Mack and I signed up for the AIDS Walk for Life this weekend – we had a blast last year, and think it’s a great cause to support. It’s taking place on September 20, beginning at Churchill Square. If you would consider sponsoring either Mack or myself, that would be awesome! On to this week’s food notes:

• Has the downturn affected consumer spending in the food industry? Maybe, but data from Stats Can indicates it might be less than expected – sales in June of this year were down 1.2% from one year ago. Chances are – people are opting for cheaper meals, but not eating out any less.
• Kelly posted about Urban China, a new Asian eatery which is set to open in the space formerly occupied by Rosie’s on 101 Street.
• Vue Weekly reviewed the new-ish Indian Fusion restaurant this past week, granting it a mostly positive write-up.
• Jon in Calgary wrote about his recent visit to a hybrid Tim Horton’s and Cold Stone Creamery – looks like it would be worth a try!
• September’s edition of Avenue Magazine has a good article about the craft brewing business in Alberta.
• It’s that time again – the Prairie Regional Barista Championships are just around the corner, taking place in Calgary on September 12. Transcend Coffee posted several links where you can follow their baristas in competition (we picked up a bag of their Sin Limites coffee from Costa Rica this weekend, which we were told Chad will be bringing to the competition – it’s great).
• Starting September 29, VIA, Starbucks’ venture into instant coffee, will be available in all Starbucks locations in U.S. and Canada. I can’t say I’ve ever been a fan of instant java, but I’ve heard good things about VIA.
• The NYT wrote about “haycations” last week – where instead of a typical vacation involving a hotel, travellers are paying for the privilege to see what life on the farm is really like, complete with chores.
• I think I’m in a bit of Frank Bruni overload (I just got my copy of his memoir, Born Round), but I did like this exit interview he did with a crew from Eater.
• The Italian Centre in Little Italy has joined Wild Earth Foods as the second store in the city subscribing to the Eat Local First labelling system.

 

Eat Local First labels denote Bles Wold‘s “local” status

I started my day off this morning with fantastic news – Edmonton’s Fringe reigns supreme! Stage a Revolution absolutely smashed Winnipeg’s 81,000 record – 92,100 tickets were sold this year. Way to go Edmonton! Now on to this week’s food notes:

• I finally finished reading Julia Child’s My Life in France. Though this was my second attempt at reading it, I have to say watching Julie & Julia gave me the needed push to finish the book. It’s a lovely memoir, filled with vibrant prose and hilarious accounts of Julia’s trials at Le Cordon Bleu and her decade long struggle to publish Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I loved her use of words (“marketing” and “cookbookery”), and do think the movie undercuts how much work really went into Mastering (for example, I cannot imagine communicating exclusively via air mail…in this age of technology, I can’t fathom anything less than instant). I appreciated the glimpse into the making of an American legend, and reading about the absolute joy that Julia found in cooking.
• On the topic of books – Edmonton Public Library is having their back-to-school booksale this weekend – pick up some new reading material for next to nothing, and perhaps a new cookbook or two!
• The Endless Feast is a PBS show that explores “the connection between the earth and the food we eat, one incredible feast at a time”. They will be filming an upcoming episode in Edmonton on Friday at Peas on Earth and at the City Centre Market on Saturday. It’s awesome that an American show will be featuring our city in all its glory.
• I missed out on Mary Ellen and Andres’ picnic on their Greens, Eggs and Ham Farm this year in favour of the Fringe and another local food event, but I was happy that Valerie wrote a detailed account of it.
• This is old news by now, but in case you missed it – Transcend Coffee’s second location is official: they will be taking over the Garneau space formerly occupied by Pharos Pizza. The cafe is set to open in January 2010.
• Speaking of coffee – Vue Weekly had a short piece about the relatively new JoJo’s Cafe, located inside La Piazza Dasee, this week. Turns out the barista learned his chops from Transcend (every new cafe seems to have a tie to Transcend, eh?). On a related note – the Edmontonian reviewed some of JoJo’s brunch offerings here.
• The Journal had a piece on Saturday featuring the results of a gelato taste test. The unlikely winner? Chocolate Exquisite. I’ll have to make a point to stop by sometime soon.
• If you’ve walked past Rice Howard Way, you probably noticed this sign on Co Co Di’s doors – it reads: “Co Co Di will be reopening later this year. We look forward to serving you in our new location on Jasper Avenue between 114 & 115 Street, north side”. I hope they get some foot traffic with the move west.
• Janice tipped me off that there will be a third location of Famoso in South Edmonton Common (in the area with the new Gap and Banana Republic outlets). They do already have an address and number ready to go – 1437 99 Street, 780-468-0000.
• President Obama said that he would like to see a farmers’ market set up in front of the White House. Who knows if that would ever happen, but how cool is it that POTUS made mention of it?
• The second artsScene Party took place at Latitude 53, and allowed us to scope out what is billed as the “only downtown rooftop patio”. Being at the top of a two-storey building wasn’t what I had in mind, but it still picked up a nice cool breeze. Of course, the gallery itself has a few pretty cool exhibits right now, including Trespass Act and a community gallery featuring this striking work by a Victoria High School student titled “Between Liberty and Freedom”.

Latitude 53 Rooftop Patio

• On our way to the City Centre Market on Saturday, we stopped to gawk at the new community garden in Mack’s neighbourhood. It’s beautiful, with circular paths in between plots, benches, and perhaps even a future water feature.

Oliver Community Garden

• Starved and with only $5 cash between us, Mack and I wracked our brains for something affordable to eat on the Fringe grounds on Sunday. Luckily, we remembered Chicago Deep Dish (8114 104 Street, 780-413-8866). At $2.50 a slice, it’s still the most economical purchase on Whyte.

Ham & Pineapple Slice from Chicago Deep Dish

• Chris had mentioned something food-related was under construction next to Bubble Juice on Whyte. Turns out, he was right – Irie Foods will be open on September 1, 2009. It looks like they have another location in Mill Woods – anyone know if this is replacing that store or is an additional one?

Irie Foods on Whyte

• It will be hefty competition for TZiN, but Kelsey seemed to know it was coming: Lit Wine Bar will be opening up on the ground floor of one of the Icon Towers.

LIT Wine Bar on 104th Street and Jasper Avenue

• There’s also a new bubble tea place in Chinatown on 97th Street. What downturn?

Bubble Tea Cafe

America’s Best Dance Crew (also known as ABDC) is back in full swing! I’m not sure what about the show entices me, but I know my Sundays are infinitely better now! On to my weekly food notes:

• Still don’t have an Original Fare VIP card and can’t get to the City Centre Market on Saturdays? Lucky for you, they have a booth at the Fringe! Sign up and start earning points at all of your dining experiences at Original Fare restaurants, and receive 2% back of your purchases at the end of the year in gift certificates.
• I linked to Operation Fruit Rescue last week, but there was a good story about them in the Journal on Friday.
• Pam wrote about the bounty she received in her first Good Food Box.
• I was happy to see an article in the Journal last week featuring Edmonton’s newest community garden project in Oliver! It’s just a few blocks away from where Mack lives, and over the weeks, we were seeing the garden come together, but no signage identifying who was behind the greening of the land.
• There was a review of Red Brick Pizza in Foodosophy last week – I still haven’t made it out there, as I haven’t had any reason to get me out that far south yet.
• Vue Weekly featured an article about a cooking class at Mexico Lindo. At $75 for two, the class seems reasonably priced, and might be the cure for stagnant evenings.
• The NY Journal has a post containing what they think are the ten best Frank Bruni reviews – it’s great writing, to be sure, but an even better overview of some great examples of NY excess.
• Another death knoll sounds for Gourmet and Bon Appetit. One has to wonder how much longer they can both hold out.
• The Wall Street Journal reports an increased boom for cooking schools and classes – a reactionary jerk to the state of the economy with people wanting to eat less out and more at home.
• Mack and I wandered into La Piazza Dasee in Old Strathcona over the weekend to see if the cafe portion of the space was finished. It has been, and even has a menu up online.

 

JoJo’s Cafe

• The new Superstore (and perhaps others, but I only have been to this location in a while) on 17th Street has a “Grown Close to Home” section of produce just in front of their entrance – with BC blueberries and Alberta tomatoes, among others. I’m sure we’ll see more of the larger grocery chains getting into the “locavore” movement.

 

Superstore’s “Grown Close to Home” sign

• My Mum and I headed to the Millwoods Farmers’ Market on Thursday – the first time I have been there in probably ten years. Even though I live in Mill Woods, it’s definitely not in a convenient place for me (my bus routes through Millgate and not Lakewood, for example, and a walk there would be at least an hour). My memories are foggy, but I vaguely recollect just two rows of vendors, and nothing particularly interesting (of course, ten years ago, I was happy with Boston Pizza and couldn’t cook my way out of a bag). I am happy to say that the farmers’ market in the ‘burbs was bursting at the seams with fresh produce and people! There were four rows of vendors, with everything from produce and BC fruit to bread and prepared food. They didn’t have much in the way of meats and protein, but you can’t have everything, right? My Mum and I picked up some cinnamon raisin bread from Jane’s Bread and some random vegetables. Of course, I still prefer the City Centre Market, but this was a nice-sized, open air neighbourhood market. Check it out if you’re in Millwoods – it runs 5-8pm Thursdays until October 1 at the Millwoods Recreation Centre Parking Lot, 28 Ave and Millwoods Road.

 

Millwoods Farmers’ Market

• On a walk downtown, we decided to stop in VinoMania (11452 Jasper Avenue), a liquor store that we had passed countless times. We discovered an unexpectedly nice interior, and Edmonton’s first enomatic wine system (it is essentially a system that prevents open wine from oxidizing). I never really considered the system for liquor merchants, but it makes sense to allow customers to try what they are buying if possible. VinoMania sells $20 cards that can be reloaded to try any of the dozen or so wines and spirits on hand (the bottles are rotated every three weeks) with samples ranging in price from $1.50 to $3. A staff person allowed us a complimentary taste – I’d like to say I could point out how fresh it was, but with my palate for wine being what it is…Still, I was impressed by how easily the wine was dispensed.

 

VinoMania’s Enomatic Wine System

• Mack hates any bread with what he deems “crap” in them (e.g. grains, seeds, etc.), even though that’s exactly the type of bread I like. As a result, there are often two types of loaves in the house – whole wheat and grainy. The other day at Sobeys Urban Fresh, we saw a loaf of bread that had Mack’s name on it – literally. Perhaps it was a sign to give in to the grainy side, Mack!

Mack with Mack’s Flax

The countdown to the 28th annual Edmonton International Fringe Festival begins – programs go on sale Tuesday at noon! I’m looking forward to it. Onward with this week’s notes:

• News was released this week about Loblaws acquiring T & T. I actually shop at Superstore less than I have in the past, so I can’t report firsthand whether or not their distribution has improved as they had set out to do, but if not, I hope it doesn’t affect T & T’s ability to be a reliable source of Asian goods.
• Paula tweeted about a new bubble tea shop in Chinatown called, well, Bubble Tea Cafe located at 97 Street and 106 Avenue. It seems Flirt Cupcakes on Whyte will also have a new neighbour called Bubble Juice, which is coming soon.
• Liane posted about the new cafe in the recently renovated Muttart Conservatory. On that note, I can’t wait until the new Art Gallery of Alberta opens in the fall with a brand new restaurant/cafe. Places to dine without need to pay admission will make age-old city attractions appealing again to residents and not just tourists.
• Richard Helm reviewed a new-ish Turkish restaurant called Istanbul Mediterranean Cuisine (12918 82 Street, 780-478-8881) on Saturday. A “rebuttal” of sorts was posted on Chowhound the same day.
• Anyone know what happened to Cargo and James in Edmonton? Though the Whyte Ave store looked closed indefinitely, I just passed by the “for lease” signs in the window this week.
• The Greater Edmonton Alliance is currently looking for a local food systems research intern, to help, among other things, prepare a presentation to Council and expand the Good Food Project.
• Cupcakes have officially jumped the shark in Vancouver: the W Network is casting for a reality show about the pint-sized treats at Cupcakes by Heather and Lori.
• Elana Safronsky over at Food for Thought posed an interesting question about “unladylike” food, and shared her experience about being chastised for having a big appetite.
• I have to admit I don’t know much about the subject of food irradiation, so I appreciated this primer.
• I must admit I like to occasionally wander through supermarket aisles just to see what new products are greeting our aisles. When confronted with smiling images of Wolfgang Puck on cans of soup, I had to wonder – cookware lines are one thing, but soup at $3 a can?

 

Wolfgang Puck soup – seriously?

• I also noticed that Safeway has started labelling “organic” products with small white text tags. I wonder if stores will begin migrating towards using the new CFIA-sanctioned logo as markers at some point?

 

Organic labels at Safeway

• And just for fun – this sign outside Polly Magoo’s made me laugh. I wonder if any restaurants would instigate such a discount?

 

Cluck like a chicken, fool!

Apologies for being a day late with my food notes. But sometimes, life gets in the way.

• My first attempt at “growing” something isn’t going too well – my basil have been overrun by aphids. The ironic thing is – Mack’s balcony is usually a haven for ladybugs…except when I need them most. A few people have suggested spraying the plants with a heavily diluted water and dish detergent spray, which I have done. I hope that helps, but I am open to other suggestions!
• Original Fare’s discount dining days, also called Fork Fest, starts next week. It runs from July 19-23 and 26-30, with fixed course meals offered at $20 and $35 price points. Notoriously slow with menu information, scope out your picks and make recommendations once all the information is up.
• The Journal kicked off their spotlight on CSAs on Sunday, with three feature articles by Sheila Pratt. She spent some time with Graham Sparrow of Sparrow’s Nest Organics (it surprised me to learn they only offer 35 shares in their farm). Watch on Wednesday for Liane’s first of a series of recipes inspired by their weekly produce delivery.
• The latest issue of Alberta Views is focused on food, and contains a local food guide, and a great piece by Kris Vester, a young Carstairs farmer who shares his experience supplying the city with sustainably grown produce.
• Chris from Eating is the Hard Part checked out Edmonton’s newest cupcakery this weekend – Cake Couture.
• Cyrilles Koppert and his revamped tapas menu at Manor Cafe was featured in the Journal over the weekend (I’m still waiting for the new website though!).
• Isabelle over at The Little Red Kitchen spent some time with the ladies behind the Eatery at the ARTery, and will have some behind-the-scenes pictures up on her blog soon.
• A reminder that Kerstin’s Chocolates’ The Cocoa Room is closing for the month of August because of the heat – while Chocophilia is available online and through other stores, there’s nothing like a trip through temptation.
• Mack and I stopped by Vi’s for Pies for dessert along our after-dinner walk last week. We sampled their oreo cake. Made with layers of pound cake, it wasn’t exactly a light item, but it was enjoyable. We couldn’t figure out what gave the dessert its name, however, besides the token chocolate-drizzled cookie on top.

Oreo Cake from Vi’s for Pies

• Capital Ex released the Sip! wine and food experience menu. We went last year – I would recommend sticking around for the CookTop shows to score free samples instead of purchasing tickets – this year, the stage features Brad Smoliak and Restaurant Makeover’s David Adjey.
• Transcend released its first podcast last week, which sees Poul talk about how he got his start in the coffee business. Also, with mention of their second cafe location in a recent post, I hope they can release details soon!
• I passed La Piazza Dasee, which is apparently now serving brunch on Sundays from 10am-2pm. As it looked like they didn’t have a full kitchen, I’d be curious to see what types of dishes they serve.
• The Journal and Liane Faulder on her blog covered the opening of the new T & T in North Town Mall on July 2. There are also unconfirmed rumours floating around that the vacant Wal-Mart space in South Common will become another T & T.
• Also with regards to Liane – she’s Delux Burger Bar’s second celebrity chef for their “burger of the month” promotion. Her lamb burger will be featured at Delux for the month of August.
• Vue Weekly had a solid write-up of businesses along 118 Avenue this week, including the Portuguese Bakery.
• The Journal profiled local company Bles-Wold Dairy this week – their product makes it “from the cow to the store” in three days.
• The Canadian Farm Writer’s Federation is hosting their national conference in Edmonton this year. There are a few interesting sessions, including farm tours – check out the September schedule here.
• Food Inc., a movie about industrial food production that has been called a “horror film” in its own right, will land in Edmonton on July 17 at the Garneau Theatre.
• Alan Richman wrote a great piece in the August issue of Bon Appetit about the duelling forces at work in Vancouver’s food scene.
• I missed linking to an article that appeared in the NYT two weeks ago about mid-price chains lowering their prices, and the impact that may have on their future ability to raise their prices to pre-recession standards.
• The Chicago Tribune points to their nine menu pet peeves. My favourite: “‘Garden Fresh’ –
  Rick Bayless garnishes with microgreens grown in his Bucktown garden. He has the right to say garden fresh. You don’t, Subway.”
• Mack and I joined his dad, grandma, Kim and Shane for supper at Original Joe’s on Friday. I’ve written about them in the past, and my opinion hasn’t changed much since then. Consistent and casual, they provided a casual venue for a decent meal. The fish and chips ($15.99) were pretty good, with a nice, light batter. Mack also enjoyed his smoked turkey club wrap ($11.49).

 

Fish and Chips

 

Smoked Turkey Club Wrap

• The new Anthropologie in West Edmonton Mall has transformed the space into a homey, rustic store. I love their selection of kitchen goods, including, on a recent visit, wooden ice cream spoons. Retro cool, but not worth the $9.95 price tag.

 

Wooden Ice Cream Spoons from Anthropologie