If there’s one upside to the decreasing hours of daylight, it’s that Christmas is drawing ever-closer. Let’s see if this is the year I convince Mack to put up the tree before American Thanksgiving…On to this week’s food notes:

• If you’re in denial about the impending winter, the Holiday Light Up on November 14, 2015 might be the place to go, where 8 food trucks will be serving up food to help attendees keep warm on Churchill Square. It’s one of my favourite pre-Christmas events, so check it out if you haven’t been before, and stay for the fireworks!
• Perhaps the most surprising news last week was learning that Westin Hotel Chef Ryan O’Flynn, last year’s Gold Medal Plates winner, will be leaving Edmonton for Toronto’s O & B in December. Given O & B is consulting on the Ice District, we may see Chef O’Flynn again in the future.
• Watch for the opening of Chef Paul Shufelt’s new restaurant, Workshop Eatery, on November 16, 2015.
• Good news on the burger front for Edmonton – Jack’s Burger Shack, a popular St. Albert restaurant, announced that they’ll be opening a location in the city.
• Ikki Izakaya received a mostly positive review from the Journal.
• Vue Weekly throws the spotlight on the Fijian-Indian cuisine offered at a long-established restaurant, The Curry House.
• Second Cup announced that their baked goods will now be supplied by the Italian Centre. You may remember that they used to source their bakery items from Bee Bell Bakery, so it’s nice to see their return to supporting local.
• Jason Foster would like local breweries to more prominently tell the story of our beer history.
• Phil’s latest Off Menu podcast is an interview with cookbook author Emily Richards.
• I like the idea of an alternative to the office lunch: Chef Brad Smoliak offers one such option, a two hour Express Cooking Class, combining holiday cheer with a lesson in food.
• If you haven’t already heard, the 2016 Sexy Men of YEG Food calendar is out, with another twelve men from the local food scene to admire. The proceeds from the $20 calendar go to the Food Bank.
• There are many ways to give back this holiday season – one is a campaign to Think Outside the Chocolate Box. In lieu of purchasing sweets for the office, consider diverting that cash to the Edmonton Food Bank, to support those less fortunate.
• On a similar note, Elaine Wilson has spearheaded Bake-A-Batch for Wings of Providence. She hopes to meet the need of collecting 400 dozen baked treats to be provided to women and children staying at the shelter who are fleeing domestic violence.
• I will miss reading Mark Bittman’s columns in the New York Times, but they had a nice tribute featuring ten of his most popular recent stories.
• Just in time for Christmas, the Le Creuset shop is poised to open in Southgate Centre this month.

Le Creuset – coming soon

• It’s that time of year (and the only holiday-related item that Mack tolerates in November) – Starbucks’ Red Cup. “Controversy” aside, I actually prefer a busier design, but to each their own.

The Red Cup is back!

• After a meeting at La Cite Francophone last week, I stayed for lunch at Café Bicyclette. It’s quite the hub during the day, and I found the $9 soup and quiche lunch (with a pain au chocolate included) very reasonable.

Quiche and seafood chowder from Café Bicyclette

• Padmanadi is frequented by my office a lot because of its proximity and ability to accommodate many dietary needs. They also make a killer ginger “beef”.

Ginger beef from Padmanadi

• The Organic Box is hosting a Harvest Festival on November 7, from 2-6pm. Tour the facility, meet some of the producers they work with, and enjoy some harvest snacks! RSVP to attend the free event.
• This year’s Christmas Cookie Tweetup, benefiting the Christmas Bureau, will be held at Cookie’s By George on November 20, 2015. It’s a cookie swap, with only room for 30 attendees.
• The Buddha Boys (aka Chefs Levi Biddlecombe and Daniel Huber) are hosting The Last Supper Club on November 22, 2015, a 5-course blindfolded dinner. For an added twist, the diners who are best able to guess the menu will win dinner and accommodations for two! Tickets are $78.75.
• Alberta Hotel and Kitchen (which has taken over the space formerly occupied by Tavern 1903 at 9802 Jasper Avenue) had a soft opening, but is now officially open. Glad to see the space reanimated at last!
• Rebecca checks out one of the city’s newest bubble tea spots – Purple Bubble Tea (10558 109 Street).
• Chef Tony Krause is back at his old stomping grounds in St. Albert, heading up Privada Wine and Tapas.
• Theme-driven food blogs can be a lot of fun. Case in point: Wingmenyeg, who are on a quest to find Edmonton’s best wings.
• Knifewear has moved two doors down (10820 82 Avenue) to make room for a standalone Kent of Inglewood shave shop. They’re having a garage sale this week, from November 2-8, 2015, so it’s a good excuse as any to check them out!
• Phil put together a list of his top 5 desserts in Edmonton.
• Chef Paul Shufelt reminds food critics about the blood, sweat and tears that are behind every restaurant opening.
• Congrats to the 2015 Top 40 under 40 class, including Chef Serge Belair of the Shaw Conference Centre, Saylish Haas of The Next Act and Meat and Chef Ryan O’Flynn of The Westin Hotel.
• I missed linking to Vue’s recap of LitFest’s Food Matters event this year, which focused on food waste.
• It might be a small thing, but I am glad to see that Save-On Foods on Jasper Avenue and 109 Street is expanding into the adjacent storefronts. I’m also curious to see what the new Shoppers Drug Mart in the Standard Life Building on Jasper and 104 Street will stock on its grocery shelves (it opens later this week).
• Ever thought of writing a fake review for Yelp? In France, you might get fined $8,000.
• Via Cibo, a Toronto-based Italian fast casual chain, opened up its first Edmonton-area location in Sherwood Park at 222 Baseline Road. They offer a selection of salads, paninis, Neopolitan-style pizzas, pastas, and their signature item, an Italian flatbread called piadina. We attended a media opening on the weekend, and sampled the prosciutto piadina ($12) – the bread was fresh and pliable, though I could have used a bit more meat to balance out the generous amount of arugula. The via poutine ($9) features shredded ossobucco, provolone and ragu; hearty, but I’m a poutine traditionalist at heart. Look for a second Via Cibo location to open in South Common as well.

Prosciutto Padina from Via Cibo

• Tres Carnales never disappoints – and though I always end up ordering the fish tacos, Mack and I found out that on Fridays, they offer a combo platter featuring six different tacos. Yum!

Combo platter at Tres Carnales

Although I’ve been back from holidays for a little over a week, I decided to take a longer break from the blog. I’ve enjoyed the time away, but it’s now time to get caught up! As I expected, quite a bit happened in the last month – onto October’s food notes:

• The second annual Relish Food on Film Festival runs October 29 – November 7, 2015. They have a great dinner and a movie program, as well as several food-centric movie screenings worth a look.
• The annual Rocky Mountain Food and Wine Festival is just around the corner, on November 6-7, 2015. If you need tickets, you’re in luck – Andrea, Cindy, Diane and Eva are all running contests to give away admission passes.
• Stephanie has a great round-up of new and forthcoming Edmonton food establishments – it’ll help you be in the know!
• Edmonton’s newest independent coffee shop, The Woodrack Café (7603 109 Street), opened up earlier this month, and Cindy and Stephanie have already been by to check it out.
• 2015 may well be the year of ramen in Edmonton. The latest ramen eatery to open in our city is Kazoku Ramen (16518 100 Avenue), which I’m looking forward to trying for myself. Andrea, Cindy and Jonny have already worked their way through the ramen menu for a taste of what you can expect.
• The Journal reviewed HUMA, and was mostly disappointed with their meal.
• In case you missed it, Phil’s latest two Off Menu podcasts are up for your listening pleasure – he’s interviewed Jaqueline Jacek and Shannon Ruzicka of Nature’s Green Acres.
• Looking forward to Christmas already? Help countdown the days with an advent calendar from Jacek Chocolate Couture – Cindy’s giving two away. The deadline to enter is November 12, 2015.
• It’s great to hear that the developer of Ritchie Market has finally broken ground. Ritchie Market (96 Street & 76 Avenue) is scheduled to open next summer with Acme Meat Market, Transcend Coffee, a brew pub/restaurant and a bike shop.
• The latest Cash Mob this weekend focused on four of Edmonton’s independent coffee roasters. The Local Good has a round-up of all of the delicious action!
• Click and Collect (also known as, order online and have it ready for pick-up at the store) has finally hit Superstore locations in Edmonton. It was everywhere we turned in London (grocery stores, pharmacies, retail shops), so I can only imagine it will spread across the retail sphere.
• Congrats to Pigeonhole, the Calgary restaurant that made it onto EnRoute’s prestigious 2015 Best New Restaurants list.
• In case you missed it: the World Health Organization has labeled processed meat (bacon, ham, sausages) a cancer-causing agent on par with asbestos, arsenic and tobacco.
• One of the things Mack and I really enjoyed about dining in Europe was the inclusive service charge. We think hospitality workers should be paid a fair wage, and we don’t mind paying a bit more to ensure this happens. So let’s hope other North American restaurants follow Danny Meyer’s example in New York.
• It’s always great when a restaurant replaces a cash loan store: it looks like Relish’s new neighbour on 124 Street and 107 Avenue will be a Japanese bistro.

Washoku Japanese Bistro

• Our first order after returning to Edmonton was – what else – a trip to Pho Tau Bay.

Our usuals

• An online Edmonton Journal poll pegged Blue Plate Diner as Edmonton’s best brunch spot. It’s been years since we’ve stopped in for brunch, so Mack and I thought it was a good time as any to revisit our neighbourhood spot. I really appreciated the section of the menu for “smaller appetites”, as I am never able to finish most plates I order at brunch. Our only complaint was the inconsistent service, which thankfully, improved over the course of our visit.

Pancakes at Blue Plate Diner

• It’s been too long since my last Credo latte, so Mack and I had to plan an afternoon to enjoy our coffees with our devices.

Vanilla latte at Credo

As fall officially kicks in, I’m gearing up for vacation, and will be meeting Mack in London later this week. I’ll be taking a break from the blog while I’m away. But first, here are this week’s food notes:

• A reminder about the forthcoming Dig In Festival October 1-3, 2015 in St. Albert. The Journal spoke with some of the culinary talent you will meet and learn from at the event.
• Leanne Brown, author of Good and Cheap, is stopping in Edmonton to talk about her cookbook on October 2, 2015 at the University of Alberta. The event is free to attend, but you must RSVP.
• Little Brick is hosting a Harvest Dinner on October 3, 2015 and the menu looks delicious. Tickets are $85.
• The Marc is celebrating their fifth anniversary with a $50 champagne and frites special from October 1-10, 2015.
• Mark your calendar: this year’s Bacon Day is taking place on November 7, 2015 at Chef Paul Shufelt’s new Workshop Eatery. TIckets are $83.
• Christmas in November at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge has released their 2015 packages. This year’s showcase feature Food Network Canada Chefs Roger Mooking and Massimo Capra. Mack and I really enjoyed our experience last year, so it’s worth looking into if you’re looking for a getaway close to home.
• Edmonton’s newest café, The Woodrack Café (7603 109 Street), opened today. Can’t wait to check it out!
• Amelia shared that the Allegro in Little Italy (10805 95 Street) is now open.
• Edmonton’s first South St. Burger location is now open at Oxford Park (15134 127 Street).
• Edmontonians said goodbye to Happy Garden over the weekend.
• Andrea profiles Good Coffee, an Edmonton-based company striving for direct-trade and reinvesting 25% of profits back into the farming community.
• There’s a new food-oriented pasta in town: Phil’s Off Menu Podcast debuted this week, featuring a conversation with Corso 32’s Ben Chalmers.
• Speaking of podcasts, the latest episode of Dirt City Limits focuses on the current Edmonton Journal brunch series by Liane Faulder and Brent Wittmeier. Last week, they reviewed the Sugarbowl, Hathaway’s Diner, Hotel MacDonald and Under the High Wheel.
• Mack sent me a link to a tongue-in-cheek post previewing the new cocktail bar in town.
• I’ll be sad to miss the last few outdoor City Markets this season, but I’m looking forward to discovering the markets of London and Paris! The City Market runs two more weekends before moving into City Hall for the winter.

104 Street in all its autumnal glory

• I had a blast exploring Nuit Blanche with Amanda on Saturday. It was great to see Downtown come alive in a different way. I hope the event returns next year!

Wish Tree in Churchill Square

• Alberta Beer Week runs September 25 – October 3, 2015, with tastings and beer dinners to look forward to. Jason Foster will also be leading another Edmonton Beer History Tour.
• A Bao Bun pop-up dinner will be taking place at Dovetail on September 27, from 4-8pm.
• Sustainable Food Edmonton is hosting an inaugural fundraising dinner on October 3, 2015 at the Arts Barns. Tickets are $52.35, with proceeds supporting their programs including Little Green Thumbs and Community Gardens.
• It looks like a Mediterranean restaurant has moved into the former Creole Envie space called Olio D’oliva (6509 112 Avenue).
• Cindy visits BRU Coffee and Beer House in Oliver, which just celebrated their grand opening over the weekend.
• Twyla was not impressed by Refinery Grill (10406 Mayfield Road), and wonders if that area of the city is the Bermuda Triangle of bad #yegfood.
• Cheryl highly recommends Buco, the pizza-focused restaurant opened by the Sorrentino’s Group in St. Albert. She claims it is better than Famoso, and on par with Rosso.
• Andrea is the latest to review Sambol Sri Lankan Kitchen.
• Chris recapped the latest Swine and Dine event, a delectable brunch at Packrat Louie.
• Speaking of brunch, Linda’s latest “Edmonton A to Z Restaurant Series” features Café Bicyclette.
• The Journal also kicked off a brunch series, with initial reviews of the Highlevel Diner, Culina Muttart and Canteen. This has nothing to do with the food, but will we ever reach a point where we won’t assume that the default mode of transportation is a vehicle?
• Lillian shared her experience of the FEASTival of Fine Chefs dinner last week at the Shaw Conference Centre.
• Congratulations to Giselle Courteau and her team behind the Duchess Cookbook for their Taste Canada win of best English single subject cookbook!
• I was really sorry to hear that Operation Fruit Rescue Edmonton had their shed broken into last week, and parts for their apple crusher stolen.
• It looks like a My Fries might be coming downtown to Rice Howard Way.

My Fries

• The new Hoang Long Fresh Market is now open at First & Jasper (10065 Jasper Avenue). Lincoln has a closer look at the self-serve set-up inside.

Hoang Long Fresh Market

• Signage for the forthcoming Joey’s in the Bell Tower downtown is now up.

Joey’s

• I love the redesign of the Bles Wold yogurt. It’s something Mack and I buy religiously, so the logo doesn’t really matter to us, but the more modern look might catch the eye of consumers unfamiliar with their product!

Bles Wold yogurt

• I had linked to a new restaurant in San Francisco last week that is almost fully-automated. I didn’t know we had a similar system at some McDonald’s locations in Edmonton. At a Sherwood Park branch, we punched in our order and paid using a touch screen and only interacted with someone to be handed our order. Is this the future?

McDonald’s automated system

• We had our last What the Truck?! team meeting of the season at Cibo Bistro (which has a great nook for groups of up to 8). I had been wanting to return to Cibo for some time. The service was great, and for the most part, I enjoyed the food. The veal agnolotti with summer truffle was well-cooked, but I would have appreciated a touch more sauce.

Veal agnolotti

• Before Pecha Kucha last week, Annie and I met up for dinner at L’Azia. I was curious about their new menu, which, as promised, featured some Asian/fusion fare. I was happy with the misoyaki butterfish ($27), served atop wild rice. Service could have been better, but it seemed they were unusually busy that night.

Misoyaki butterfish at L’Azia

• Mack and I managed to satisfy our Bun Bo Hue craving before King Noodle House closed for holidays (and re-opens on September 30, 2015).

Bun Bo Hue from King Noodle House

• Yes, it’s fall – a time for squash of all kinds!

Squash from Riverbend Gardens at the City Market

• The second annual Mid-Autumn Festival celebration at Churchill Square is taking place on September 19, 2015, from 1-10pm. There will be food trucks and of course, moon cakes!
• The next Alberta Pork Swine & Dine event is brunch at Packrat Louie on September 20, 2015. A three-course meal is just $30.
• Cook it Raw Alberta is hosting a pop-up dinner at RGE RD on September 21, 2015, featuring Cook it Raw founder Alessandro Porcelli. Tickets are $150 each.
• The second annual Dig In Festival runs October 1-3, 2015 in St. Albert. Workshops include bacon making, coffee tasting, gardening and foraging. Tickets for select workshops are limited – sign up soon to have your pick!
• The Rocky Mountain Wine & Food Festival is scheduled for November 6-7, 2015 at the Shaw Conference Centre, but the early bird discount for tickets ends September 25, 2015.
• Chefs Daniel Huber (formerly of the Pourhouse Bier Bistro) and Levi Biddlecombe (of Attila the HUNgry) have partnered together for Buddha Boys. They’re looking into opening a new restaurant in Edmonton and bottling their own line of sodas.
• Hungry for wings? Vue Weekly investigates some of the city’s wing specials for you.
• The return of the automat: a restaurant in San Francisco is testing customers’ appetites for minimal human interaction with almost fully automated operations.
• On the way home on Sunday, we stopped by Bru Coffee and Beer House, located in the Pearl (11965 Jasper Avenue). It’s been open for a few weeks, but is gearing up for its grand opening on September 19, 2015, from 2pm-late. Bru serves Transcend, Phil & Sebastian and Bows + Arrows Coffee, and on tap Alley Kat beers. It’ll be great to have another locally-owned coffee shop with hours after 5pm.

Bru Coffee and Beer House

• We had to make the most of what may be our last blast of summer – first with a visit to the 124 Grand Market on Thursday. The market runs until October 8, 2015.

Buttermilk fried chicken sandwiches and poutine from Drift

• Saturday was also the perfect patio day, and a few friends and I took advantage of it on the lush Manor Café porch.

Mac and cheese with braised beef short rib from Manor Café

Hope you’re gearing up for our final What the Truck?! event of the season! Join us at Churchill Square on September 11, 2015, from 4-8pm and try to eat your way through 35 trucks. On to this week’s food notes:

• I’m looking forward to attending the Red Shoe Crawl on 124 Street on September 13, 2015 from 1-5pm. Tickets are $45 for adults and $20 for children, with all proceeds going to the Ronald McDonald House. Some of the participating vendors include new restaurant reLISH Gourmet Burgers, the always decadent Duchess Bake Shop and the family favourite Carol’s Quality Sweets.
• Sorrentino’s has kicked off their 21st annual Mushroom Festival, which runs for the month of September. Linda and Cindy share some of the dishes you can expect.
• Island Café & Bistro opened back in July at 9923 170 Street and serves Malaysian cuisine.
• The Local Omnivore is the latest food truck business to move into a brick and mortar storefront, with their new sandwich shop expected to open in November at 10933 120 Street.
• Liane shares that popular west end establishment Bon Ton Bakery has added a new coffee bar to their existing space.
• Crystal reviewed the often overlooked Café Caribe, located next to Tres Carnales on Rice Howard Way.
• Graham highly recommends the Peruvian food at Azucar Picante.
• L’Azia has revamped their menu again just in time for fall, and both Linda and Crystal have already had the chance to try it.
• Eat Your City visited the revamped Gama Café in Old Strathcona for a taste of Taiwanese desserts and drinks.
• The Local Good recaps the third SalvagED event at the end of August that repurposed food that would have otherwise been discarded. It was hosted by the Alder Society at Earth’s General Store.
• Phil offers a list of is five favourite food trucks in Edmonton.
• Liane tries out the NoWait app at Rostizado, which allows customers to place themselves on an electronic wait list from home.
• I missed linking to this last week – I’m glad to see that Burrow in the Central LRT station is back to its regular operating hours after sorting out security issues with the City.
• International chain Oil & Vinegar will be opening up an Edmonton location in Commerce Place some time this month.

Oil & Vinegar

• I had lunch at Rostizado for the first time, and learned that they had a daily weekday lunch feature. Even still, I couldn’t pass up a rosti pollo sandwich. Delectable.

Rotisserie chicken sandwich at Rostizado

• Mack and I met up with Dave and Jenn and headed to St. Andrew’s Ukrainian Orthodox Parish (9831 75 Street) for its monthly pyrohy supper. $13 for a plate of a dozen homemade perogies, sausage, salad and dessert. They have two other upcoming dates: October 2 and November 6, from 5-7:30pm.

Pyrohy plate at St. Andrew’s