (12202 Jasper Avenue), and the chance to get a $10 Culina gift certificate simply by bringing in a donation for the Food Bank. And of course, Liane also had a lovely write up about the darling cookbook of the moment, We Eat Together (it made #4 on the local bestsellers list!).
• Via Eating is the Hard Part – is the Motoraunt, aka the Monster Burger purveyor, about to close?
• This gathering of Calgary food bloggers as a means of celebrating the release of Julie/Julia looked like so much fun! I especially love the photo of the cameras out in full force, heh.
• If you love soup, then this NY Mag guide’s for you.
• We (okay, I) was determined to get to the Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market this weekend, to pick up some groceries as well as some gift items. And though it shouldn’t be surprising, it seemed the cold scared many regular patrons away!

A veggie rainbow at Riverbend Gardens

• A quick stop at Flirt Cupcakes for a gift resulted in a cupcake each for Mack and I. I’ve said it in the past, but I’ll say it again – Flirt really excels in choosing whimsical embellishments for their cupcakes. I liked the cinnamon cake base of the Sweet Georgia Brown, but the icing was actually a bit sweet for me this time around. Mack liked his Eggnog Spice, but would have preferred a stronger eggnog flavour in the icing.

Cupcakes from Flirt

• We also ran a few errands in the west end, including a trip to the Doggie-Style Deli to pick up some dog treats for a few furry friends. It was our first visit, and more than anything, I’d compare it to an indoor play area for dogs. Apparently they are a popular location for dog parties, and while we were there, a pug group had gathered for their weekly play date. They had an extensive freezer of food as well as dry biscuits. We bagged a half dozen, and the owner was nice enough to waive the charge, saying we should simply come back if the dogs liked the treats. It was a very nice gesture!

 

Doggie-Style Deli

• St. City Roasters has been on our coffee rotation for the last number of weeks. Although we just picked up our third variety (their festively-packaged Holiday Blend), my favourite so far has been Tica Toucan. I really had no idea they had such a variety until we were looking through the shelves at Sobeys Urban Fresh.

St. City Roasters’ coffee tree at Sobeys Urban Fresh

Stay warm everyone!