Openings

• Earth’s Refillery and café will open in Little Italy, a venture from the folks formerly behind Earth’s General Store. They are hoping to crowdsource $70,000 to help them purchase equipment and inventory.
• It looks like Frida Urban Taqueria, which closed in January, has rebranded as Juana Ines, and will open at 12042 107 Avenue (the former Das Bretzel House in Manchester Square).
• Aura Cocktail Bar is now open at 3759 Gateway Blvd.
• Made by Marcus’s Mill Creek location is opening soon!

Closures

• King of Tarts, which has most recently been selling their products at the Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market and The Connected Kitchen Project, is closing. Their final day at the market will be April 26.

Upcoming Events

• The annual Culinary Arts Cook-off, in support of Highlands School, returns April 12. Cookies are $2 each, and the seventeen cookie creations will be judged in four categories.
• A Taste for Life, in support of HIV Edmonton, returns on April 16. Seven Edmonton restaurants are participating, where proceeds will support food insecurity programs at HIV Edmonton.

Local News

• Edify’s latest Unfiltered podcast episode covers how their Best Restaurants event “brings the Edmonton region’s culinary scene together.”
• Feed the Soul put together a Black-Owned Restaurant guide, starting with the south side.
• DishZero, a reusable container initiative that started at the University of Alberta, has spread to Alberta Avenue, via NAIT’s Business Administration Program.
• Edify checked out Lagos Flavours and PhoEver Banh Mi Subs & Cafe.

What I Ate

• I typically only visit Dagu in the evenings, so the lunch combo has been out of reach. It’s a pretty great deal for $18.99, with a choice between four soup/rice bowls, one side (egg or spring rolls), and one drink (small milk tea or pop). The combo is served Mondays to Fridays from 11am-2pm.

Lunch combo at Dagu

Mack’s parents are in town for part of this week, and we ended up visiting later into the evening last night than we had originally planned to. Hence – a belated Food Notes:

• Jacek Chocolate Couture on 104 Street will be opening on August 1, 2014! I can’t wait to check out the new shop.
• Food Day Canada is taking place on August 2, 2014. See which local restaurants are marking the occasion.
• The Heritage Festival runs August 2-4, 2014. If you haven’t already, check out the full menu, and then pick up discounted food tickets at your nearest Servus Credit Union (a sheet of 30 for $20 instead of $25).
• I was sorry to hear Everything Cheese closed its doors last week. As they shared in their last mailout: “Running a small, independent retail business is tough at the best of times, but when struck with calamity [a flood], it can be a deal breaker. So this dream and adventure has come to an end, but other adventures await us.”
• Have you heard of Loma House (9143 – 23 Avenue), a new vegetarian restaurant in Edmonton? Me neither, until I read Cindy’s post, anyway.
• Liv paid a visit to Maritime Concession in the west end.
• Andrea ventured into Ha Phuong. It looks like I’ll have to check it out myself some time soon – those green onion twists look great!
• Vue Weekly reviewed Sushi Sugoi last week.
• First there was Taco Day, now there’s Fondita Day at Expressionz Cafe – read all about it on Lillian’s blog.
• The City is looking for feedback on urban agriculture. The survey deadline is August 31, 2014.
• A new law just came into effect in France, where restaurants can declare that certain dishes are house made. Unfortunately, the law is problematic and confusing, full of exceptions to the rule.
• Congratulations to Earth’s General Store, who opened their second location on 104 Street just north of Jasper Avenue on Friday! Particularly with the impending closure of Sobeys, it is great to have Earth’s so close at hand.

It’s great to see the shelves full again!

• We had a staff lunch at the nearby Padmanadi today. It’s been a while since I’ve had it, but their ginger “beef” is so close to the real thing it’s scary. Delicious!

Ginger beef