Tag: food

Solo Lunch: Holt’s Cafe

Sometimes I am forced to be timely with my restaurant reviews, particularly when new establishments open up. Other times, my good intentions never pan out, and reviews are pushed back in favour of different posts. My recap of a solo weekday lunch at Holt’s Café falls into this latter category.

In late summer, when the weather was more reasonable than it is now, my first choice of lunch at Fo Guang Tea House was dashed with the temple’s closure for a special event. I thought about my nearby options, and settled on Holt’s Cafe inside Holt Renfrew, which like Fo Guang, is essentially only open for lunch. I had been there once before several years ago, and though I found the meal satisfactory, haven’t been able to return because of their limited operating hours.

So book in hand, I settled down at my table and watched as the downtown lunch crowd trickled in after me. I should note that the waitress was particularly great – she was warm, and made conversation without ever overstepping her boundaries (for example, she saw that I was reading My Life in France and asked if I had seen the movie). At the end of my meal, when I requested more water, she brought me a  pretty wine glass filled with ice water – a nice touch.

The menu had changed since my last visit, featuring some more upscale fare (and changed again in October). Though the vegetable fritters sounded like an interesting appetizer, my waitress steered me away from them, stating that they were dry. So instead, I chose the truffle potato chips ($6). For my main, the spring pea and lemon risotto with mascarpone and shiitake mushrooms ($15) sounded like the comforting dish I was looking for.

The truffle potato chips were merely fried potato crisps drenched in oil and sprinkled with salt. Unfortunately, the simplicity didn’t mean perfect execution, and it was overdressed in every way – the potato was barely discernable underneath it all.

Truffle Potato Chips

Thankfully, the risotto fared much better. The rice was creamy, accented nicely by the mascarpone with additional texture from the crisp peas and silky mushrooms.

Lemon Risotto with Mascarpone and Shiitake Mushrooms

If you’re looking for a restaurant in the heart of downtown for a solo lunch, or for a quiet place to catch up with a friend, Holt’s Cafe is worth a try.

Holt’s Cafe (inside Holt Renfrew)
10180-101st Street NW
(780) 425-5300

Mmm Pumpkin Pie: Fife n’ Dekel

This guest post was written by Mack, an Edmonton-based geek who fancies himself a part-time foodie. You can find him online at his blog, and on Twitter.

Like Sharon, fall is my favorite time of year. I love the brisk weather, the colorful leaves, and yes, seasonal treats! Perhaps my favorite is pumpkin pie. While driving in the west end this past weekend, Sharon and I stopped at Fife n’ Dekel to pickup a slice for me ($3.49). Sharon doesn’t like pumpkin pie, if you can believe it!

Pumpkin Pie

I opted to forego the whipped cream. I found the pie very tasty with great texture! Great pumpkin flavor. The crust was just right – not too soft, not too crunchy.

Pumpkin Pie

I had never been to Fife n’ Dekel before, but based on the pumpkin pie, I’ll be back!

Fife n’ Dekel
10646 170 Street (2 other locations)
(780) 489-6436
Monday-Friday 7am-4:30pm, Saturday 10:30am-3:00pm

The Cooking Chronicles: Harvest Corn Chowder

I’m still in shock of how fast winter descended upon the city, with the trees, yellow leaves still attached, frozen in a sad reminder of fall.

Anyway, the dip in temperature means it is officially soup weather, so I made a harvest corn chowder based on a recipe I clipped from the Edmonton Journal a few weeks ago. Because we are still swimming in potatoes from the Great Potato Giveaway, I substituted them for the sweet potato called for in the recipe.

While it was tasty, and not too heavy, owing to the fact that the majority of the liquid is chicken stock and not cream, it seemed there was something lacking in the soup. Perhaps the sweet potato was indeed the missing link?

Harvest Corn Chowder

Edmonton’s Newest Bakery: Duchess Bake Shop

Life is all about the little things. Watching the leaves fall from the trees in autumn. Drinking in the mid-afternoon sun. Savouring that first sip of morning coffee. Or, finding that a new bakery opened up in your neighbourhood.

Thanks to Nate Box (who will be opening his own restaurant, Elm Cafe, soon enough), I found out about Duchess Bake Shop, located in the High Street area within walking distance of Mack’s place, and right along my homeward bound bus route. I stopped in on Monday to check them out, and found that they had only been open a whirlwind three days.

Interior

The shop has a chic, sophisticated feel about it, with hardwood floors and a dominant white interior. A chandelier and a handful of tables and chairs round out the space, helpful for those looking to stay and pair their indulgence with something from the bakery’s cafe menu.

Owners Garner and Giselle Beggs have been thinking about opening a bakery for years. Fresh from a four year sojourn in Tokyo, they decided the time was ripe to return and make their dream a reality. Although Duchess offers many French-inspired treats (croissants, macarons, madelines), Garner says they aren’t restricting themselves to a French repertoire, with apple and banana cream pies also available, among other treats. Everything is made from scratch without preservatives – even the food colouring they use is from natural sources.

Macarons

I picked up two croissants ($1.50 each) for Mack and I to serve as a savoury bridge to dinner. They smelled of butter, and on first bite, had that crispy-crunchy texture I look for in a croissant. Mack didn’t like it as much (he prefers the softer variety), but I’d buy it again.

Croissants

Duchess also serves croissant sandwiches, which would make it an interesting destination for lunch. Or, like the couple who filed into the shop after me – for those looking for something to “make a bad day better”. I will be back.

Duchess Bake Shop
10720 124 Street
(780) 488-4999
Hours as of October 26, 2009: Wednesday 9am-6pm, Thursday-Friday 9am-8pm, Saturday 10am-6pm, Sunday 10am-5pm, closed Mondays and Tuesdays

Food Notes for October 5, 2009

Mack and I damn near froze to death at the penultimate City Centre Market day on Saturday. We decided to walk, which was actually not too bad, but by the time we got there, the wind picked up. We bought our groceries as fast as we could and left, but the poor vendors had no choice but to stay! Anyway, this coming Saturday is the last day of the City Market for the year – though I know there are other year round markets, it’s my favourite, and I’ll be stocking up as much as I can!

  • Foodie Suz gets the quick draw review award – she visited the new Edmonton location of Cora just three hours after it opened.
  • Liane sampled some of the menu items on Hardware Grill’s new lunch menu this week, and also wrote about two vegan restaurants – Refresh and Misella Delite in Stony Plain.
  • Isabelle from The Little Red Kitchen will be reviewing restaurants every two weeks on CBC radio! She is actively seeking recommendations by e-mail.
  • Vue had a piece about Cake Couture’s Annie Dam last week.
  • Workshop West’s upcoming show The Seed Savers sounds like a worthwhile production to take in. The premise: “Mindy and Joe have spent fifty years on their farm, their family and each other, but when genetically-modified canola gets into their prized crop, much more is at risk than the ancient right of farmers to sow their own seed.” The show runs October 30-November 8.
  • I read about Localicious, a two week-long World Wildlife Federation venture to promote local foods with restaurant specials taking place in select Canadian cities, including Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax and Calgary. Why not Edmonton? I would think there are enough restaurants serving local food here that would be happy to participate.
  • The Globe & Mail had an article on the national green-washing trend, which the majority of local food advocates interviewed for the piece support.
  • Via Eat. Drink. Better., a calculator by an American organic company that lets consumers see how much synthetic nitrogen, herbicides and pesticides they would prevent by choosing their organic dairy products. An interesting way of getting the point across.
  • After 68 years, Conde Nast is pulling the plug on Gourmet Magazine. I’ve been reading stories over the last few months about the possibility of either Gourmet or Bon Appetit, so it’s not really a surprise. I’m still a little sad though.
  • The reviews of Starbucks’ instant coffee, VIA, have been lukewarm. I actually haven’t tried it yet – Mack has, and said he could have done without the sludge-like residue at the bottom and near the top of his mug.
  • The FTC ruled that bloggers must disclose any freebies (when posting reviews, etc.) – I had no idea they were even considering this as an area of possible regulation.
  • Mack sent me a short piece about the seemingly common disorder of food aversion (one man has apparently subsisted on cheese since birth).
  • Annie and I refuelled on an indulgent cinnamon bun from CinnZeo (which should really be called Sin-Zeo) at Kingsway last week. And yet, at $4.25, it was worth every icing smothered bite. Yum.

 

Cinnamon Bun from CinnZeo

  • Mack’s Mum was in town this weekend, and we met up with her, and Mack’s siblings at Cactus Club for dinner before a double feature of Toy Story 1 & 2 in 3D. We sat out on the patio, enclosed and heated in cool weather, which is really a great maximization of the space. My butternut squash ravioli ($17) was a lovely dish to have in the fall, and Mack enjoyed his cajun chicken burger ($12.50). Patti and Thom liked their pesto chicken quesadilla ($10) too. It was good to see everybody!

 

Enclosed Cactus Club patio

 

Cajun Chicken Burger

 

Pesto Chicken Quesadilla

Marathon Pho: Ninh Kieu

The ongoing chronicles of pho continued at Ninh Kieu, an establishment I have passed by countless times on my way into Chinatown, but never really noticed. The only reason it stood out at all was due to the fact that they had, at some point, put up a white vinyl sign which attracted my eye.

The restaurant is most notable because of their large windows, which enclose just about the entire dining area. As I am used to the shadowy corners of Pho Tau Bay, this was definitely a pleasant change. We could have done without the tinkering elevator music though, which although had the intention of providing a relaxing atmosphere, had the opposite affect.

Interior

As is standard, we split an order of green onion cakes ($4.75) to start, and opted for our usual benchmark bowls of pho – for me, the medium rare beef ($7.50) and for Dickson, the special beef noodle soup ($8.50).

Service was friendly and fairly efficient – we weren’t left waiting for our food. I would pass on the green onion cakes next time though – while crisp, the kitchen may have misplaced the salt while making the dish.

Green Onion Cakes

As I always order the smaller portions of pho when given the opportunity, I wasn’t ready for Ninh Kieu’s marathon version of pho. And it wasn’t just me – even Dickson had difficulty getting through the entire serving. However, quality is more important than quantity in the case of pho, and though we found the broth to be satisfactory, it didn’t make an indelible impression on us either.

Medium Rare Beef Pho

Special Beef Noodle Soup

Having the opportune location next to Pho Tau Bay, whose closure periods are hard to predict, I would consider returning to Ninh Kieu in a pinch. I would just have to prepare my appetite for a worthy opponent beforehand.

Ninh Kieu
10708 98 Street
(780) 429-8881
Sunday-Thursday 11am-9pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-10pm

The Cooking Chronicles: Cassoulet with Lots of Vegetables

I adore fall – I revel in the brilliant golden hue cast by trees, find the crisp (not cold) air refreshing, and recognize that it is the one season that acts as a yearly reminder to live in the moment – because before we know it, winter will be upon us. On the food side of things (which it always comes back to), I think autumn speaks to me because what I love to eat corresponds most with a turndown in temperature. Light, warm-weather appropriate meals of salads and the like are far from being my favourite. Instead, curries, stews, and lovingly braised meats appeal more to my palate. While I know I need not justify my preferences to anyone, I feel the harvest season is when it all comes together.

So, utilizing some of my farmers’ market bounty, I set to create Mark Bittman’s cassoulet with lots of vegetables, another gem from Food Matters. Unlike some of the other dishes that I mistakenly label “one pot wonders” (somehow, I never consider the rice cooker to be a “pot”), this recipe truly is contained to one vessel. The large saucepan I chose, however, turned out to be not quite large enough, and as a result, I wasn’t able to include all of the recommended stock. The variation turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because the sweet tomato juice (I used canned tomatoes) thickened wonderfully as the beans naturally cooked down. I was also afraid that one pound of sausages wasn’t enough considering the large quantity of vegetables, but actually, there was more than enough meat, and more than that, the fact that they were immersed and finished cooking by simmering away in liquid meant that they ended up moist and full of flavour.

Cassoulet with Lots of Vegetables

The cassoulet was a hearty, satisfying dish, and like stews or chilis, was even better for lunch the next day. We ended up with six good-sized servings, which helped save me an evening of cooking – always a bonus! This recipe is definitely a keeper.

Food Notes for September 28, 2009

I’m happy that my crew of choice won the latest season of America’s Best Dance Crew (even though they still pale in comparison to last year’s champion, Quest Crew). This week also sees the return of both The Hills and The City, hurrah! On to this week’s food notes:

  • Chez Cora has been on my hit list of brunch diners to hit (with locations in Calgary, among others across Canada), but as it opened its first Edmonton outpost today, it looks like I will be able to satisfy my curiosity without leaving the city. The restaurant is located at Calgary Trail & 29 Avenue in Gateway Village, and is open for breakfast and lunch from 6am-3pm. Hurrah for more sit-down, non-fast food breakfast options in Edmonton!
  • Creations, the revamped restaurant in the Sawridge Inn (4235 Gateway Blvd), opened on September 25. The menu looks promising.
  • Liane reported that the third Mikado outpost in the west end (9942 170 Street, 780-481-2202) is set to open on October 1.
  • Jan Hostyn profiled Patty Milligan (aka Lola Canola) in Vue this week.
  • I know traditional media outlets often receive press releases sent en masse, but I’ve never before seen an impersonal “blogger targeted” mass e-mail…until this week. It’s for an upcoming fall harvest dinner at Culina Highlands on October 19: 5 Italian dishes, each paired with an Italian wine, for $65/person. I wish there was something I could link to, but nada.
  • The LitFest schedule is out – and there are many food-entwined events on the list, such as Savouries – readings featuring Liane and Jennifer McLaglan (author of Fat), alongside appetizers inspired by the writing. I’m sad that I will have to miss it (I will be out of town), but I’m sure it will be a great evening!
  • Andree wrote about gourmet food available on campus at Calgary’s SAIT Polytechnic – as with NAIT’s student showcase buffet, I think it’s awesome when students are able to show their hard work and efforts off to the public.
  • This magnet that looks like a chocolate bar is too cool. I originally thought that it would make a great gift for a chocoholic, but on second thought, because it looks so real but is made of wax, it might actually be a cruel present.
  • The word of the week in the NY blogosphere was “foodiot” – first, an article discussing the phenomenon of people’s constant obsession to update others on what they are eating – enabled by tools like Twitter and Facebook. And then, a great deconstruction of how this came to be over at Grub Street. Yes, I admit to being a foodiot sometimes…
  • After picking our share of potatoes on Saturday, the lot of us headed to Hudson’s for lunch. This may well have been my first visit to Hudson’s, but I wasn’t sure. The patio at the 104th Avenue location was pretty nice, and felt sheltered from the thoroughfare. I liked their “mini menu” that featured small versions of burgers and sandwiches, inspired, I’m sure, by the popularity of bite-sized sliders. I ended up ordering the mini beef dip ($10.99, plus $1.99 for fries). The meat was a little thicker and seemed to have been drenched in a sauce to disguise the dry texture – with the au jus, it wasn’t bad, but I’ve had better beef dip elsewhere. Mack had nothing negative to say about his fish and chips ($13.99), and Jane, Yi-Li and Annie all liked their burgers. Watch for a fifth location at South Common to come in November.

Patio at Hudson’s

Mini Beef Dip

Fish and Chips

Yi-Li with his Champion two patty burger (which he heroed)

  • Mack and I finally made our way to the sparkly new Southgate this weekend. We had been meaning to go for weeks, but between our busy schedules and Mack’s sound un-enthusiasm for shopping, our belated visit made sense. The new wing interior reminded us a lot of Calgary’s Southcentre Mall (actually developed by the same company), and for that reason, we weren’t as wowed as we could have been. The food court, however, is definitely the nicest in Edmonton. And seeing as I remember the days when the booths could have easily been misconstrued as dungeons in the Southgate food court of old, I can hardly believe the change.

    • Revamped Southgate Food Court

  • What I don’t want to accept is how expensive mall food has become. We hedged our bets with something new – a decent butter chicken from Rasoee, an Indian outlet – and at $6.59, I’m sure we could have done much worse. Still, the value wasn’t there, even though both of us admitted that the basmati rice was very nicely cooked.

    • Rasoee’s Butter Chicken

  • VIA, Starbucks’ venture into the world of instant coffee, hits all North American stores on September 29 (they will be sold in boxes of 3 or 12). Yesterday, while picking up a night cap, we were lucky enough to get a few free samples! We haven’t tried it yet, but we have read many positive reviews that say that it is the best instant coffee to ever hit the market.

VIA Samples

Fine Gelato: Chocolate Exquisite

So much food. So little time. At least when it comes to the places on my “to try” list, anyway.

I was able to strike one off the list last weekend, when Mack and I made a concerted effort to ruin our dinner with gelato (though I’m sure there are worse ways in which dinner can be ruined). After an “independent panel” declared the gelato from Chocolate Exquisite to be the best in the city, I was eager to give their dessert a spin.

Chocolate Exquisite interior

Located in the semi-sprawled Oliver Square complex, Chocolate Exquisite has been producing their own line of chocolates for several years. Owner Dennis Yurkiwsky sampled over 70 varieties of cocoa beans sourced from all over the world, and from that number, picked 18 to make bars of single-origin chocolate. They are all beautifully wrapped, with small squares priced at just 90 cents, meaning a gift box containing some variety could be relatively inexpensive. Yurkiwsky was extremely generous in providing me with samples of the types I expressed an interest in (with many bite-size samples ready to be doled out, the “try before you buy” policy is their common practice). I also tried the 99% cocoa mass, which is described to be for a “connoisseur’s palate”. It wasn’t for me. Yurkiwsky made clear, however, that the value of variety was being able to offer a specific product that would appeal to individuals as opposed to a crowd.

It’s worth noting that Chocolate Exquisite runs tasting workshops for $35, which includes samples of all 18 single-origin varieties, as well as dessert wines and port (the shop is equipped with a few small tables and chairs). It would make a fantastic girls night out. The next one is scheduled for October 20; call for more information.

By the time we worked our way toward the gelato cooler, it was clear that Yurkiwsky prides himself in producing a consistent, high quality product. As expected, Mack and I both tried samples of the gelato of our choice before we were permitted to graduate to a full serving ($3.50/small, $5.50/large). Yurkiwsky described the gelato-making process that he uses, and suffice to say, he has undertaken great expense and pains to ensure his gelato is as authentic as possible.

And the result? The scoop of hazelnut I enjoyed thoroughly brought me back to my time in Italy. Velvety smooth, the balance between the nutty flavour and sweetness was just perfect. Mack’s strawberry gelato was light and fruity, and disappeared immediately under his spoon.

Hazelnut and Strawberry gelati

As Yurkiwsky himself indicated, Chocolate Exquisite is a destination. However, now that I’ve been oriented to their products, I will be sure to keep it in mind for any future gift needs, as well as a place to satiate my gelato cravings.

Chocolate Exquisite
11238 104 Avenue
(780) 488-7852
Monday-Thursday 11am-8pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-9pm, Sunday 12-8pm

The Great Potato Giveaway: Recap

The event I was most looking forward to this month was undoubtedly the Great Potato Giveaway, put on by the Greater Edmonton Alliance (GEA). In order to spread awareness about the potential development of fertile farmland in the city’s north east, the GEA partnered with the Edmonton Potato Growers and Norbest Farms, and advertised an event which would allow attendees 50 pounds of free potatoes per person. Not ever being one to pass up an opportunity for free food (or visiting a farm), Mack, Jane, Yi-Li, Annie and I piled into a car just after 8am this morning and headed to what we thought would be the city’s hottest destination that day.

Given the amount of media coverage the event received, the number of vehicles we encountered wasn’t surprising, but what was surprising was how unprepared the event organizers were in dealing with such a large bottleneck so early on in the day. Crawling up 195 Street, with hundreds of cars in front and behind us, there was no indication when we might actually reach the farm. We saw a number of cars turn back due to the wait, and a number of vehicle passengers deciding to hoof it (the joke on Twitter this morning was that it was the “Great Potato Give-a-Wait”).

About an hour out

Two hours later, by around 11, we finally reached Norbest Farms. Volunteers handed us each a reusable cloth bag for our potatoes as we drove in, as well as a flyer from the GEA detailing the upcoming public hearing on the Municipal Development Plan taking place on November 12, 2009. Getting out of the car, we could already see the masses of people lined up along the crop – families, older couples, and everyone in between.

Crowd at Great Potato Giveaway

Ready to harvest!

Everyone was told to wait as the tractor and potato harvester drove over the soil, overturning the crop underneath. It was quite the sight to see – as soon as the harvester drove past, there was a mad scramble of people doing their best to scrounge up as many potatoes as possible. Of course, we were right in there like everyone else.

Waiting for the tractor to pass

Here come the potatoes!

Gloves would have been great to have on hand, as the harvester didn’t turn the soil very deep, and we, like many others, resorted to overturning the soil by hand to uncover some of the smaller potatoes.

Attack of the potato harvesters!

Found one!

It was a beautiful day – sunny and warm, but not too hot. I was really happy to see the children there digging in the soil, triumphant when they found a “baby ‘tater”. Although one GEA volunteer passed by as we were harvesting and reminded participants about the reason for the event, I think many likely considered it a free potato grab and nothing more – the GEA definitely should have had more people out spreading their message to the attendees.

After three passes of the machine, we were satisfied that we harvested our share. We’re not sure each of us had 50 pounds, but there was probably a good 30 pounds packed in per bag.

Mack with our harvest

Trunk full of potatoes

We wandered down to the information tents before heading back, where Mack and I signed up to receive more updates from GEA. We asked the volunteers at the tents whether or not they had expected such a turnout, and they replied that while they had only anticipated a “good crowd”.

GEA tent

The ubiquitous Fat Franks cart (they’re everywhere!)

As we drove out of the farm, we passed hundreds of cars still waiting to get in, backed up all the way to Manning Drive. We found out later that the farm had run out of potatoes at around 12:30pm.

Thanks to Norbest Farms, the Edmonton Potato Growers and the Greater Edmonton Alliance, we all have potatoes that we will be sharing with family and friends. And of course, thanks for the opportunity to harvest a crop from some of the rich farmland surrounding our city.

You can see Mack’s photoset here.