Openings

• The space on the southeast corner of Whyte Avenue and 104 Street will be vacant no longer, with Italian restaurant Da Cecot moving in soon.
• Kadak Cafe, serving up chai and street food, is now open at 6818 Ellerslie Road.
• Chain Paris Baguette has opened its third location in Edmonton at Heritage Valley Town Centre, 2853 119A Street.

Upcoming Events

• Calgary-based bakery Crave published a cookbook with the same name, and are launching it in Edmonton at Audrey’s on May 13.

Local News

• Taproot has the story behind Filistix’s latest pivot to focus on catering.
• Honi Honi Tiki Lounge ranked #28 on Canada’s 50 Best Bars list (published by the folks behind Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants). Unsurprisingly, as Edmonton continues to be underrated in national lists, no local restaurants are on the 100 Best Restaurants list, but Calgary has five featured restaurants).
• Edify checks out the happy hour menu at The Confederation Lounge, and offers up a patio guide.
• The May issue of Modern Luxuria features MSSM.
• Alberta Food Tours is again offering their Savour Strathcona tour this summer, with a new route with 6 tasting stops. Tickets are $125/person. If you are considering it, use discount code Only10 for 10% off.

What I Ate

• A couple of coworkers and I popped into Otto’s new daytime concept, Tulip, for lunch last week. They have a small but solid menu of hot and cold sandwiches, but I deviated and ordered the daily strata. I liked its play on pizza flavours (pepperoni and mushroom with hot honey), and with the arugula salad, it made for a substantial meal. Service, as always, was warm and considerate. I hope more people find their way to Tulip!

Strata from Tulip

• Our family had brunch at Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market’s Paperbirch on Saturday. I enjoyed my gouda morning brisket wrap, but it was the pea shoot salad that was the standout for me, with just the right amount of pickles and sweetness from the dressing. The kids loved the cinnamon sugar bannock bits.

Wrap and bannock bits from Paperbirch

Openings

• JUU-KU is the newest restaurant from Nineteen’s Chef Andrew Fung, “blending Japanese, Chinese, and Korean influences with bold, forward-thinking flavours.” It is located along the same complex as the original Nineteen in Terwillegar, at 5946 Mullen Way.
• Maria Northern Mexican Cuisine opened their second location, Maria Express, at 6506 170 Avenue.
• Juana Ines, a new Mexican restaurant from the folks behind the now-shuttered Frida, opened on April 29 in Manchester Square, 12042 107 Avenue.
• Old Yale Brewing’s first Alberta location will open in Beaumont on May 12 at 7201 49 Street.
• Deccani, a restaurant serving up the “delicacy of the Nizams” from Hyderabad, had its grand opening on May 2 at 6412 Cartmell Place SW.
• Indian restaurant The Curry Table opened last week in St. Albert (Unit C, 388 St. Albert Trail).
• Mr. Halal Burger is set to open a second spot in the city, to be located in West Edmonton Mall.

Upcoming Events

• The 2025 Canadian National Barista Championship will be hosted by The Colombian at the Oliver Exchange Building from July 24-27. Spectator tickets will be available at some point.

Local News

• The Journal has the story behind Bodega’s continued expansion – in the Edmonton area, and soon, to Calgary – and the addition of Roca by Sabor to open in the former Union Bank building in 2026.
• Bagel Bar has moved to 6792 99 Street as of May 3.
• Ben’s Meats and Deli’s final day at their current location will be June 7. They will re-open at 10516 184 Street on June 10.
• Happy and Olive will be closed for building repairs from May 5-23, and re-open on May 24 for regular service.
• We’re into the Oilers’ second round, so naturally, there are more team-themed products to choose from, including the return of the cutest cookies from MilkCrate, and an Oilers-themed espresso drink from Objects.
• Just in time for Mother’s Day, Edify asked three food enthusiasts, including Blair Junior McFarlane of Red Star, where they would take their moms for the occasion.
• Also from Edify, stories about two 124 Street eateries – Golden Sparrow and Mr. & Mrs. Singh Kitchen (great to see Liane Faulder, who wrote the latter piece, back with a food byline!).
• The Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market opened for their first Sunday market day on May 4.
• CBC Radio Active’s beer columnist Jason Foster covered the transition from Biera to Campio in Ritchie.
• Linda released the 2025 edition of her Asian Heritage Month clothing collaboration with local business Zen Lion Design. I’ve always been partial to her food-themed designs.
• Honest Dumplings and South Island Pie were broken into last week, and “thousands of dollars in equipment, cash, and essentials were stolen”. Consider supporting them during this time.
• Tu Le of Jack’s Burger Shack has survived the first two rounds of Big Burger Battle.
• Podcast This is Edmonton’s latest episode features a Cooking 4 Community class, put on by Touch Grass Club, New Grocery Movement, and the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians.

What I Ate

• I caught up with a friend at CQ Noodle last week. It’s so great to see how busy they are on my past two visits.

Chef meat specials with pork

• We always deliberately over-order from Jerusalem Shawarma because we enjoy their food so much, but it is especially dangerous now that they have a more central location in Wîhkwêntôwin (11303 104 Avenue). I will say the pitas from this location were much fresher than the other locations we’ve tried.

Shawarma chicken family plate from Jerusalem Shawarma

• I finally tried Mimi, Daniel Costa’s lobby bar in Citizen on Jasper. The food was great, as expected. I will say I was a little overwhelmed with the music volume during the visit as a friend and I tried to have a conversation (recognizing how incredibly old I sound in writing that!).

Arancini and goat ricotta crostini from Mimi

Openings

• Don’ya’s second location serving up meals is now open at 10405 Jasper Avenue (formerly Julia’s). It is open 8am-3pm, Monday to Friday.

Local News

• Balay Coffee is offering their space for those that need to grieve after the tragedy in Vancouver over the weekend.
• More businesses are serving up Oilers-themed goods, including the Italian Centre (where $2 from their take-and-bake pizza goes to support Sports Central), Duchess’s apricot blueberry macarons, and Doughnut Party’s Connor McDoughnut.
• Edify checked out Otto’s new daytime sandwich concept, Tulip.
• PlayWright has launched a crowdfunding campaign to try to help them “survive major construction” happening on 99 Street outside their external entrance that will last until July.
• On a similar note, businesses on 124 Street could also use your support during the temporary closure of 124 Street and Stony Plain Road. Restaurants include Menya Mori, Vetrina Cafe, Chocorrant, and May.
• No Sugar No Problem has closed their 104 Street location and will be relocating to 5030 127 Avenue. Their Bountiful Farmers’ Market location will remain open throughout the relocation.
• Happy first birthday to Fn’za!
• Lumberjack’s was closed by Alberta Health Services last week due to a mouse infestation, in addition to other health violations.

What I Ate

• It’s been fun cheering on Tu Le of Jack’s Burger Shack as he competes on Big Burger Battle on Flavour Network. It may have led to some cravings that could only be satisfied by the Hangover!

My favourite burger from Jack’s

• I love nothing more than a good picnic (especially in April!), so it was so great to enjoy our Van Loc subs on a sunny day in Churchill Square.

Downtown is our patio

Openings

• So happy to see that Otto’s daytime concept Tulip, serving up sandwiches, is now open! Check them out Thursdays to Sundays from 10am-1pm.
• It may be just as dangerous for you as it is for me to know that Jerusalem Shawarma’s central location is now open at 11305 104 Avenue.
• Dallas Smokehouse BBQ, serving “authentic Texas BBQ”, is now open at West Edmonton Mall.
• Indian restaurant The Curry Table in St. Albert will host its grand opening in April. It is located at C-388 St. Albert Trail.

Local News

• There was a period of time where it looked like café-by-day/cocktail-bar-by-night concepts were at the tipping point (fingers crossed, Boa and Hare will soon open their cocktail concept). Bar Oro will launch its own version of this, called Bar Oro Scuro, offering cocktails and tapas from Thursday to Saturday after 8pm.
• Doing your civic duty has never been sweeter – both Kind Ice Cream and Made by Marcus are offering free kids scoops on April 28 to voters who show staff a photo of them outside their polling station.
• The Chinatown Chowdown passport that Linda piloted was great to drive business to area businesses; it is great to see the passport idea has been adopted by another group called the New Grocery Movement, with their Edmonton Cultural Grocery Store Passport. Visit at least one item from at least one of the four participating stores to enter to win one of six prizes. The passport runs April 25-June 25.
• With the Oilers just starting their playoff run, it is only a matter of time before orange-and-blue items inundate the market. Crave Cupcakes has an early entry, with their specialty cupcakes that also support the Ben Stelter Foundation.
• Edify checked out Cloverdale Coffee.
• Paraiso Tropical is turning 34 this week, and is offering some promotions to celebrate.
• Happy second birthday to Ale Architect!
• Team Canada placed fifth at the 2025 World Butchers’ Challenge. Acme Meat’s Corey Meyer spoke to CBC about his experience.
• The annual B’Nai Brith Youth Organization Bagels for Breakfast fundraiser is taking place again, with fresh St. Viateur bagels from Montreal available. The deadline to order is May 25.
• Sustainable Food Edmonton (SFE), a non-profit that supports community gardens, has seen recent funding cuts. SFE has launched an advocacy campaign, including a petition, to try to reverse those funding cuts.

What I Ate

• Mack and I had wanted to check out Braven’s prix fixe lunch menu during Downtown Dining Week, but the timing didn’t work out. Lucky for us, the deal is now a permanent one, with a 2-course $30 deal. We were able to have lunch last week, and the steak frites were exactly what I was hoping for.

Braven’s steak frites

• I met up with a friend at Sang, one of the newer Korean restaurants that opened late last year. It is the first in Edmonton to offer hanjeongsik, a meal characterized by side dishes. The chef’s table array arrives with quite the flair, delivered all at once via a fitted try atop the table. We both appreciated the opportunity to try many dishes; the Doenjang stew was my favourite, while my friend really liked the Korean pancake. I would consider Sang again in the future – it was a fun way to eat.

Our chef’s table at Sang

• A Capella’s take and bake is our favourite that we’ve tried, and they never disappoint. I hope you and yours also had a restful long weekend!

Easter take and bake from A Capella

The Colombian brews plan for rapid expansion

On the heels of opening two new cafés in six months in the Edmonton region, the founders of The Colombian are on a mission to grow their business exponentially.

“We are actively looking to open in 75 communities, internationally, in 10 years,” said Santiago Lopez, co-owner of The Colombian.

Lopez, along with his business partner and wife Kristin Panylyk de Lopez, opened the pair’s first café and roastery in Glenora in 2018. Since 2021, the pair has steadily added one location per year. The Colombian now operates shops in the Bonnie Doon, Parkallen, Mill Creek, and Forest Heights neighbourhoods. Last month, the duo opened their first shop outside the city, in Sherwood Park.

“Sherwood Park has embraced the shop, and already has regulars,” Panylyk de Lopez said. “There are lots of families visiting the café.”

Demographics are a key factor that determines where the company decides to open, as The Colombian tries to appeal to inter-generational customers. Lopez is also guided by internal data that shows where online coffee bean deliveries are made. All of this information led to them considering Sherwood Park.

“It’s a great community that is under-serviced,” Lopez said. “It’s better than St. Albert because people stay in Sherwood Park and are more willing to support businesses there. People in St. Albert come into Edmonton for most of their services. I haven’t seen a coffee business succeed in St. Albert.”

The Colombian has been very intentional in positioning itself in areas where third spaces are missing. “If we open in smaller communities, we become the gathering spot in the neighbourhood,” Lopez said. “We go into places that need the community.”

Lopez wouldn’t say where the company plans to expand, but indicated the plan will be “very organic” just as its growth from one location to six has been. “We feel that we can impact several communities in North America,” he said.

Santiago Lopez and Kristin Panylyk de Lopez (Supplied)

Given that the business has found success in a relatively short period of time, Panylyk de Lopez shared that some are under the false impression The Colombian has achieved its growth through external funding.

“We don’t have investors, it’s just the two of us and small business loans,” Panylyk de Lopez said. In fact, although Lopez is with The Colombian full-time, Panylyk de Lopez continues to work full-time as a junior high school teacher.

“With investors, you lose the control of the business,” Panylyk de Lopez said. “It turns into a numbers business. We take on a high level of risk, but we want to grow it and still maintain the company culture.”

With so much personally invested, the stakes to succeed are high. One example that pushed them to the limit happened out of necessity.

“We started our bakery during the pandemic,” Panylyk de Lopez said. “We said, ‘We’ve got to do this.’ So we set up a bakery and took an online course. We started with brioche donuts. Now, we have a team of three amazing bakers. They do all of our cookies, scones, muffins, and all of our food ingredients. They even make our roast turkey from scratch.”

The Colombian’s through-line of quality starts with its coffee beans. Much of its coffee is sourced from Lopez’s uncle Felipe, who owns a coffee farm in Colombia, where Lopez is originally from. Lopez believes it is some of the best coffee in the world, owing to the terrain and year-round production capability.

“The reason we started this business was to bring Felipe’s coffee to Canada,” Panylyk de Lopez said. “To make it sustainable, you have to get close to the consumer. Farmers are benefiting when we can buy directly and not at commodity prices.”

The duo views The Colombian as a bridge to specialty coffee, which may be a different approach than other independent cafés. “My biggest qualm when you go to a coffee shop is when they make you feel like you can’t put cream or sugar into it,” Lopez said. “That’s the most off-putting thing you can do. When we then say we want to be a bridge, we want people to drink a better, high-quality product however they want it.”

Perhaps most prominent to the business, however, is the value of good hospitality. “We are not hipsters roasting coffee,” Lopez said. “We borrowed from Walt Disney: People want to come back for how we make them feel. We’re not transactional, we are experiential.” Echoed Panylyk de Lopez, “Our focus is making people feel special and seen. When you come in, our whole team will greet you. And that is not something that you find in specialty coffee.”

The couple is forward-looking. On the immediate horizon is the launch of a new breakfast sandwich next month, with house-made English muffins, as well as scratch-made sausage rolls. But they always have an eye to the future. “We have big plans,” Lopez said. “We want to do many things. How, we don’t know. We didn’t know how we would have six shops and employ 70 staff. We just work very hard, and we are crazy about people.”

Openings

• Campio’s Ritchie location opened last week at 9570 76 Avenue (the former Biera space).
• Luichi’s has opened their third location in the Sun Life Place (10123 99 Street). All three of Luichi’s locations are downtown.
• Japanese Village has opened a fourth location downtown, at 10518 101 Street.
• Old Yale Brewing will open their first location outside of BC in Beaumont, slated for mid-May. It will be a brewery and a restaurant with three patios.
• 109 Garden Bistro & Brunch has replaced Tang Bistro at 8715 109 Street.

Closures

• Butcher Modest Meats closed abruptly earlier this month.

Upcoming Events

• The Edmonton International Beer Fest runs April 18-19 at the Edmonton Convention Centre. General admission starts at $22.01.
• Food Bike Tour has launched their summer schedule of events, which include food and walking tours. Tickets are now available.

Local News

• Bodega has followed in the footsteps of Padmanadi and Seoul Fried Chicken and will be expanding to Calgary.
• I love a good collaboration: so great to see Jacek Chocolate Couture team up with Fu’s Repair Shop to create a bonbon collection in honour of Asian Heritage Month. It launches on May 1 and will be available at Jacek, Fu’s, and Boa and Hare.
• Kind Ice Cream substituted whisky for bourbon in their (now) maple whisky pecan flavour because of the American tariffs. They use whisky sourced from Edmonton-based Hansen Distillery.
• Forthcoming cocktail bar Coco’s is hosting a pop-up at Dolly’s on April 23.
• A fire on 34 Avenue Plaza has destroyed 25 businesses, including Chutney’s, a restaurant serving Pakistani food. Ramneek Singh (of Ram’s Food Reviews) has started a crowdfunding campaign for the family behind Chutney’s.
• Backstairs Burger was broken into in early April, and could use the support.
• Feed the Soul shared Black-owned restaurant guides for central/south central and northside.
• If you fancy cooking up rabbit for your Easter dinner, Edify has a recipe for you, courtesy of the Italian Centre in light of an Italian tradition.
• I am happy to see that Edmonton’s Food Bank has picked up Edmonton Public Library’s mantle and will be starting their own seed bank to help with food security.
• Since 2020, City Farms, based at Old Man Creek Nursery, grew produce for Edmonton’s Food Bank. The program has been discontinued due to the City of Edmonton’s budget cuts.

What I Ate

• At the conclusion of a conference at the Edmonton Convention Centre last week, I love that the organizers offered a build-your-own poutine bar to encourage folks to stay and network. Needless to say, I stayed.

My inside-the-box poutine

• While we don’t order the butter chicken wrap from Remedy often, every time we do, we’re reminded of how solid it is – unpretentious, filling, and tasty.

Butter chicken wrap and samosa from Remedy

Openings

• Culina’s Little Italy location will be transitioning from an event space to Culina Famiglia, an “approachable Italian spot with great food, wine, and neighbours”. It will open this spring at 10821 95 Street.
• Nashville-style chicken chain Dave’s Hot Chicken opened last week at 10832 102 Avenue. Taproot has a story about what led to the choice of a central location, given most recent American chain openings have focused on suburban areas.
• Kitchen by Singh, offering Indian fine dining, has opened at 10810 124 Street.
• Calgary-based Deville Coffee has opened its third location in Edmonton, at 8329 112 Street.
• Leopold’s Tavern has also opened its third location in Edmonton, at Heritage Valley, 2861 119A Street SW.
• Chipotle will open its third location on March 26 at 891 Tamarack Way.
• Indian restaurant Cilantro Kitchen is opening soon at 8985 Carson Way SW.
• Chick-Fil-A is old news at this point, but did add a third location last week at 10175 186 Street.

Upcoming Events

• I might live to regret it, but it is for a good cause: I am one of the panelists for the Wing Wednesday fundraiser on April 2 for Edmonton Meals on Wheels. I’ll be subjected to a Hot Ones-style interview on stage (attempting to eat increasingly spicy wings while answering questions). Tickets are $75 and include (less spicy) wings and other appetizers.

Local News

• Five restaurants have decided to hold-over their Downtown Dining Week deals until the end of March. Businesses include Shoyu Sushi, Central Social Hall, Dining Car Cafe, Von’s, and Ramen Misoya.
• Taproot profiled Next of Kin, Ben Staley’s first concept as Hoot Company’s creative director.
• Congratulations to Jacob Marler who took the top prize with The Long Winter Iced Tea at the Bartender Competition at Edmonton Cocktail Week.
• DRTY Ice Cream is hosting their grand opening party on March 29.
• Dagu started offering an all-you-can-eat option about a month back; its been interesting to see more and more restaurants adopt this.
• MSSM’s DJ Night, which offers “unlimited sushi while it lasts” charges men $80/person while women are $50/person. Gender-based pricing shouldn’t be a thing for so many reasons.
• Balay Coffee (formerly Intent Coffee), shared how slow it has been for them during their current pop-up at Delavoye Chocolate. Go support them if you are able!
• Evolution Wonderlounge, Edmonton’s only gay bar, shared their new location will be in Wîhkwêntôwin, in the space formerly occupied by Reign. When it opens this spring, it will be renamed Evo, with extended hours and a food menu.
• It is always great to see when businesses are fully transparent about price increases, as was the case with Roasti Coffee Company last week, regarding the rise in their coffee prices.
• Edify checked out Miss Saigon in Windermere and Cafe Aria.
• Modern Luxuria has opened up nominations for their Awards of Excellence, which include some food and drink categories, including restaurant, chef, front-of-house server, coffee shop, brewery, distillery, and mixologist/cocktail bar.
• Pizza 73 has temporarily rebranded to Pizza 74, in honour of the Oilers’ Stuart Skinner. During this time, They are also offering an apt-named “Skinner dinner” special.
• Artist Edith Chu’s exhibition Sweet and Sour Memories at the Art Gallery of St. Albert honours her parents’ Szechuen Restaurant, which operated in Edmonton from 1984-2007. The exhibit runs until May 1.
• Two Edmonton-based authors were recognized in a Food and Wine article highlighting 5 essential Canadian cookbooks, including Shane M. Chartrand for Tawâw and Twyla Campbell for Prairie.
• Operation Fruit Rescue Edmonton is crowdfunding $1,600 for equipment and resources to shift their focus to teaching people about processing and preservation techniques.

What I Ate

• After a very long week, I was so happy to be able to nip out with Mack for a Friday wind-down. We hit up Kelly’s Pub in our ‘hood for the first time in many years, and found the casual atmosphere and specials just what we needed.

Fish and chips are $17 on Fridays at Kelly’s

• We don’t go to Buok as often as we should. Every time we eat there, we comment on just how much we enjoy the food. They had a great Downtown Dining Week deal, but we will return for more bibimbap and ginseng chicken broth.

Our Buok feast

Openings

• Kommune Snack Bar, a Scandinavian-influenced eatery, opens on March 21 at 11931 Jasper Avenue. Chef Christine Sandford provided consulting support.
• Boba + Brew opened last week, serving bubble tea and specialty coffee, located at 4962A 98 Avenue.

Closures

• What a loss: after a decade, Lock Stock Coffee announced its closure. Its final day will be March 21. Thankfully, Red Star will continue on with its regular hours.
• Ashford House Pub in Manchester Square announced their closure back in February.

Upcoming Events

• Edmonton Cocktail Week is on now, running March 17-23, which includes the Alberta Spirits & Cocktail Festival at the Edmonton Convention Centre on March 21-22.

Local News

• Brotherhood of Plates finished his review of 45 breakfast joints in Edmonton. The Bonnie in Bonnie Doon, Picklewich in Canada Place, and The Commodore were the top 3.
• Taproot wrote about a recent trade mission Token Bitters CEO Keenan Pascal attended in Japan.
• It is always great to see local talent on national television – St. Albert chocolate maker Priya Winsor will be on Food Network’s Spring Baking Championship, and watch Tu Le of Jack’s Burger Shack on the Big Burger Battle on Flavour Network on April 21.
• The Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market will no longer be offering free parking to customers on the Gateway Boulevard parking lot as of April 6.

What I Ate

• I had a work lunch at OEB last week. I’ve never ordered any of their non-breakfast dishes, so was pleasantly surprised with their Notorious B.I.T. Burger. I do wish the serving of waffle fries was bigger – they were very addictive!

Burger from OEB

• We joined Linda and Ben for Ben’s birthday pho at King Noodle House over the weekend. It was delicious.

Happy birthday, Ben!

• We also took the opportunity to treat ourselves to some Little Bon Bon around the corner. The peanut butter base of the Grandma Wong flavour was so tasty.

I can never pass up the vanilla cookie crumbs

My family had a great time on vacation (more below), and it was a nice break from routine. Hence, a super-sized version of Food Notes this week – thanks for reading!

Openings

• I’m so excited to see that Otto will be opening a little sister restaurant called Tulip Sandwich Shoppe on Alberta Avenue!
• Bodega’s seventh location in the Edmonton area opened last week in Old Strathcona. Find it at 10314 Whyte Avenue.
• It was also announced that the folks behind Bodega will open a new venture called Roca by Sabor in the restored 1910 Union Bank building downtown.
• Square One Coffee’s fifth location opened at the end of February. It is located in Windsor Park at 11728 87 Avenue.
• Miss Saigon just opened its third location. Find it in Sherwood Park, Unit 210, 501 Emerald Drive.
• Bubble Tea & Coffee Lab (BTCL) has opened its second location in the Edmonton region in Keswick, at 1037 Keswick Drive SW. BTCL’s first shop is in Spruce Grove.
• Island Brew Coffee House is the newest café to join 124 Street, having opened in early February at 10802 124 Street.
• American chain Brooklyn Dumpling Shop has opened its first location in the Edmonton area in Sherwood Park, 270 Baseline Road. They are known for their fusion dumplings and their no-contact approach in an “automat” format. Since the tariffs began, I’ve heard only anecdotally about some people choosing to boycott American franchises; I wonder if it has any impact on these types of new additions to the food scene.
• Dave’s Hot Chicken is coming along at 109 Street and 102 Avenue.
• O’Byrne’s Irish Pub is opened in February in Ice District, at 10235 101 Street.
• Vacant no longer! Habesha Cravings, serving Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine, has moved into the long-empty space on 102 Avenue and 116 Street and will open soon.
• Relish Bar & Market is the new incarnation of Biera Market inside the Ritchie Market building.

Upcoming Events

• Downtown Dining Week returns March 12-23, and features over 70 participating restaurants offering multi-course menus between $15-65.
• Although the snow returned this week, there were some prior signs of spring! At any rate, gear up for the gardening season at Seedy Sunday on March 23, at the Alberta Avenue Hall.

Local News

• Edify released their 2025 Best Restaurants list. Bernadette’s, Olia, MSSM, Menya Mori, and KohSaar Grill received nods under the Best New category.
• On a related note, Edify announced that Steven Sandor will be departing Edify magazine. He left his mark on the magazine in many ways, perhaps most notably on the annual Best Restaurants list. It will be interesting to see how the list changes with someone different at the helm.
• The Tomato also released their Top 100 Best Things to Eat and Drink.
• Taproot had the story behind Panini’s Italian Cucina’s decision to open multiple ghost kitchens, including most recently, Wise Guys Square Pies, out of their Sherwood Park location.
• Ben’s Meats will be expanding and moving this year, and will be adding a gluten-free cafe to the new location.
• Happy first birthday to Liberta Coffee Lab! They will be celebrating this anniversary with a special coffee cupping and party.
• RadioActive paid a visit to DRTY Ice Cream.
• Edify checked out Backstairs Burger and Ayce BB2 Korean BBQ.
• Edify also profiled Shane Chartrand, who was one of this year’s Best Restaurants judges.
• The Carrot Community Arts Coffeehouse is crowdfunding donations to replace one of their coffee machines that was damaged due to a previous cold snap.
• This year’s Hokanson Chef in Residence at NAIT is Quentin Glabus. NAIT will be hosting some public dining events on March 20 and 21, starting at $28 per person for lunch.
• With the tariffs and inflation in general, it feels like grocery alternatives have a huge growth potential. Cue the latest addition to the Edmonton market: Odd Bunch, which delivers “odd” and surplus produce to consumers. Small boxes start at $20.

What I Ate

• I had a the pleasure of attending the Jola’s Polish Cooking pop-up at Rosewood yesterday. The vibe was great, and so many people came out to support the event. Su and I tried one of everything – my favourite was the beet & mushroom pithivier, such great flavour and texture.
• It was my family’s first time in Mexico/all-inclusive/resort, but we found it to be a great place for an inter-generational vacation (we were there to celebrate my Dad’s milestone birthday). I consumed So. Many. Tacos.

The first of many tacos

• Of all the on-site restaurants, it is no surprise that the best of the lot was the one serving Mexican cuisine. The birria was outstanding.

Birria and enchiladas

• It was so great that our family could come together and commemorate the occasion in such a beautiful setting. I’m not sure when we may choose resort life again, but I’d be open to it again in the future!

Cheers!