Food Notes for September 5, 2011

The long weekend was lovely, wasn’t it? Mack and I stole away to Calgary for a few days, which was a nice break, but once we got back, we also managed to catch up on some sleep! Hope you had an enjoyable few days as well. On to this week’s food notes:

Fans of Family Restaurant, mark your calendars: The Quon Dynasty, the new television series about the family behind The Lingnan, debuts on CityTV on October 16 at 8pm.
Congrats to Eva Sweet, who will be opening up their first non-mobile location at the University of Alberta campus on September 6. Find them in the CAB Building.
I wasn’t able to grab a picture of it, but Cafe Beirut will be opening a restaurant downtown on Jasper Avenue and 112 Street called Taste of Lebanon.
There’s a new Italian restaurant on the west end called Vivo.
Michelle wrote a great piece about Chai Pani – definitely worth a read.
Did you know Operation Fruit Rescue Edmonton now sells their own fresh-pressed apple cider (as well as sour cherry & amaretto saucy syrup, spiced saskatoon jam and cider jelly)? Find them at the Alberta Avenue Farmers’ Market.
Now this is a labour of love: ajvar (red pepper spread) made from scratch.
Last week, I had a craving for pho and decided to try Xu Hue (in the space previously occupied by Pho Anh Dao). It was recommended by someone who said that it was a favourite of the Vietnamese community. Service was fast, and the pho was good (the filet could have been a touch more tender), but what struck me most was how much of a family-friendly restaurant it was. The owner’s daughters were playing at the front, watching the TV tuned to the Family Channel. And a picky young boy, dining with his mother was presented with a bowl of plain rice noodles to eat (or play with). I still have a soft spot for Pho Tau Bay, but I wouldn’t hesitate to come back.

Medium rare beef fillet noodle soup (large $7.65)

While in Calgary, we stopped by Good Earth for an iced coffee (don’t – it tasted like coffee-flavoured water). While there though, we found a smiling picture of Brad Smoliak on the counter – it looks like he has developed their new food menu. I’m sure it will be better than the iced coffee.

Good Earth

Mack and I had missed the last food truck meet-up in Victoria Park because we were attending Heritage Days, so we were happy to get down there this afternoon. It was a brisk walk from Grandin Station, but given the weather, not a chore at all. The crowds weren’t large, but those who were taking in the trucks were making the most of it! We can only hope mini gatherings like this will be more common in Edmonton’s mobile cuisine future.

Molly’s Eats, Drift and Carnival Cravings offer the perfect picnic food!

Beautiful day

We also took the scenic route (on our way to Southgate) – across the pedestrian bridge…

…and through the trees!

What the Truck?!: The Location

Leading up to the second What the Truck?! taking place on September 16, 2011, we will be posting about some of the stumbling blocks we faced in organizing the first event. Today, I will discuss how the location of What the Truck?! came to be.

The ideal venue for What the Truck?! in our minds was a parking lot. What better way to repurpose those single-use eyesores than to fill them with people, animating an otherwise empty space downtown? After some scouting, we identified two lots that we thought would work, both in terms of location and size.

Option one already had precedence for alternative uses – the Melcor-owned lot on 104 Street, between the Great West Saddlery Building and the Armstrong Block had been used for Al Fresco events. Given Melcor’s enthusiasm for Todd Babiak’s Interventions project involving the beautification of a parkade wall, we thought they might be more than open to our idea. When we met with a Melcor staff person, however, because we weren’t attached to a charity, the answer was no. The lot was leased out to monthly parking pass holders, and in order to justify taking away that paid privilege, they needed a good excuse. We were aghast, if only because we live on the street, and know that the lot sits completely empty most nights (we should mention that for What the Truck?! 2, Melcor has allowed us to use their privately owned park).

Option two, a lot between the Jasper 105 Dental building and building that houses Pub 1905, had a similar feel to the Melcor lot because it was also enclosed on two sides, and was equally accessible. We contacted Precise Park Link who manages the lot, and on our behalf, they asked the owners of the lot (who happened to be the same dental folks) whether or not they would be amenable to What the Truck?! renting out the space for the evening. They said no. The kicker was the fact that the dental office is closed on Friday afternoons anyway – so they really had no good reason to turn us down.

At that point, we decided to consider public, City-owned spaces. Although Churchill Square is the “natural” fit for a food-related event, we wanted to buck the trend. Everything happens in Churchill Square, to the point where it is almost cliché. Besides, we felt Churchill Square was much too big and impersonal for What the Truck?!

We first considered Centennial Square, the tumbleweed-inducing concrete pad behind the Stanley Milner Library. Equipped with a stage and easy access, we remembered the space being used as a part of the Grey Cup festivities back in November. Liaising with the Civic Events office, we found out that because of the parkade underneath, the surface wasn’t structurally sound to support the weight of vehicles. For the Grey Cup tents, we were told, the event planners had to work with engineers to distribute the weight safely. Well, without engineers on our non-existent payroll (and for an event all about trucks), we were out of luck.

Last on our list was Beaver Hills House Park, on 105 Street and Jasper Avenue. It’s in a great location, accessible by public transit and highly visible, both for those passing by on foot and in vehicles. It’s also framed by both residential and commercial towers (which would be a boon for attendance on a Friday evening), and had built-in seating in the form of grassy knolls and park benches. It’s definitely an underutilized space, and with the talk about the need for more green space in the core (with another park development in the works for 105 Street and 102 Avenue) we thought What the Truck?! would be a great way for people to realize one of the fantastic assets that already exists in the core.

In spite of some logistical difficulties we faced loading the trucks into Beaver Hills, it ended up being a great location for the first event. For What the Truck?! 2, we again looked for a location downtown, but this time, wanted to avoid the issues with a raised concrete pad. That meant closing a street for curbside cuisine!

Culinary Q & A with Liv Vors

Occupation: Calzone-maker/freelance journalist/erstwhile biologist

What did you eat today?

Some boring stuff like cereal but also a calzone for lunch and some beef tongue tacos at Tres Carnales for supper.

What do you never eat?

Cookies made from dough in a tube. Very nasty.

What is your personal specialty?

Brownies. They’re my mom’s original recipe.

Complete this sentence: In my refrigerator, you will always find:

Cheese.

What is your weekday meal standby?

If I’m tired, fried eggs from my friend’s farm. If I’m not tired, pizza made from scratch.

What is your favorite kitchen item?

My stand mixer.

World ends tomorrow. Describe your last meal.

A huge slice of my grandma’s bumbleberry pie with ice cream and a cup of good coffee

Where do you eat out most frequently?

It’s a toss-up between Corso 32 and Niche.

Where’s the best place to eat in Edmonton?

Tough call. So many good places to choose from now. It’s a three-way tie between Corso 32, Niche and Tres Carnales. I love them all for different reasons.

If you weren’t limited by geography, where and what would you eat?

I’d eat salmon in Norway, risotto in northern Italy and roti in Trinidad.

You can find Liv’s musings at Dine and Write.

The Cooking Chronicles: “Vij’s At Home”

One of my coworkers was absolutely raving about the cookbook Vij’s At Home, authored by Vikram Vij and Meeru Dhalwala, proprietors of the wildly successful Indian eatery Vij’s in Vancouver. She gave it perhaps the ultimate compliment: “If I could only choose one cookbook to use for the rest of my life, it would be this one.”

A few weeks ago, I came upon a copy of Vij’s At Home at the library while browsing its shelves, so I borrowed it to see if it was indeed worthy of such high praise. On first glance, it might be. It features long narrative sections that read like part of a memoir, while the recipe preambles are insightful, instead of an afterthought like in other cookbooks I’ve come across. As a whole, the recipes feel personal, and as my coworker remarked, one wouldn’t feel out of place curling up on the couch with this cookbook.

I’ve only had the chance to try three dishes from the book so far – I’ll either have to renew it to the limit or buy myself a copy to make the other recipes I’ve marked!

Spicy Peas and Mashed Potato Toasted Sandwiches and Spicy Cauliflower “Steak”

I haven’t yet made samosas from scratch, but maybe I won’t ever have to, given simpler alternatives with similar flavours like the spicy peas and mashed potato sandwiches exist! It was a pretty simple recipe – we boiled Greens, Eggs and Ham pixie potatoes (perfect given their yielding skins that meant no peeling required), mashed them up, then combined it with peas and onions that had been cooked with spices. Spread inside toasted ciabatta buns with a little yogurt-based Indian dressing, it was a little messy to eat, but worth every bite. We had lots of leftovers, which heated up well in a toaster oven.

Spicy peas and mashed potato sandwiches and cauliflower steak

We served the sandwiches with spicy cauliflower “steak”. I cut a head of Riverbend Gardens cauliflower into large sections, and simmered it in a tomato masala (the recipe recommends crushed tomatoes, but I found hand-mashed diced tomatoes worked just as well). The cauliflower cooked perfectly, and was enhanced by the sweet-spicy flavours of the sauce. This was a dish that definitely improves with time – the masala was even better two days later.

Mushroom Medley in Potato Curry

Though I would like to say that serving the mushroom medley as a curry on rice was a deliberate decision, that would be a lie – it was more of an accidental assumption. Reading through the preamble, one gathers that the “medley” is a soup, and not a traditional curry, but given the recommended accompaniment was rice, I figured it was just a loose suggestion.

We added a package of firm tofu to round make the dish a meal, and found it to be a good textural addition. More mushrooms would have been fine as well (like a small variety basket from MoNa), and Mack and I both noted that we would have preferred to have kept the potatoes in diced form, instead of lightly mashed – it didn’t exactly thicken the base as we thought it might have.

Mushroom medley

Serving it on rice tempered the spice a little, though the buttermilk gave it a distinctly light creaminess that balanced it nicely. The next day, we enjoyed it as a soup proper – it was actually quite oily on top, as the overnight chill did not treat the broth’s cohesiveness well. So unlike the previous two dishes, this one is best consumed in one sitting.

Have you tried Vij’s at Home? Are there other recipes you would recommend from the book?

A Summery Sunday in Edmonton: Viva Italia Viva Edmonton and the Alley of Light

Mack and I started off our Sunday at Urban China for dim sum with my family. It’s been much too long since we’ve done that on a weekend morning, because we clearly underestimated the crowds: it was a forty minute wait from the time my parents arrived around noon. We’ll get an earlier start next time; Urban China is still one of my favourite places for dim sum in Edmonton!

Crispy pork dumplings

We then headed off to Giovanni Caboto Park for the last day of the East Meets West Festival that celebrated all things Italian!

This was our first time at Viva Italia Viva Edmonton, though we’ve taken in the Chinese and African legs of the celebration in past years. It was easily the best part of the festival we’ve ever attended.

Chasing Jones

Part of that had to do with the amount of space afforded in Little Italy, especially when compared with Chinatown or the McCauley School grounds. With a playground, spray park, wide green spaces as well as the street, there were definitely a lot more possibilities because of the area.

Lots of families were out!

That said, the organizers still had to program the wide expanse, and they did that with panache. We arrived around 2pm, and found an abundance of things to peruse. Between browsing the shops and the car show, watching the soccer tournament, taking in the cooking demonstrations, or enjoying the on-stage entertainment, there really was something for everyone (Maki thought so too).

Zocalo tent

Mack’s dream car

Soccer tournament

I have to say I particularly enjoyed Chef Daniel Costa’s demonstration. He made something I’ll never be able to pronounce, let alone spell out. Needless to say, it was a bucatini pasta with cured pig jowl and a San Marzano tomato sauce. He was great handling audience questions, and clearly loved sharing his passion for Italian cuisine with the crowd. Perhaps most invaluable was learning about some of his favourite products available at the Italian Centre (such as the Rio brand of olive oil for cooking).

Chef Daniel Costa

Speaking of food, one of the most entertaining moments of the day for us was the pizza eating contest. Four women who work in local media were recruited for the spectacle, which required them to eat as much of a medium pizza as they could in five minutes. Brandy Taylor of Sonic and Kit Koon of OMNI tied, and ended up in a two minute eat-off. Brandy emerged as the champion.

Sizeable crowd on hand

Chow down!

There was also plenty of food options to keep festival-goers well fed. Fantasia Gelato easily had the longest line-ups that day, though Sorrentino’s and the Italian Centre were also serving up Italian fare.

Gelato line

Cooking up sausages

Wine and cheese tasting tent

Our only suggestion for next year is to have all of the information up on a website prior. The postcards with the festival week schedule were nice, but didn’t have the detailed information that would definitely help them attract an even bigger crowd.

We hopped on a bus, and on the walk home, came across the Alley of Light public art installation still in progress.

It’s a really neat project – three artists were commissioned by the Edmonton Arts Council to create a design that could be made into a stencil. The stencil would then be used to paint a portion of the alley.

Featuring bold, bright colours, it is a project that puts art in unexpected (but welcome!) places, and will definitely turn some heads. And hopefully, as forecasted by the speech bubble, invite dialogue about public art and the Alley of Light itself.

Alley of Light

Check it out the next time you’re downtown!

Food Notes for August 29, 2011

Where has the summer gone? August just accelerated by, to the point where I’ve literally been a week behind (note to self: triple check e-mails prior to sending them to everyone in your organization). Hope the season’s been good to you too! On to this week’s food notes:

Molly’s Eats and Drift will be serving up good eats over the long weekend at Victoria Park on Monday, September 5. Check their Twitter status for more information!
If you’re not festival’d out yet, check out the Ukrainian Festival happening on September 10, from 11am-7pm at 6103 172 Street. There will be fresh bread baked on-site, and delicious homemade Ukrainian food, in addition to live entertainment and children’s activities. Admission is $2/person or $5/family.
I hope all goes well with Bamir and Patricia (of Eva Sweet)’s nephews. If you haven’t heard, their three teenage nephews now face removal from Canada.
Genius: Liv and Marlow Moo have found possibly the best way to sample dessert – eat your way around downtown!
Vue Weekly wrote a great piece about the gentrification of Whyte Avenue this week – should BRZs be restrictive about the types of businesses that go into the area?
Courtenay wrote about their local butcher, Real Deal Meats.
Will we ever reach a point where there are too many farmers’ markets?
What are we supposed to do now? Gilt Taste says that wine and cheese pairings aren’t meant to be.
Can you trust online reviews?
I saw this and couldn’t help but think of Mack – Eater presents New York Times’ food critic Sam Sifton’s starred reviews in charts and graphs.
Did you hear about the smackdown that took place this week between Paula Deen and Anthony Bourdain? The follow-up from Frank Bruni is worth a read: “When Deen fries a chicken, many of us balk. When the Manhattan chefs David Chang or Andrew Carmellini do, we grovel for reservations and swoon over the homey exhilaration of it all.” Well said, Bruni.
This absolutely took my breath away: New York just had their first taste of Diner en Blanc (“dinner in white”), a tradition of private dinners that began in Paris. With a harbour front setting, lanterns, and all diners dressed in white, it looked pretty amazing. Diner en Blanc also takes place in Montreal and Quebec City – could we do it here, too?
It’s official! Remedy is taking over the downtown storefront previously held by Health Fare (10279 Jasper Avenue).

Remedy

This is a week old, but there was quite a bit of outrage when residents found that the downtown Sobeys had covered up all of their windows, blocking eyes on the street and into the store. We hope this decision will be reversed (there is a meeting this week to discuss it).

Sobeys

I met up with Annie for dinner at Violino last week. They were featuring pizzas cooked in an outdoor oven, so both Annie and I decided to try them. It was a bit awkward, given the pizza dough had to travel from the kitchen through the dining room to reach the oven (and back to the kitchen to be dressed), but I suppose then we knew it was fresh! Annie’s pizza, with proscuitto, artichoke hearts, arugula and goat cheese was the better of the two – more moist with a crust that didn’t chip a tooth. Dessert was better, a silky panna cotta made with buttermilk. It was more tart than either of us were used to, but balanced out in the end with a blueberry sauce and a warm apricot pastry on the side.

Margherita pizza

San Danielle pizza

Panna cotta

2011 Edmonton Transit System Historical Tour: Strathcona Tour & Streetcar Sunset

Though I love joining tours of cities I’m visiting, it’s something I also like to do at home. Being a tourist in your own city is a way to remind yourself of the things that make it great, or at least, things to appreciate and consider from a different perspective.

For that reason, we’ve been meaning to take in one of the Edmonton Transit System Historical Tours for some time, but in the busy festival season, it has fallen by the wayside for a number of years. In July, I made sure to purchase advance tickets for what seemed like the highlight of the series – a bus tour of Old Strathcona, followed by a ride on the High Level Streetcar…at sunset.

Apparently, the tour sold out right away, and could have been sold three times over had there been room, so I was glad to have bought the tickets when I did (at a steal of only $10 each!). Two weeks ago, we walked over to City Hall to board a full bus of excited patrons ready for a history lesson and a ride.

We were given paper fans at the start, handy while we waited for the bus to depart

The bus travelled through downtown en route to Old Strathcona, as our guide pointed out buildings on 97 Street (such as the W.W. Arcade) that, early in the 20^th century, made it the premiere shopping district in Edmonton. We passed the Alberta Hotel, still being rebuilt, the Hotel MacDonald, and the former Canadian Pacific ticket station on Jasper Avenue. Then, there was a stretch where the phrase, “On this site, the former…once stood” were repeated too many times to count. It was a poignant reminder, in the face of the BMO Building’s demolition, that much of Edmonton’s visual history can now be found only in photographs.

The route took us over to the University of Alberta Campus, then back downtown, where we departed the bus in favour of the streetcar. I have so much respect for the Edmonton Radial Railway Society – I am constantly amazed that the High Level Streetcar is maintained and run entirely by dedicated volunteers. The car we were seated in, for example, was refurbished with over 35,000 volunteer hours, after the frame was recovered from a farmer’s field.

Car #33

One of the operators, Don, had the kind of wry humour that put everyone immediately at ease. He provided commentary while we road over the High Level Bridge to the south side (did you know the south end of the bridge is 8 feet higher than the north end?).

Our tour guide, Don

Once we reached the Old Strathcona stop (we overheard that the City is considering adding an additional stop further south at Whyte Avenue for next year), we were invited to depart and take a look inside the ERRS museum inside the bus barns.

Though it wasn’t very big, Mack and I loved looking at the memorabilia, and the signage from lines past.

To market, to market

Once everyone had a chance to stretch their legs, it was back on the streetcar for the moment we had all been waiting for. The skies had threatened to rain all evening, but we were a fortunate lot, as the clouds held off. The sunset was all the more spectacular given our vantage point.

Onto the bridge

Mack’s spectacular panoramic shot

With the streetcar parked on the middle of the bridge, we were treated to a heightened “cocktail party” (heh). Nothing exotic, just juice boxes and some chocolate, but at that moment, we didn’t need anything more than the view.

Sunset view

Bye, LRT!

The Historical Transit Tours will start up again next summer. Though I’m certain all of them are equally informative, there’s just something about a sunset tour of the High Level Bridge that’s priceless, and something I’d say everyone in Edmonton should do at least once.

Good night!

You can see the rest of Mack’s photoset here.

City Market Report: Week 15

It was another gorgeous day at the City Market. One of those days when summer seems like it could go on forever, and makes you forget that warm breezes and patio nights are coming to a rapid end. Until that happens, I will be more than happy to revel in the sunshine along with other market patrons.

City Market revellers

I was set to volunteer for the Downtown Edmonton Community League booth this afternoon, so was able to get in about fifteen minutes of frantic shopping before my shift. Thankfully Mack was available to pick up the rest of the things on the list, and helped me snap some photos as well!

Prunes at Steve & Dan’s

Fruit basket at Steve & Dan’s

Swiss chard from Kuhlmann’s

Sea of beans at Kuhlmann’s

Corn at Kuhlmann’s

Vegetable marrow at Kuhlmann’s

Green onions from Jen’s Organic Garden

Cauliflower from Riverbend Gardens

As for volunteering, it wasn’t much work at all: answering questions about community league membership benefits, catching up with old friends, meeting new residents. And by the end of the day, we sold about 40 memberships – not bad for the first day of our fall drive (DECL will be back at the market on September 10, 24 and October 8 if you want to pick up your membership).

Forming a very cheesy “I [heart] Downtown” with Chris and Scott

In other market news, I’m happy that the a winter venue has been secured, so that the transition from outdoors to indoors won’t skip a beat. The City Market will open in City Hall on October 15, 2011.

See you next week!

Announcing: What the Truck?! 2

Our biggest regret in organizing the first What the Truck?! back in June was not being able to accommodate more vendors. In the days leading up to the event, we heard about several more trucks, but unfortunately, Beaver Hills House Park was already bursting at the seams. So when we were planning for the next What the Truck?!, we knew we would have to relocate to a larger space. And since trucks are meant to hit the road anyway, why not close a street?

What the Truck?! 2 will be taking place on September 16, 2011, from 4-8pm on 102 Street, just south of Jasper Avenue. The street will be closed to food truck traffic only(!), and we will be parking picnic tables in the adjacent Abbey Lane park. Thomas and Marc, of the Urban Monks DJs, will be back spinning tunes for us that night!

To be colonized with food trucks

We are also happy to announce that all seven vendors from the first What the Truck?! are back, but we are thrilled to welcome three new trucks to the event: Drift, Nomad and Molly’s Eats. Check out the full truck roster here.

In the next few weeks leading up to the event, Mack and I will be posting more about some of the challenges we faced in planning the first What the Truck?!, and more importantly, what we learned about Edmonton’s street vending program. But in the meantime, please RSVP to the event on Facebook – we hope to see you on September 16 for more eats and beats in the heart of the city!

A Taste of Whyte: The 1st Annual Red Shoe Crawl

Given how much I love exploring neighbourhoods on foot, I was predisposed to liking the idea of the Red Shoe Crawl, put on by the Ronald McDonald House of Northern Alberta. The fact that it exceeded my expectations was just icing on the cake!

Red Shoe Crawl

I received an e-mail from Jen Panteluk a few months ago about a fundraising event the House was in the midst of organizing. The Red Shoe Crawl would be an opportunity for participants to sample fare from different establishments in Old Strathcona, with the entire $35 ticket price going to the charity. Jen shared with me that all of the businesses were not only enthusiastic about the idea, but had all generously agreed to donate food or drinks.

Red balloon markers!

We had a three hour window on that Sunday afternoon to visit all nineteen participating vendors. There was even an added incentive to complete the loop: the chance to win prizes. Mack and I thought: with ease! Boy, were we wrong.

Having purchased our tickets ahead of time, we signed in at Chili’s, received our passports adorned with red ribbon that doubled as a lanyard of sorts, and we were off.

Passport

Our first stop was Accent European Lounge. We were greeted by a friendly volunteer who signed off our passport, then asked us to help ourselves to a tray of tomatoes topped with fresh mozzarella and a balsamic glaze. Because this was our first stop, we assumed all restaurants would providing made-ahead appetizers in a similarly casual, self-serve manner.

Tomatoes with mozzarella and a balsamic glaze

Well, perhaps some restaurants should have. Because this was a first time event, and the businesses were donating their food (and staff and space), it’s hard to fault the establishments that didn’t quite make it work. The Pourhouse was one of them. Situated a few doors down from Chili’s, they were slammed from the start, and in the fifteen minutes that we waited, we saw only a single plate of their nacho dogs with stuffed potato soup go out. We ended up leaving, with full intentions of returning, but didn’t get around to it.

The Pourhouse

In contrast, Two Rooms was pumping out plates of bannock and bruschetta like a well-oiled machine. It was also the stop that tuned us into the fact that if we had to consume fifteen more plates that size, we likely wouldn’t make it.

Bannock and bruschetta – the bannock was great, crispy on the outside, and chewy on the inside

Elephant & Castle had a special place for Red Crawl participants. Cordoned off upstairs, it made it easy for staff to identify who still had to be served.

Fish and coleslaw – good, but the fish was a little under seasoned for my taste (Mack disagreed)

With fried food in our bellies, we thought it would be a good opportunity to walk it off, given we still had three quarters of the tour left to go. McDonald’s was the furthest destination we had, and it sounded like at that point in the game, hardly anyone had made it that far. We were rewarded with a full size drink of our choosing.

The display cups were too cute!

Iced coffees (Mack remarked that he preferred these to the Starbucks iced brewed coffees – sacrilege!)

Back on Whyte, Irie Foods treated us to a beef patty. It resembled a pizza pop, but the spicy, well seasoned ground beef filling was so much better. At $3 a pop on the menu, we thought it would be an easy to eat item to pick up during the Fringe, and a much cheaper, but satisfying alternative to the food on the grounds.

Jamaican beef patty

Fuss Cupcakes, further down the street, offered us our first dessert of the afternoon, a cute mini red velvet cupcake topped with yellow icing – a delightful homage to the Ronald McDonald House. Our only grimace – the volunteer who told us she was sick, right before handing us cupcakes without gloves on.

Cupcake!

Mack had been looking forward to the next stop all day – Molly’s Eats was parked on 104 Street, just south of Whyte. We’d been wanting to try Molly’s for some time now, but this was the first time it worked out. And even better, it was worth the wait! The proveletta sandwich was delicious, packed with melty cheese and perfectly crispy, buttered bread. It was our favourite taste of the day.

Susan of Molly’s Eats

Proveletta sandwich

The skies were threatening to open up at this point, so it seemed like a good time to start wine-ing down (heh). Well, that and we were starting to get full. Eyecare Group was one of two participating non-food establishments (the other being The Tin Box), so I was eager to see how they fit into the picture. Turns out, they were perhaps the most savvy – offering a wine pour and encouraging guests to browse the store, with the added incentive of a coupon for a $50 discount.

Wine

We had our most relaxing experience that afternoon at Murietta’s. We were seated and provided with a glass of water while we waited. Staff were calm and professional, and though the visit was brief, it was the restaurant that impressed us the most, and one that we would most likely return to based on that day.

Garlic prawns – maybe shrimp would be a more accurate descriptor, but served warm, they were tasty

Next up was another beverage – a chillate from Second Cup. I can’t tell you how relieved Mack and I were when presented with sample instead of full-size servings.

Mini Chillates

At this point, Mack had been utterly defeated by the food. He was stuffed past the brim, while I was just uncomfortably full. We agreed to do two more stops. The first was Sabzy, which had set up its tasting station outside of the storefront. They offered tastes of both a quinoa salad and a rosewater-based drink.

Quinoa salad and rosewater

We had saved the ice cream for last – any flavour from What’s the Scoop?

Ice cream

We ended up missing six passport markers – Cha Island Tea, The Tin Box, The Pita Pit, Chianti’s (which was offering a full appetizer order – we were bursting just thinking about it), the Old Strathcona Rack (we had wandered in, but no volunteer – or staff for that matter – could be found), and Chili’s (where the after party was being held). I’m not sure how many people actually finished the rounds, but hats off to them!

We did our best!

We didn’t stay for the after party – we still had some errands to run that afternoon – but we’re sure it was a good time. On the way home, I kept thinking about how this was such a great medium for a taste event. Not only do chefs actually get to cook in a full kitchen, but diners set foot and get a feel for the actual restaurant. I think it’s also a great way to expose people to a neighbourhood – had Taste 118 gone ahead as planned, I would have hoped for something like this. But other BRZs or districts of interest should also take note – Chinatown/Little Italy, Avenue of Nations, 124 Street, Little India, Little Lebanon…the replication of this type of event is possible all over.

I’ve been told that the Red Show Crawl itself will be an annual event, and that even more restaurants had expressed interest than they could have accommodated this time around. So expect an even better (and possibly bigger) event next year! Kudos to Jen and the rest of the Ronald McDonald House staff and volunteers for planning a fantastic afternoon.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: