I’m still recovering from the shock of The Bachelor’s revelations – why?! As I try to unpack what happened, here are this week’s notes:

• The Lois Hole Hospital Foundation will be raising money on Thursday, March 5 through the Epicurean Experience, where “Edmonton and area restaurants will generously donate a portion of the proceeds from the day’s food sales to the Lois Hole Hospital for Women.” Check out the list of participating restaurants here.
• Liane covered two of the twenty-odd restaurants participating in Edmonton’s Downtown Dining Week, which starts March 6 and runs until March 15. I still think $50 for a set meal is still too high of a price to pay in these lean times, but best of luck to the new restaurants trying to attract different clientele.
• Gail Hall compiled a list of the “25 Best Things to Eat in Edmonton” for the latest issue of Avenue Magazine. My personal list would include a banh mi and pho, but I like that she tried to span dishes large and small.
• I just found out about this today when I saw a story on CTV news, but a group of friends challenged themselves to subsist on a diet of $80 for the month – “the working poor diet” – as a means of building awareness and raise money for the Edmonton Food Bank. They found it doable but difficult, and learned about ways to make their dollar stretch even further to meet the standards set by the Canada Food Guide. Their blog chronicling the month is worth a read.
• Roll up the Rim to Win frenzy is back (I love that Tim Horton’s commercial with the giant cup in “Canadaland”). For the fifth year running, Calgary-based Jon Lin is documenting his losses (and hopefully a few wins) on his blog.
• Doritos opened up a contest to allow the public to come up with a name for their latest “mystery” chip flavour. I spied the white bag the last time I was at the grocery store, but didn’t think to pick one up to try – perhaps I’ll have to.
• Mack sent me a link about a new mobile service called ReadyPing that enables restaurants to send out a text message to diners when a table is ready (instead, say, of chaining diners to a small perimeter around the restaurant with pagers). Interesting idea, but there could be some issues, as the article lays out, with customers wandering a bit too far.
• A good article in the NYT this week about food magazines that are doing their best to stay relevant and afloat during these economic times. It’s surprised me to find out that for the most part, circulation hasn’t dipped.
• On the subject of saving money, the Times also had an article about using less water to boil pasta (and thus saving energy in the process) – something I’ve wondered about myself. Turns out: it can be done, without really sacrificing the pasta output.
• A cute Grub Street compilation of what high-end chefs cooked as kids. I can’t say I experimented much in the kitchen as a child, though there was that one Mother’s Day where my intention of making Orange Julius for my Mum went terribly, terribly wrong…

Last spring, I garnered my first serious comment smack-down on a post about my mostly negative initial experience at Garage Burger Bar & Grill (10242 106 Street). I have since learned that it is a much-loved installation in the downtown dining core, even though some of its most stalwart fans have also admitted that Garage has fallen prey to inconsistent standards in the last year.

On Thursday, prior to the Biden-Palin smackdown, Mack and I were finally ready to give Garage a second chance, prodded somewhat by a coupon I had on hand. Still early in the evening, the restaurant was completely empty when we walked up, and remained so throughout our brief stay. We were quickly seated at a self-selected table on the patio, eager to soak up the last rays of autumn, and after settling in with our drinks of choice, paged through the well-worn menus.

I ordered the Bacon Mozza ($6.49), while Mack opted for the Chili Burger ($6.49). We topped off our meal with a basket of french fries ($3.95), as they were out of onion rings.

The advantage of being the only customers in a restaurant became evident when our food arrived just minutes after placing our order. Our burger plates looked virtually identical to what I could remember from our past visit, but thankfully, the fries appeared to be fresh this time around. Our burgers themselves were fine – they hit the spot, but in general were nothing special.

Bacon Mozza Burger

Chili Burger

“Why are you always taking my picture?”

While more inexpensive than a comparable burger from a place like Red Robin’s, I’m still left wondering how Garage has accumulated the reputation it has; perhaps we have to patronize them later in the evening to get a sense of the large community that supports their favourite burger joint and keeps the restaurant on its toes.

Garage Burger Bar & Grill
10242 106 Street
(780) 423-5014
Monday 11am-6pm, Tuesday & Thursday 11am-8pm, Wednesday & Friday 11am-9pm, Saturday 12-8pm, closed Sundays

• Joining the ranks of Dinner Revolution and Passionate Plate is Tasty TakeAways. Profiled in this week’s Vue Weekly, it is another local venture offering pre-packaged meals for those seeking home cooked goodness in the midst of their busy lives.
• Lining up for my morning fix last week at Starbucks, I encountered a young man handcuffed to a coffee stand claiming he wanted to be considered their “customer of the month.” The police actually showed up a few minutes later, but it turned out it was just a stunt by a Bounce intern. So random.
• More on Starbucks: due to pressure from retailers, Starbucks is testing $1 “short” drip coffees and free refills in the Seattle area.
• I subscribe to an electronic mailing list advertising events taking place at the City of Edmonton Attractions, and even I had to do a double take when I read this one: speed dating for local singles at the zoo. Sure, the idea might be novel, but I found the image of singles mingling among cages quite amusing.
• In a case of unfortunate timing (or clever scheduling?), look at what’s playing at Metro Cinema on Valentine’s Day.
• 4 teams are set to begin the regular season in Europe next year. Perhaps it would have been a good idea for the NHL to consult the NHLPA first.
• Even though the polls made such results inevitable, I am still disappointed that Hillary Clinton had such a poor showing in South Carolina on Saturday. Still, I remain cautiously optimistic as the countdown to Super Tuesday begins.

• Mack posted about this last week, but Zagat has been put up for sale. While I don’t think the expansion of the Michelin guides to North America poses that much of a threat to the empire Zagat has built in the United States, it might not be a bad idea for the brand to add dimensions or services in order to attract new followers.
• There’s a good interview with the purveyors of Leva Cafe at the Original Fare site. Speaking of Original Fare, most of the menus for the upcoming Fork Fest have finally been released (someone needs to demand more prompt information delivery; the event started today without all restaurants submitting menus), and The Blue Pear looks like the best bet. Their tasting menus are normally priced at $85, so $35 is a steal.
• Since wringing my hands with the coat check tipping question, I decided to look into it, and came across this New York Times article. It seems the standard is $1 per article (coat, bag, umbrella), though judging by the comments, not everyone agrees with this suggestion.
• Anna and I are planning to attend the upcoming Fringe Town Hall, taking place in the Arts Barns on January 28. While we both don’t feel the need to share our opinions on the changes that took place at last year’s festival, we’re hoping to see some theatre play out on stage – artists vs. the Artistic Director.
• Mack and I made a quick stop at the giant Stanley Cup situated in the parking lot of United Cycle last week. It felt beyond tourist-y to pose for photographs, but it was also too cool to pass up.

Mack and Stanley

Me with Stanley