Recap: The City Market Decides Against the Mercer Warehouse as a Potential Year-Round Venue

On April 18, 2011, a special meeting was held by the City Market Board, as motioned at the AGM earlier this year. Vendors were to discuss whether or not the Board should continue to consider the Mercer Warehouse as a potential year-round venue for the market.

The Mercer Warehouse (10363 104 Street) is one of the few vacant buildings left in the historic Warehouse District, and is only separated from the burgeoning outdoor City Market by one block. It was built back in 1911 by a liquor and cigar seller named John B. Mercer to be a shipping/receiving hub. More recently, it housed an antique shop, but has been empty for many years now.

Mercer Warehouse

The conference room at the Sutton Place Hotel was standing room only, as land developer Greg Wilkes presented how the heritage building would be transformed into three levels of market space over 37,000 square feet of space. This area could be divided into 120 stalls, 120 square feet each, with early plans also including provisions for a food court, performance space and children’s play area. The proposal was for the market to be open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Interior shot (from Jon Hall, at the City Market Facebook page)

Kelly Pope, a local developer (who, in this 2004 article is credited with “single-handedly doing a huge job of cleaning up and restoring almost two blocks of Jasper Avenue”) recently purchased the building, and has been negotiating with the City Market, through its Board and Wilkes, on terms and the cost of renovations. The deal:

Ten year lease plus a five year option;
Pope would be responsible for base building upgrades (e.g. washroom refurbishing, roof repair) in the amount of $775,000-$1 million;
the City Market would be responsible for market-specific upgrades and demising costs (e.g. installation of public elevator, upgrade of stairs, refurbishment of common areas) for a total cost of $2 million; and
Market vendors would be responsible for individual stall improvements (e.g. installation of sinks, freezers, food-safe flooring, lighting and signage), which could run anywhere from $5,000-$50,000.

The Board had calculated that each vendor would be responsible to pay rent of $10,080 a year (an estimate of sorts that they were using for decision purposes), plus utilities, building tax and a proportional cost of operating the common space. That amount did not include the individual stall improvements. Vendors would also have to sign a $16,700 covenant with the owner over 15 years to cover the cost of the $2 million in upgrades.

Rough interior plans

Before the voting motion was presented, Wilkes opened the floor to questions. It was apparent that vendors were apprehensive about the Mercer Warehouse for many reasons, including the terms of the lease (some suggesting whether or not it would make more sense to simply purchase a building themselves), the viability of a multi-level market and the lack of dedicated parking, particularly for a year-round venue in a winter city. Also, though Wilkes did his best to assure vendors that the street market would continue from May through to October, he did not have a reassuring answer as to how the indoor market would interact with the outdoor component. Most of all, it became clear that vendors were not satisfied with the exploration of alternatives to the Mercer Warehouse – such as the Kingsland market model of an investors base, continuing in City Hall, or negotiating with the arena for inclusion in the winter garden.

The City Market Board

During the discussion, what was most distressing to Mack and I was perhaps the suggestion that locations outside of the core should be explored. The storied history of Edmonton’s original farmers’ market aside, as owners of a 104 Street condo and fervent downtown boosters, it was difficult not to slide into the “it has to be downtown” reasoning made (in)famous by Mayor Mandel on the arena.

After the lengthy discussion period, a motion was presented for members to vote upon. It asked whether or not members wanted the Board to continue pursuing the Mercer Warehouse as a potential year-round venue. A secret ballot was proposed for the voting, and after the votes were counted, there was no doubt the vendors did not like what they heard – 69 nay votes and only 3 yay votes.

It’s important to note that the City Market still has eight years left on the lease on 104 Street to house the summer market, but there is no doubt that there is an appetite for a year-round space in the core. The Board has been directed to go back and consider all other options – we can only hope that those options will be downtown.

The Lunch Option: Hardware Grill

Two Christmases ago, Mack’s parents gave us a gift card to Hardware Grill. It was particularly thoughtful because the four of us had shared a wonderful meal there a few months prior. We had always intended on putting the gift card towards lunch at the restaurant, but didn’t work to sync our schedules until last week (it helped that I had a meeting in the same neighbourhood right after lunch).

Hardware Grill, for many reasons, has the distinction of being Edmonton’s finest restaurant. It is also the only restaurant in recent memory that Mack and I had to think twice about before deciding on what to wear – jeans or no jeans? Even though it was daytime on a Friday, we opted against denim. We discovered upon arrival that casual attire was acceptable; the suits were few, and there were numerous parties dressed in their Friday best.

The warmth of the dining room is apparent, regardless of the time of day, but I think I might actually like the room better at lunch, if not only because of the natural light, and the almost buoyant atmosphere.

Interior

We don’t normally order starters for lunch, but armed with a gift card, we threw caution to the wind. It’s always difficult for me to pass up French onion soup ($8) when I see it on the menu, and I was glad I gave in. The most amazing thing about the rich, subtly sweet dish was the bread – though submerged for the better part of the fifteen minutes it took for me to finish the soup, it did not dissolve into a soggy mess, and instead, retained its chewy, dense texture. The portion size could have also easily made this a light lunch in itself.

French onion soup

Mack’s romaine a la Caesar ($10) was equally well received, plated with care, and robed with a garlicky smooth dressing that could convince anyone that Caesar dressing from a bottle should not be tolerated.

Romaine a la Caesar

It was a wonder I was able to finish any part of my main at all, but I did my best, especially because the beef bourguignon ($20) was well worth the effort. The short ribs were fork tender (it was a definite sign when our server did not replace my butter knife with a steak knife), and the black coffee BBQ sauce hit all the right notes (and if the recipe isn’t a guarded secret, it should be). At first, I wasn’t sure about the inclusion of roasted corn kernels in the mashed potatoes, but it won me over in the end – the sweetness and unexpected pop cut through the richness. Mack also enjoyed helping himself to the slices of crispy pork belly off my plate.

Beef bourguignon

Mack had been waiting all week for the truffled mac ‘n cheese with baby lobster and shiitakes ($16). It was definitely not your diner mac ‘n cheese, baked and bubbling in a muted ceramic dish – this was its elegant, refined older sister, down to the use of ribbed shells. The sauce was much thinner than Mack had expected, but he enjoyed it all the same, and thought it was the perfect size.

Truffled mac ‘n cheese

It was a very pleasant meal – everything was well paced, and our server was professional but gracious. The prices are also quite reasonable, and would be a great option for those wanting to try Hardware Grill on more inexpensive terms.

Though I can’t see myself visiting Hardware Grill for lunch all that often, I could see myself returning now and again – especially for the beef bourguignon. Thanks again to Martin and Patti for the gift certificate!

Hardware Grill
9698 Jasper Avenue
(780) 423-0969
Lunch: Monday-Friday, 11:30am-2pm; Dinner: Monday-Friday 5-10pm, Saturday 5-10:30pm, closed Sundays

The Cooking Chronicles: Breakfast Meetings

For the past few months, Mack and I have been hosting the Eat Alberta planning meetings at our place. It just made sense, location and finance wise.

Since we didn’t have to travel at all for the meetings, I’ve been making an effort to prepare and serve the group baked goods (and some weeks, have had great help from Su and Valerie). After all, no fruitful discussions can come on an empty stomach!

Cream Drop Scones

A Dinner with Julie recipe for cream drop scones was great in a pinch. Five minutes of prep, fifteen minutes in the oven, I pulled them out just as the group was arriving.

We served it with some Johnson Family Farm butter and August Organics jam, and in spite of the sugar sprinkle, I found the added sweetness from the jam necessary to bump up the flavour. Valerie commented that the biscuits would work well in a strawberry shortcake.

Cream drop scones

Blueberry Yogurt Muffins

More recently, I made a batch of blueberry yogurt muffins, using yogurt from Smoky Valley Goat Cheese (really, one of the most inexpensive products you can buy at the City Market alongside MoNa’s cremini mushrooms – $3 for a 480 mL container of farm fresh yogurt).

I probably could have included more orange zest for further citrus zing, but in terms of texture, the muffins had nice crackly tops that gave way to moist, fluffy interiors. A definite winner!

Blueberry yogurt muffins

Like the breakfast banana muffins, I’m truly learning that baking doesn’t have to be an activity relegated to a Sunday afternoon. If you have ten minutes, you can bake too!

Bokashi: The First Burial

It’s no coincidence that the first breakup with Bokashi also led to the first burial – that’s how it has to be with experimental composting.

Mack and I took our filled bucket (which had sat, basically untouched, for over a month) to my parents’ house, intent on burying its contents in spite of the fact that snow still graced the ground. Lucky for us, the mounds of soil in my Mum’s garden was already thawed to the point where digging wasn’t too difficult.

Mike advised us that the ideal burying conditions involved a three inch trench, and mentioned that the Bokashi bacteria tend to just die off in freezing temperatures (instead of becoming dormant and reactivating later). He also said that it might take 3-4 months for the compost to be broken down into garden soil.

We may have dug more hole than trench…

What we found at the bottom of the bucket after all was said and done was – could it be – tea? There probably wasn’t enough liquid to have come through the tap, but there was certainly enough for a healthy drizzle, caught between chards of onion skins and blackened banana peels. Mike, in his attempt to encourage us, said that the types of food we were adding could have been soaking up any tea that was produced.

Tea, glorious tea!

The deed done, we rinsed out the bucket (it was so handy to have access to an outdoor tap). We are now ready for reconciliation.

Round 2 begins

Day 5 in San Francisco: “Top Chef” Thursday

Things we loved in San Francisco:

Two Buck Chuck (Seriously. Wine for $2 a bottle in North America?)

Consumer warning labels in stores (how’s that for awareness?)

Scramble crosswalks (coming soon to Edmonton)

Something else we loved? Sleeping in. We decided to give ourselves the benefit of a late start on day 5, as we felt recovery was in order after two consecutive early mornings.

The day as a whole was a lazy one – without any concrete plans besides a dinner reservation and a late show, it felt freeing to be able to wander without direction. So after grabbing a coffee from Peet’s, we spent the morning shopping at Union Square.

Union Square

It was easy to get used to that kind of shopping experience – stores densely packed together, all accessible from street-level, with crosswalks at every block. Sure, some of the stores we visited have locations in Edmonton also, but only locked inside a mall or car-driven complex.

Pedestrian-friendly shopping

We eventually walked over to the Yerba Buena Gardens, which, on first glance, appeared to be the city’s outdoor bedroom. We lost count of the number of people idling on the grass, enjoying the shade and the soothing sound of the water features.

Yerba Buena Gardens

Waterfall

I had read about there being a century old carousel at the Gardens, and, like my giddy stint at the Musee, I couldn’t pass up a visit.

Carousel!

Mack initially wasn’t as keen on reverting back to his childhood, but even he enjoyed circling the wooden animals to select his steed. And at only $3 for two rides, it was well worth it!

Whee!

Mack gets in the spirit of things

I knew we were near ‘Witchcraft, one of Tom Collichio’s casual sandwich outposts, and given we were to later dine at another restaurant connected to the Top Chef series, it just seemed fitting to stop there for lunch.

Interior

At 2pm, we found the restaurant nearly empty – perhaps we just missed the lunch rush? ‘Witchcraft wasn’t in the most inspiring location (it faces a parkade), but the interior definitely tried to make up for it. We loved the floor-to-ceiling windows, the second floor loft-style seating, and the stylish prints featuring antique kitchen equipment.

Mack

From what I had read about the restaurant though, I really thought the menu would grab me. But somehow, the sandwich combinations didn’t excite me at all. I ended up with the grilled cheese sandwich and soup of the day, while Mack chose the BLT. Our lunch for two (with one drink) cost $23.

My grilled cheese was good (solid bread foundation, nice combination of cheeses), but the soup was better (great texture and depth). Mack liked the BLT well enough (especially the bacon), but thought the tomato overpowered everything.

Grilled cheese and soup

BLT

The side of Tim’s Chips ended up being our favourite part of the meal – kettle-style, they were just the right thickness to offer both a satisfying crunch and a rounded flavour from the frying oil. Best of all, they didn’t have any additives.

Tim’s Chips

It’s something to be said when the package of chips stands out the most – so all told, ‘Witchcraft was a bit underwhelming for both of us.

A brief sojourn back to the hotel had us ready for our trip’s most anticipated meal. While watching the second season of Top Chef Masters, both Mack and I fell head over heels for Chef Hubert Keller. His personality and modest nature outshone his competitors: where others put ego first, Chef Keller always seemed to let his food speak for itself. So we knew a visit to SF wouldn’t be complete without reservations to Fleur de Lys.

The restaurant was just a ten minute walk from our hotel, allowing us to build up an appetite for the multi-course meal. When we arrived, we were whisked inside a sumptuous room, lined with curtains and complete with a tented ceiling. Most of the tables were arranged like streetside Parisian cafes – facing inwards instead of towards one another. It really felt like we had stepped into another world.

Unlike our experience at Gramercy Tavern in New York a few years back, when I was afraid to even take out my camera, it didn’t seem out of place at Fleur de Lys. Most of the diners were our age, and nearly all of them were snapping pictures of their experience. Also, through the curtains, I spotted a television set tuned to Food Network – of all shows, Top Chef Masters was on!

We chose the $82/person 4 course meal, which of course, with wine, was much more than that. Given that we were provided with several options for each course (starter, seafood, meat, dessert), the price seemed reasonable.

The vegetable ragout with truffle oil was a bit underwhelming to me, though the egg was poached very nicely. Mack enjoyed his Maryland soft shell crab, but had a bit of trouble determining how best to eat it, given the crab had been deep fried whole.

Vegetable ragout

Maryland soft shell crab

My salmon (sustainably raised, of course) was well cooked, and I loved the accompanying broccolini. The dish also marked my first ever encounter with porcini flan, and I have to say, I quite enjoyed the savoury version. Mack’s dish of prawns ended up being just a singular prawn, albeit one that was pretty tasty, and one that he enjoyed more as it was served alongside pork belly.

Sustainably raised salmon

Wild jumbo prawn with brioche crust

The duck, moist as ever, was a play on duck l’orange, served with fresh orange segments. I wasn’t a fan of the spetzle though – they were bland. Mack equally enjoyed his filet mignon, though not surprisingly, he devoured the lobster truffled mac & cheese (stuffed into a brioche bun!) first.

Muscovy duck breast, grenadine pickled onions

Seared filet mignon

We both absolutely adored the dessert course. My chocolate souffle was easily worth the additional $6 charge, light and fluffy on top with a satisfying and rich centre. Mack’s plate was a whimsical play on burger, fries and shake, with slices of kiwi standing in for pickles.

Chocolate souffle

Fleurburger

The restaurant saved the best part for last – towards the end of our meal, Chef Keller came out to meet all the diners! I’m pretty sure everyone in the room knew who he was, but he still made sure to introduce himself at each table, “Hello, I’m the chef here”. Mack didn’t want to wash his hands afterwards. #fanboy

With Chef Keller

Our dinner at Fleur de Lys was a memorable experience, though only partially because of the food. We were so happy to have met Chef Keller!

We didn’t plan it that way, but the 19^th annual San Francisco Fringe Festival happened to be running the same week we were there. Of course, we had to take in at least one show.

The fact that Edmonton is the home of the second largest Fringe Festival in the world is so often bandied about that I think Edmontonians take it for granted. At least, I know I do. So it was a shock to me that San Francisco, an enviable city in so many ways, could not even hold a candle to our fabulous theatre festival.

With just three venues and a total of 42 shows, the scale of the SF Fringe was much, much smaller than Edmonton’s Fringe. Show times were also confined to evenings on weekdays and the venues weren’t clearly marked. It also probably didn’t help that their theatre district was in the shadiest part of the city that we’d come across thus far (the aforementioned neighbourhood that we were warned by hotel staff not to walk through).

The biggest difference, however, was the lack of a festival atmosphere. The festival grounds are one of the biggest reasons Edmonton’s Fringe is the place to be in August. The buskers, the food, the music and the activities are all such an integral part of the Fringe now that it is difficult to consider what it would be like without it.

We chose Star Crossed Love based on the description on the website, and had pre-purchased our tickets online (just in case). There really was no need – granted, it was a 10:30pm show on a Thursday night, but for a supposed “pick of the Fringe”, the dozen people in the audience was disappointing, to say the least.

Star Crossed Love

The premise of the theatre company is the showcase of badly written scripts. That is to say, all of their productions are culled from rejected Hollywood screenplays, performed on stage verbatim. For example, any time a character nodded, the actors would nod in exaggerated fashion. As you can guess, some of the actions got old fast, but others, including “lovers a long time” (where the couple looked to be bored of one another) were amusing.

The script itself was indeed awful – an over-the-top, implausible, rags-to-riches tale where the heroine ends the show up on stage, accepting an Oscar. But wasn’t as funny as it could have been, and for that reason, wasn’t that entertaining. We did want to commend the actors though – they really committed to the roles, and tried their best to wring every bit of unintentional humour from it.

We made our way back through the Tenderloin and retired to our hotel for the night. On to the next day!

Food Notes for April 18, 2011

My sister Amanda moved to Toronto last week! I know we’ll still talk lots (and she may be the reason why I finally get a smart phone), but I’m going to miss her! On to this week’s food notes:

You can vote for See Magazine’s annual Best of Edmonton poll now until April 28, 2011 (Mack’s blog is one of the options under “Best Local Blog!”).
Kerstin’s Chocolates sent me the following tidbit: this Easter, Kerstin’s Chocolates is going to give one lucky person a free 1-year membership to our new Chocophilia Choc-o-the-Month Club (worth $600!). Customers who make a purchase at the register or online will be entered for a change to win! Enter before April 23rd, and then find out who wins on April 25th.
Check out Live Local for information on some great upcoming events, including the second in their series of Live Local dinners (this one at Sabor Divino on April 28), high tea at Hotel Macdonald to celebrate the marriage of William and Kate, and a local chefs series at Everything Cheese in May.
Liane mentioned this week that Prairie Bistro, the eatery at the Enjoy Centre, was set to open today.
Also opening today is Chai Pani (8205-105th Street), a chai tea bar that will be serving pastries from around the world. It’s always great to have another coffee shop option on Whyte!
Congratulations to Jean Pare for thirty years of Company’s Coming success!
Mack and I attended a special meeting of the City Market tonight, called for members to vote on whether or not the Board should proceed with considering the Mercer Warehouse as a viable year-round option. The vote was a resounding no: 69 against and only 3 for. The Board has now been directed to consider other possibilities, such as continuing at City Hall for the time being.
Urban Diner has a great round up post of all of the Vancouver food carts.
I think this seems even cooler than the recent trend of pop-up restaurants – underground street food markets.
Based on the name of the show, I really thought this was an April Fool’s Day prank, except that I think Top Chef’s Carla Hall would be great as a host: ABC is set to launch a daytime talk show about food called The Chew.
I had a lunch meeting today at Ninh Kieu, and had their pho again for the first time in a while. The serving of meat was very generous, and as meatballs go, really quite tasty!

Ninh Kieu

There’s nothing like winding down the afternoon with a beautiful vanilla latte from Credo.

Credo

Calgary Food Recaplets

One day, I might catch up on all of the back posts I intend to write…but I’m not there yet. Here are a few of the food-related places Mack and I checked out while in Calgary a few months back that didn’t fit into my previous posts.

Kingsland Farmers’ Market

Though I know our own farmers’ market scene has its own share of politics, the fact that Calgary’s ups and downs has played out in the public eye made it all the more intriguing to me as a non-resident. When I read that several vendors were breaking free from the Calgary Farmers’ Market to start their own (what has become the Kingsland Farmers’ Market), I knew checking it out would be at the top of our Calgary to-do list. Mary Ellen of Greens, Eggs and Ham has been selling at Kingsland for a number of months now, and has been providing us with updates along the way, so it was even better to be able to see it in person.

Kingsland Farmers’ Market

It’s another Calgary market that is open on multiple days – Thursday to Sunday. Most of the vendors seemed to have permanent stalls, selling everything from produce to meat to wine and prepared food.

Interior

It was a decent space, a converted car dealership, with high ceilings accented by nice wooden beams. With the large number of hot food vendors, it was great that the farmers’ market also had a large, bright seating area set aside – I can imagine friends meeting up for a bite to eat at the market, which would be a great draw for those not necessarily looking to shop. The same area also housed craft vendors – separation much appreciated by those just looking to do their grocery shopping.

Greens, Eggs and Ham

Like the Calgary Farmers’ Market, the Kingsland Market also allows the sale of imported produce. Mary Ellen told us that they operate on the bullseye diet – goods that can’t be sourced locally can be brought in from elsewhere. She commented that Calgarians seem to prefer the “one-stop shop” farmers’ market.

The tropical fruit table

We didn’t want to buy too much, given we would be in Calgary for a few more days without cold storage options, but we did pick up a bag of pretzel buns from Rustic Sourdough Bakery (they were miles above the pretzel bun we had at Loungeburger), plus two cute “pies on a stick” from Sugar Pie Bakery. What can’t be served on a stick these days?

Pretzel buns

Sugar Pie Bakery

Phil & Sebastian at Chinook Centre

I’m not sure I ever considered the possibility of one of the third wave darlings like Transcend or Credo ever setting up shop in one of our major shopping complexes, but after stumbling upon Phil & Sebastian in Chinook Centre, I’m wondering if that day might be closer than we think.

Phil & Sebastian

Open since September, the Phil & Sebastian is located in the newest wing of Chinook, but is also accessible from a street entrance. It was absolutely hopping, with many patrons (like us) stopping by for a caffeine boost to break up an afternoon of shopping, but it seemed many others were oblivious to the mall’s connection.

Interior

We loved the design, with the central coffee bar dominating the space, an open invitation for patrons to watch their coffee being made, and to interact with the baristas.

Coppeneur

The space vacated by Kismet on Stephen Avenue has been turned into a charming chocolate shop. Coppeneur is a micro-batch bean-to-bar chocolate maker, based in Germany (some of their products are carried by Kerstin’s Chocolates in Edmonton). This is their first retail location in North America.

Coppeneur

I always enjoy browsing for chocolate, and this occasion was no exception. We picked up a mixed package of their cuvee bars, which were almost too beautiful to consume – barks of dark, milk or white chocolate studded with everything from almonds to cocoa nibs to pink peppercorns. Worth a visit – particularly because they were one of the few storefronts downtown actually open on a Sunday!

Cuvee bars

Spoon Me

The cheekily named Spoon Me is a frozen yogurt chain with twenty locations in the U.S., and two locations in Calgary. We stopped in for a snack at the Kensington branch just before heading back to Edmonton.

It was a delightful space to spend some time in, bursting with natural light, bright wall colours, and funky furniture. The bathroom walls were decorated with decals playing off their name, such as “May the spoon be with you!” and “You can’t handle the spoon!”. The fun continued with their fill-in-the-blank napkins.

Frozen yogurt treat

At $5 for a small (with three toppings), it was on par with other frozen yogurt bars, but between the interior and the laugh we had reading through some of the napkins pinned up to the wall, it was well worth it.

And it just keeps on growing…

I really appreciate that such a lovely food city is only a few hours from us – and though we share many similarities with Calgary, it always feels a bit like a world away. I’m looking forward to our next trip down already!

The Citadel Theatre: “The Three Musketeers”

A number of years ago, I remember being drawn to a Fringe show called Klang! Pow! Kersplat! primarily because it was promised that each of the scenes would involve stage fighting. I remember it being very entertaining, and really, I hadn’t seen anything like it before – there’s nothing quite like watching the dance of live, choreographed combat.

When Mack won tickets to The Three Musketeers at the Citadel, I was excited for the promise of stage duelling. We watched it on Sunday, and I am happy to say it didn’t disappoint on the action front. There was so much going on in the first grand fight sequence that it was difficult to keep up with the individual battles – though I suppose that wasn’t really the point. The spectacle of it all was exhilarating, and combined with the lavish costumes and props, definitely a crowd pleaser.

But given the running time of the show was nearly three hours, how the story unfolded became that much more important – the fight scenes couldn’t be the means to the end. I have to say that I wasn’t ultimately that engaged with D’Artagnan’s rise to musketeer status (though Eric Morin did a fine job emanating a nervous energy befitting of the character). My favourite scene was surprisingly one of the quieter moments in the production, when Athos (Kris Joseph) disclosed of his past heartbreak to D’Artagnan. I was actually hoping for more of such exchanges between the would-be musketeer and his mentors – his swift acceptance into the “all for one” trio seemed too expedient.

Tom Wood, who adapted the show, did take liberalities with the ending, understandable because of the production’s family friendly nature. Of his changes, I particularly enjoyed the final confrontation between Athos and Milady de Winter (Melissa MacPherson), which resulted in a much more dramatic, intense end than in Dumas’ original, complete with a resounding flash in the darkness. MacPherson, I should note, was delightfully evil, so much so that I had flashbacks to her equally solid performance as Lady Macbeth at the Freewill Shakespeare Festival last year.

Overall, it was a fun production that lived up to my expectations. The Three Musketeers runs until April 24, 2011.

The Cooking Chronicles: Creature of Comfort

Like Brooke, I know this warming trend should really trigger some sort of change in the kinds of dishes I should be craving, but the reality is – I love cold weather comfort foods. So though at some point a transition to lighter, more seasonal fare will take place, I’m going to take my sweet time.

Potato-Crusted Quiche

A few weeks ago, one of my coworkers talked about her favourite quiche recipe – instead of the usual pastry crust, she liked to use shredded potatoes as the base, pressed into a pie plate. I’d really never considered potatoes as a base before, but it seemed like an idea too good not to try.

I found a recipe for a potato-crusted quiche that involved slices of potatoes, a great way to use up the bag of baby potatoes I’d picked up from Kuhlmann’s. As directed, we tossed slices of potato with melted butter, parmesan and seasonings, then did our best to artfully arrange the slices in two pie plates.

Crust, pre-baking

After baking them for half an hour, we filled them with a mixture of cream and Greens, Eggs and Ham duck eggs and threw ham, mushrooms and cheddar in one, and sautéed onions and spinach bacon and parmesan in the other. We served the quiche with a side of mixed heritage greens, also from Greens, Eggs and Ham.

Potato-crusted quiche

Quiche with a side of greens

Amanda stopped by for dinner that night, and loved the quiche – as scalloped potatoes are a favourite of hers, she especially appreciated the potato base. Mack and I both really enjoyed the quiche as well – no doubt, this will be a recipe we will be coming back to again.

Vij’s Stewed Cinnamon-Scented Lamb Curry

The last lamb stew I made was a bit of a bomb – too sweet, and more than anything, highlighted the gamey taste of the meat, something Mack was not a fan of. With one more package of lamb stew from Eat Local First left to use, I wanted to find a recipe that he would actually like. Vij’s stewed cinnamon-scented lamb curry seemed like a good fit, given the strong flavours and Mack’s affinity towards curried dishes.

I had to do a few substitutions – canola oil instead of ghee, sour cream instead of yogurt, and just 1lb of meat instead of 2, but other than that, I followed the recipe as printed. I wasn’t sure the sauce would ever thicken, but it did, to a luxurious consistency. The curry was most pointedly infused with cloves (with the cinnamon barely detectable), but the flavours were very similar to the shortcut butter chicken dish that is a staple in our kitchen. The lamb was super tender after two hours on the stove, and, hurrah! wasn’t gamey at all. Mack gave it the thumbs up.

Vij’s lamb curry

Food Notes for April 11, 2011

As much as I’m not a fan of rainy days, we really need it to wash away all of the accumulated dirt and sand. So bring on the rain! On to this week’s food notes:

Voting for Vue Weekly’s annual Golden Fork Awards is now on! You can vote until May 1, 2011 for a chance to win $500 in restaurant gift certificates.
Cathy posted about the impending closure of the current location of Cally’s Teas on April 30. On the bright side – it isn’t the end of Cally’s, but their new location is yet to be determined.
See reviewed Pampa this week – though service wasn’t quite up to par, it seems the management did their best to make up for it.
Vue reviewed Cafe de Ville’s second location: different feel, but equally good.
If you haven’t yet seen Eat Local First’s new website, check it out! I love that you can easily buy gift certificates online now.
Sherene continued her series of Q & As with the judges of Top Chef Canada (which started airing today) including head judge Chef Mark McEwan and judge Shereen Arazam.
Hurrah for street food: Vancouver just approved 19 more food carts.
Mack snapped a photo of a forthcoming salad bar chain location called The Chopped Leaf in Commerce Place.

The Chopped Leaf

Kathryn and I were able to pop by Battista’s Calzones for lunch last week before a meeting nearby. I am happy to say the meatball calzone was still every bit as delicious as I remembered.

Mama Mia calzone

Before our second supper of alley burgers, Amanda, Felicia and I had dinner at Niche (which was reviewed in the Journal this week). It was packed, with many parties turned away, so reservations are a must. The full house didn’t cause service to slip up though (our server was fantastic), and our food arrived promptly. Amanda enjoyed her duck confit, and Felicia the dish of beef cheeks and pasta. I decided to try the braised pork and lentil soup and the bison short ribs. The earthy soup hit the spot, with a hearty texture befitting of a cool, spring evening. The short ribs were good, but in terms of meat satisfaction, I would likely end up ordering the beef cheeks again next time. The three of us shared the salted caramel brownie, and I am happy to say it was much better than the first one I had a few months back. It was warm, with flakes of salt evident underneath the whipped cream. Comfortable but refined, Niche will make a regular out of you!