A Bad Reaction: Sabzy Cafe

Though I do my best to make it back to eateries I’ve written about, sometimes it doesn’t happen until months later, mostly due to timing or geographic location. Sabzy Cafe, a Persian restaurant run by a lovely family I had the privilege of meeting with back in February, was one of those instances. When my sisters and I needed a spot for dinner in the Old Strathcona area to precede our night of fashion, I immediately thought of Sabzy.

We weren’t sure how busy it would be in the evening, so made sure to reserve a table in advance, but it turns out it wasn’t necessary. A few other parties arrived over the course of our stay, but by no means was the restaurant packed. I arrived before my two sisters, and chose the sunny table by the front window.

It’s an oddly designed space, by no fault of the Sabetghadams. With jagged corners and shadowy enclaves, the room can provide diners with a feeling of both privacy and isolation. The multicolored walls, bright with fall shades of deep yellow, purple, and a spring green did help bring some cheer into the cafe, but there was a reason why I was drawn to the windowside table.

Great spot for peoplewatching

Sabzy asserts its casual atmosphere by inviting customers to place their orders with staff at the counter. Though I am not adverse to this (one of my favorite cafes, Leva, is set up this way), the entrée I ordered was definitely priced at an amount where I would expect a different level of service. The kabob platter, with chicken and beef/lamb kabobs was $16.99. My sisters opted for something a bit lighter – the grilled chicken sandwich ($10).

A few minutes later, three glasses and a small jug of water were delivered to us. Our food arrived shortly after – both plates a mirror image of the photos included on the menu. I was happy to find that the meat had been taken off the skewers for me, and that the plate was piled high with a generous serving of full-bodied saffron rice. The chicken kabob was all right (it actually tasted similar to my Mum’s satay), but the lamb really shined – moist, flavourful, and grilled to perfection, I didn’t even miss a potential dipping sauce accompaniment.

Kabob Platter

I loved the mint garnish on the grilled chicken sandwich – a simple but effective way for the kitchen to remind diners of their fresh focus. Amanda found the sandwich good, albeit small (and pricey without an included side dish), but Felicia was left literally with ill feelings. After a single bite, her tongue started to feel fuzzy, and she leapt to ask the staff if the sandwich contained any nuts. Bingo – there were nuts in the pesto spread. The server was actually quite rude to Felicia, as she said this ingredient was listed on the menu – on our double take, we couldn’t locate it at all (ideally, there should be an asterisk next to all items containing the pesto, indicating the nuts used). The kitchen ended up remaking the sandwich, and provided Felicia with a sliced cucumber (which the family’s dad said would help cool the allergic reaction), but she was still itchy and bothered all evening. Needless to say, this left a blemish on our otherwise fair experience.

Grilled Chicken Sandwich

Having interviewed the family behind Sabzy, the fact that they are new to the restaurant industry may have played a part in their mistake, but it is one they will need to rectify straightaway. While I can’t say this situation will prevent me from visiting Sabzy in the future, I can tell you my sister won’t be back anytime soon.

Sabzy Cafe
10416 82 Avenue NW
(780) 758-1005
Sunday, Tuesday-Saturday 11am-9pm, Monday 3-9pm

Food Notes from April 20, 2009

  • CityFarm, a wonderful initiative to teach children and families about growing food is shutting down due to funding constraints. A meeting scheduled for Monday night is exploring possible mergers with other city agencies.
  • The Edible Prairie posted about a “meet and eat” showcase of local food taking place on Wednesday, April 22 at the J.G. O’Donaghue Building.
  • It looks like the Edmonton Food Security Network has rebranded themselves as “Just Food Edmonton”. Help them relaunch on Saturday from 10am-3pm in McIntyre Park.
  • Liane interviewed Culina’s Brad Lazarenko in the Journal this week. He’s moving back to Edmonton and will be revamping menus at both Culina locations.
  • Vue Weekly published a profile on Transcend Coffee’s Poul Mark, as well as a great piece about the Edmonton Guerrilla Gardeners.
  • Kerstin Chocolates’ first-ever Easter Egg Hunt was a success, with ten people receiving a prize for their efforts! BruleeBlog also posted about her experience locating eggs here.
  • It seems the second T & T Supermarket (in Northgate Mall) is finally going forward, and is apparently set to open in July.
  • My sister said the University of Alberta campus is getting their first Starbucks (in Cameron library) – I thought the U of A had a deal with Aramark? Also on Starbucks – while they are closing stores all over North America, Poland of all places is one of their targeted growth areas.
  • Andree Lau over at Food Bytes wrote a piece highlighting some of the recession deals to be had in Calgary, including one at the stellar Teatro.
  • The Globe’s Lucy Waverman attempts to boil down recipes into bite-sized ,140 character Tweets. I have to say, I don’t think I could be that articulate.
  • I was happy to see a story about IKEA’s elimination of plastic bags as of July 1. Which supermarket will step up first to follow suit, I wonder?
  • I headed over to Flirt Cupcakes last week to interview one of the owners for a story I’m working on. Of course, I couldn’t resist sampling one (or two) of their cupcakes. I tried both their coffee-topped chocolate cake and their vanilla cake with strawberry icing, and I have to say that I preferred the latter – the natural sweetness from the real strawberries made such a difference in the icing.

 

Coffee Cupcake in Flirt

  • Yes, there is another Taco del Mar coming soon, this time in the Meadows. Seriously, who eats there to warrant an exponential growth of the chain in the city, particularly in these lean times?!

 

Another Taco del Mar

  • I am so happy the snow is off the ground, and that the weather is slowly looking better. It means that I’ll be able to move my budding herb garden out onto the balcony soon! As someone who hasn’t grown anything since elementary school, it does amaze me that nearly all the seeds we planted managed to sprout. Whether or not they’ll live long enough to produce any basil or parsley is still yet to be seen, but I’m optimistic.

My container herb garden

The Cooking Chronicles: Spanish Paella

Or perhaps more accurate – non-paella paella. I caught an episode of Michael Smith’s Chef At Home recently where he prepared a paella recipe that even I would eat, free of many ingredients that are unappealing to me, but what I thought were central to paella as a dish. The proteins consisted of chicken, sausage and shrimp, with nary a shell in sight. Saffron, another additive frequently used, was also missing from the recipe, but I was willing to overlook that in favour of experimentation.

The best part about the dish was its one-pot nature – once we had browned the sausages and chicken, everything, from the proteins, rice, tomatoes, and chicken stock, were thrown into the saute pan to cook together. Half an hour later, we had a fragrant, hearty meal.

Spanish Paella with Chicken, Shrimp and Sausage

Tomato was the dominant flavour of the dish, and I would have preferred additional notes present. Also, the shrimp had become so waterlogged over the last half hour that the texture was closer to that of lobster. Next time, I would be sure to add them closer to the end.

Overall, I was happy with the paella, and would make it again with some adjustments. The large pot lasted us several meals (both lunches and dinners), which meant less cooking over the week – always a plus!

Not Much of a Reward: Double Greeting Wonton House

After making it through our salsa classes, I figured we deserved a reward of some kind. Logically, we headed to Double Greeting Wonton House.

Exterior

Situated in what Mack referred to as “the ghetto”, the restaurant was just a block away from where our classes were held, so it made sense to make the most of the neighbourhood we were in. The exterior (and the building’s rundown neighbours) weren’t promising, but a few people had told me good things about Double Greeting.

The fluorescent interior was brighter than I had expected to find, and dare I say cleaner as well. Multicolored handwritten signs papered the front counter, while a television tuned to Newsworld maintained the rapt attention of a few older patrons. I liked the wooden fixture that divided the room in half, though Mack couldn’t figure out why.

Yes, they’ve probably never replaced the fabric lining the booths…

We picked a booth near the back of the restaurant and mulled over the menus we were given – the selection was absolutely massive. We both laughed at the front page that read “today’s special”, which, given the laminated nature of the menu, was probably more like “everyday’s special”. That night, I was in the mood for small plates, and decided to choose a few dim sum items to make a meal. Mack said spring rolls were a must ($5.50 for 6), and I added on steamed BBQ pork buns ($3.75 for 2) and pan-fried pork dumplings ($7.50). To round out our dinner, Mack decided he had to try their ginger beef on rice.

The dishes came out at a fairly good pace, and our tea was refilled promptly, so I had no complaints about the service. The quality of the food was another thing, particularly because the prices reflected an amount very similar to other (better situated) Chinese restaurants. The best of the bunch were  the steamed pork buns, and even they weren’t that great – the diced meat wasn’t distinct, and the dough was more crumbly than fluffy. The spring rolls were nothing special, and the dumplings were depressingly tiny (Happy Garden’s dumplings are easily three times that size).

Steamed Pork Buns

Spring Rolls (they always get a thumbs up from Mack)

Pan-fried Pork Dumplings

The ginger beef on rice was the most disappointing of all – overly sticky and artificially sweet, Mack, the supreme lover of ginger beef, couldn’t even finish the plate.

Ginger Beef on Rice (angle inspired by are you gonna eat that)

Based on that visit, I likely wouldn’t return again, particularly when a ten minute walk would yield many more viable eateries in Chinatown proper.

Double Greeting Wonton House
10212 96 Street NW
(780) 424-2486
Sunday-Thursday 10am-12am, Friday-Saturday 10am-1am

Salsa 101 with E-Town Salsa

Having never been the most coordinated person to begin with, I’ve tended to avoid formal dance instruction. However, when our agency announced that they would subsidize half of the cost of a four-week salsa dancing class, I convinced Mack to join me to overcome my misgivings.

Held in the dim and grungy basement of the Chinese Multicultural Centre, the venue wasn’t meant to hold a dance class, but our upbeat and energetic instructor made the most of it. Alex, originally from Chile, has been teaching salsa full-time for several years through his company E-Town Salsa, and is aiming to buy his own studio. In addition to salsa as dance, he also teaches a cardio salsa class.

Alex was the ideal instructor for a haphazard group of employees, many tired from a long day at work. Acknowledging that most of us (if not all of us) didn’t practice what he taught us from the week prior, he was patient in reviewing the steps in a warm-up format at the beginning of each class. Moreover, he encouraged us to let go of our inhibitions, and did his best to try to get us to “shake it up” (though for the life of me I couldn’t move both my upper and lower body at the same time).

Dance!

Because the majority of participants registered as individuals and not as pairs, we had to continuously rotate partners. While it was both a challenge and a learning exercise having to adapt every few minutes to a new partner, I would have preferred to have had more time to get used to dancing with Mack. I also think the group would have benefited from seeing an entire dance put together – his fiance (and performing partner) was present only for the first class, and after learning a series of steps in isolation (with the exception of one “sexy combo”), it would have been a nice treat to see professionals string them together.

Spin!

So while I’m not quite confident enough to dance in public, this was a fun introduction to salsa where I did “shake it up”, heh. If you’re thinking about enrolling, Alex will be providing a taste of his instruction this weekend at La Kantina (10805-105 Ave). Details here.

Gems are Always Tiny: Boualouang

I had been warned that Boualouang, a Thai and Laos eatery in Chinatown, was tiny, but I wasn’t prepared for a space that likely wasn’t ever meant to be a restaurant. Dickson and I intentionally planned a late meal, and arrived at Boualouang at 1pm in an attempt to avoid the lunch rush, and were lucky enough to snag the last of six tables.

As our table was nudged right up against the door, we were both thankful that it wasn’t –30 outside – as it stands, their heating bill must be astronomical. Of course, having seen evidence of a larger storefront about two blocks down 97th Street, I was assured Boualouang would be relocating soon (perhaps April?), and given the number of parties the waitress had to turn away during our stay, I’m sure the move isn’t soon enough.

Dickson in Boualouang (yes, the restaurant is just three tables deep)

I had heard from others that their curries were a must-try, so decided on the Gaeng-Kiew-Vahn, a green curry and coconut milk with mushrooms, green peppers, sweet basil and chicken ($12.95), and upgraded the steamed rice accompaniment to coconut rice for an additional $1.50. We also had to try our benchmark Thai dish – the pad thai with shrimp ($13.95).

From the pace that the dishes were being delivered to the other tables, we knew we were in for a wait. Given the size of the dining room, we could only guess the size of the kitchen. A half hour after putting in our order, our green curry arrived. It was definitely worth the wait – the heat was balanced perfectly with the tang provided by the kaffir leaves, and the chicken was meltingly tender. Paired with the richness of coconut rice, we would have easily given up the pad thai for a second helping of curry.

Green Curry with Chicken

The pad thai was presented in a nice reflective bowl lined with lettuce and garnished with orange slices. Both of us were surprised at how deep the dish was, but could have done without the slight pool of grease at the bottom of it. I liked the use of a broader noodle than most Thai eateries, and neither of us had anything negative to say about the pad thai as a whole, except that it didn’t wow us like its curry predecessor.

Pad Thai

Though we made it back out through the doors a little later than we had planned, uncovering another gem was well worth it. I will be back to give the rest of the curries a try.

Boualouang
10669 97 Street
(780) 423.4207
Monday – Saturday 11am-9pm

Food Notes for April 13, 2009

How is it that long weekends (and four-day ones at that) just evaporate? Hope everyone had a good Easter break!

  • In the vein of the “very sexy party” held at Eden Lilly in February, local companies that promote sustainability and ecology have banded together to put on an event called Tipsy Hippy at Whyte Avenue’s Lucid Lifestyle, taking place on April 18. There will be food and drinks, art displays, and music. Vendors will include EnSante Winery, AlleyKat, and Breadland.
  • Jan Hostyn wrote a great profile of Baker Bill, aka Bill O’Gorman, the man behind the fast-vanishing bread at the Old Strathcona and City Centre markets.
  • Ballots for See Magazine’s 2009 Best of Edmonton are out. Eligible ballots submitted by May 2 will be entered to win prizes.
  • A little Vancouver-based company that makes Hardbite Potato Chips were featured on one of the Great Food Revolution episodes recently. I found them at the Italian Centre in a multitude of flavours, but the salty and simple Himalayan Crystallized Salt is my favourite so far.
  • Culinary documentaries are all the rage, it seems – Gold Medal Plates, a seven-part behind-the-scenes look at Canada’s “most coveted culinary competition” airs its first episode on Travel & Escape on Sunday, May 10. Episodes can also be seen online.
  • There were a few notable articles in the NYT this past week – the first on an intriguing trend of restaurants having wines on tap (yes, you read that correctly), another on pairing wines with Chinese cuisine, and a piece on banh mi in New York.
  • I still think Costco should consider implementing an express line, and it seems some think Starbucks needs one as well. A recent post on the Starbucks Gossip Blog quotes someone who thinks there is merit to having a separate line for those who can order their drinks in four lines or less, otherwise: “If you need to use the words ‘caramel,’ ‘chocolate,’ ‘pumpkin,’ ‘eggnog’ or ‘peppermint,’ you’re not drinking coffee. You’re having dessert.” Heh.
  • While I didn’t have a “proper” Easter dinner this weekend, I did have a potluck with a few of my girlfriends. I took care of dessert (an apple crisp I have made in the past), while my friends supplied the bulk of the meal:

Janice’s Apple and Grape Spinach Salad

May’s Pistachio and Breadcrumb-crusted Fish

Annie’s Spanish Omelette

The Cooking Chronicles: Olive Oil Popcorn

To accompany a viewing of Slumdog Millionaire (good movie; I liked the flashback motif), Mack and I decided to make stove-top popcorn.

My coworkers had been telling me about some of the ills of microwave popcorn, and after seeing Michael Smith whip up a pan full fairly easily, it didn’t seem difficult at all. We used his recipe as a guide, lightly coating the bottom of a skillet with olive oil, and tossing the kernels on top. It turned out we should have chosen a deeper skillet, as the popped kernels quickly took up all available space underneath the lid.

Popcorn!

We tossed the popcorn with some olive oil, salt, and chilli powder. Whether it was my heavy hand, or an extra-hot version of powder, we didn’t know, but our end product was a lot spicier than we had intended. Still, it’s something we will make again, with different seasonings.

Edmonton Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2009

My sisters and I decided to have attend the last Edmonton Fashion Week show on Thursday, partially because we were curious to see what this year’s incarnation would look like, and partially because of the more convenient south side location (as public transit users, the hangar at Kingsway was not appealing).

My only other taste of Fashion Week was in the fall of 2007, where we scored front-row seats in a tented venue on Churchill Square. The Arts Barns was a marked improvement venue-wise, as we were able to wait inside the lobby to avoid the spring chill. Unfortunately, the doors didn’t open until twenty to 8pm, and given that this was about forty minutes later than advertised, we weren’t impressed. Moreover, line control was sorely lacking, which meant as soon as the doors opened, the haphazard crowd randomly crushed their way inside the theatre. As someone used to the hat-drop efficiency of the Fringe, the front-of-house organization was poor.

Sisters! (I am indeed the least fashionable of the three)

Once inside, we settled in our third-row seats (which, combined with our point-and-shoot camera, explains the quality of the photos below), and admired the lovely transformation of the black-box theatre. I loved the dramatic, lush, red velvet curtains and the two beaded chandeliers hung above the runway. Three projection screens had also been set up at the head of the stage, and during the show, would mediate between images of the name of the designer and a runway camera – I’m still on the fence about the use of multimedia – it was an interesting perspective (and gave it a metropolitan feel), but I wasn’t sure it was entirely necessary.

The show was undoubtedly sold out, but as with the show two years ago, I had to wonder why organizers continued to sell more tickets than seats available. As a patron who paid full price, I would be annoyed at the need to stand, particularly when nothing on the ticket indicated the possibility of limited seating. I suppose their system of selling individual advanced tickets that can be used for any show date might need some retooling.

An unrecognizable CityTV personality (whose name I forget, and for the amount of presence he had, it wasn’t important) and Sandra Sing Fernandes hosted the show. Though Fernandes should be commended for spearheading the fashion festival in Edmonton (and based on the age range of attendees, seems to have helped bubble the city’s excitement about local designers to the surface), it appears to be self-serving for her at times – for example, the cover of the week’s program was a picture of a model wearing one of her designs.

Fernandes and CityTV personality

Whatever tone was established by the setting of the fashion show was destroyed by the opening performance by Kimberly Spears, a country singer. It ensured the audience reminded that the show was firmly ground in a prairie city.

The show as a whole wasn’t bad – Sarah Shell’s 442 McAdam, a collection of bags, got redundant really fast. Nokomis was fairly blasé, in Amanda’s opinion. Serendipity by Kelsey McIntyre, on the other hand, presented a stunning array of dresses, including a few wedding gowns. She definitely got the loudest applause from the audience, and I appreciated that the models incorporated umbrellas into their walk – it played off of the musical selection, Duffy’s “Rain on Your Parade”. Jessica Halabi showed both spring/summer and fall/winter collections, while Joeffer Caoc, presented by My Filosophy had a few sophisticated pieces, albeit some that badly needed steaming.

442 McAdam

Serendipity

Serendipity

Serendipity

Joeffer Caoc (it was a little much that all models finished with My Filosophy shopping bags)

As a whole we enjoyed the evening. Though they have a few things to improve on, I’m sure Edmonton Fashion Week will become one of the city’s festival staples. Fall/winter will run September 17-24, also at the TransAlta Arts Barns.

If you want a bit of fashion to tide you over until then, I suggest you check out my sister’s blog.

The Cooking Chronicles: Poached Salmon with White Wine Cream Sauce

I am currently reading Alisa Smith and J.B Mackinnon’s 100 Mile Diet. The novel chronicles the Vancouver-based couple over one year of eating only local products. It’s not bad so far, though my strongest criticism about halfway through is a lack of Canadian statistics – while I am certain such numbers would be more difficult to come by, one of the reasons why I was drawn to the book in the first place was in the hopes that it would supply me with a well-supported Canadian context.

At any rate, the recipe for poached salmon in white wine cream sauce intrigued me, even though some of the directions were decidedly vague. Of course, salmon within a 100-mile radius would be next to impossible to obtain, so we headed to Ocean Odyssey Inland (10027 167 Street NW, 780-930-1901), a local purveyor of wild seafood.

Ocean Odyssey has been at their west end location for about three and a half years, though they are also present at the City Centre Farmers’ Market. The storefront offers most types of fish you could think of, in addition to some shellfish (they had some of the largest lobster tails I have ever seen). I didn’t ask if all fish were obtained in this manner, but the salmon (all wild) are supplied by independent fishermen, and are flash frozen after being caught. Seafood is definitely an area where my knowledge about sustainable practices is lacking – it is something I need to learn more about.

Salmon cooler

Besides the great seafood, Ocean Odyssey also carries products from local producers, including Greens, Eggs and Ham (we had placed an order for duck eggs, which can be picked up on Friday or Saturday), Medicine Man Bison and Sunworks Organic Farm. Pat is knowledgeable about all of the products she sells as well, which definitely helps the consumer.

Mack shopping

We ended up with a package of cod cakes ($8) and two salmon filets, the latter of which were priced at about $7 each by weight, just $2 more than the fish I typically pick up at a grocery store. We pan-fried the cod cakes when we got home for a snack, but were disappointed with their soggy texture – we will likely just stick with the filets in the future.

Following the 100 Mile Diet recipe, I got to work reducing the sauce, which combined 2/3 cups of vegetable stock, 1/2 cup of white wine, 1 cup cream, and 3 tablespoons of dill. I resorted to using chicken stock, and excluded the buttermilk, but it didn’t seem to negatively alter the taste. Like most times when making sauce, I didn’t expect it to actually thicken, but I was very happy with the finished product.

As for the salmon, this was our first time poaching anything. We filled our pan with enough water to cover the filets, and set to work heating it up. Impatient, we attempted to multitask and set to preparing salads for lunch the next day, and forgot about the fish. The pot began to boil (something the recipe advised us to avoid), so we added a teaspoon of vinegar in an attempt to keep the filets together. They didn’t fall apart on us, so Shane’s trick worked.

Poached Salmon with White Wine Cream Sauce

Served with steamed broccoli and brown rice, it was a nice Sunday dinner. Mack noted that the fish seemed to have cooked through more evenly with the poaching technique than our usual roasting option. The sauce was a little on the rich side, but I liked the combination of cream and dill – the white wine was negligible.

While we’re still on the fence as to whether or not we’ll make this dish again, we both agreed that we will be back to see Pat at Ocean Odyssey.