• This year’s Downtown Dining Week runs March 14-23, 2014. Their menus are already up – priced at $15, $25 and $50.
• Farrow is the new sandwich spot that is opening up next to Three Boars (8422 109 Street). If you want a sneak peek of their menu, check out their upcoming pop-up at Three Boars on March 16, 2014, from 11am-2pm.
• Congratulations to Culina Muttart for ten years in the business! To celebrate, they are hosting special family-style wine dinners March 18-20, 2014 at $89 per person.
• The Red Shoe Society (benefiting the Ronald McDonald House of Northern Alberta) is hosting another great fundraiser – this time, their second annual Cookies & Beer, being held at Craft Beer Market on March 25, 2014. Tickets are $50, and will feature both sweet and savoury pairings.
• The next Tomato Test Kitchen with Mary Bailey and Chef Brad Smoliak is scheduled for March 27, 2014.
• Elm Café’s new downtown cafe, District Coffee Co., opened March 3, 2014 at #101, 10011 109 Street.
• There’s a new Latin Market called El Mariachi that opened at 10991A 124 Street.
• Silk Road (always a stop for us in Calgary) is opening up an Edmonton location next to Knifewear later this summer. The shop will be at 10818  82 Avenue.
• Liane tweeted that Café deVille has now closed their Sherwood Park location.
• It’s that time again – Avenue Edmonton released their annual food issue this week, which includes their extensive categorical list of favourites. Congrats to RGE RD, voted best restaurant this year!
• The Tomato also contributes the glut of food lists this month, with their second annual Top 100 Best Things to Eat in Edmonton. Unfortunately, the list isn’t online, and I’m not sure I agree with an item appearing on the list in the top 10 from a restaurant that just opened in December.
• Lillian shared her experience at the new southside location of D’Amore’s Mercato (4612 99 Street), offering tasty Italian eats.
• Both Liv and Eva wrote about their sub-par meal at The Glass Monkey.
• Phil’s latest Burger Odyssey post is up, with the burger from Daravara drawing the most compliments so far.
• Cindy wrote about Elm Café’s most recent dining room event, Sausage Stand. Looks like we missed a delicious night!
• Liane wrote a piece detailing the negative impact of no-shows on independent restaurants.
• I’ve always liked the idea of underground dining, but perhaps push comes to shove, it’s not my cup of tea: after reading the rules of Table, “an underground monthly 9 course dining experience” in Edmonton, I’m not sure I’d ever want to participate at that price point with so many unknowns.
• CMT’s Burger Wars was in town this past week filming a burger showdown between The Next Act, Rodeo Burger and Delux Burger Bar. The episode will air later this spring or summer.
• It’s a little embarrassing that I hadn’t noticed The Wine Room (10525 Jasper Ave) before, given it is just up the street from our condo, but from what I can gather, it opened late last summer. I haven’t heard much about it (good, bad, or ugly), but it looks like they have incorporated iPad menus, something that hasn’t caught on in Edmonton just yet.

The Wine Room

Hi everyone, Mack here. Sharon is feeling a little under the weather still, so I’m guest blogging food notes this week!

• The next edition of Green Drinks Edmonton is focused on local food and will feature a great lineup of local experts. Get your tickets for the event which takes place on March 5 at Yellowhead Brewery.
• Chad Moss is the new president of Slow Food Edmonton. The organization currently has about 80 members.
• Allan Kellogg reviewed North 53 in the Journal last week. Sounds like he enjoyed it, but rightly questions how repeat business is going to work with the pricey dishes.
• NAIT’s current Chef in Residence is Lynn Crawford, and she’ll be preparing a three-course luncheon taking place at Ernest’s on March 13. Karlynn is giving away tickets to join her at the event! So is Linda!
• Looks like Graham liked his dinner for two at The Glass Monkey. I’m intrigued by his comment that it’s "designed for conversation" with no need to yell to be heard.
• Though annoyingly there’s no playlist or tag or anything, OptikLocal has a pretty impressive collection of videos up on YouTube as part of a series called EATS Edmonton. Each video is 3-4 minutes long, and you’ll find features on local tastes, plates, places, and creations.
• Linda reviewed Square One Wye Road, a new restaurant in Sherwood Park. Sounds like the service was good but the food was lacking.
• The 2014 Culinary Arts Cook Off is taking place on March 15 at Mount Royal Elementary Campus. The five judges they announced on Friday are an impressive group!
• Little Miss Andrea visited Lan’s Asian Grill recently, and called it "a hidden gem in our city." Nice writeup!
• This week’s Gastropost mission is Beautiful Beef. And if you don’t love Alberta beef, you can share your favorite vegetarian beef alternatives.
• Speaking of beef, are you following along with Phil’s quest to find the best burger in Edmonton? He’s currently 12 burgers into the odyssey.
• I made carrot, spinach and rice stew for dinner tonight. Predictably, mine didn’t turn out as good as when Sharon makes it (she originally blogged about it back in 2010). I guess it tasted okay, but it turned a weird purple thanks to the purple carrots I decided to use!
• Sharon recently tried the pho at Delicious PHO’ in West Edmonton Mall. She said she found it a bit salty for her tastes. They recently opened a location on 124 Street where The Makk used to be located, and their website says another location is coming soon to Baseline Road in Sherwood Park.

Delicious PHO’

• Sharon and I went to the second HWKRS MRKT on Saturday night at Vacancy Hall in the basement of the Mercer Warehouse (the next one has already been scheduled for April 12). She’ll write more about that later, but I wanted to highlight the chicken and waffles from Parts & Service, a new food truck slated to open this spring. The verdict? Winner winner chicken dinner!

Chicken & Waffles

• Oh how the tables have turned. You’re used to seeing lots of photos of me on this blog, but now I get to post one of Sharon! I snapped this photo at Tavern 1903 a few weeks ago. Her review is forthcoming so stay tuned!

Sharon at Tavern 1903

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.

It was a lovely weekend to spend outdoors, and there were lots of opportunities to do so! We spent a fair bit of it inside, trying to make a dent in season 2 of House of Cards, but it was an enjoyable way to relax. Hope you had a good weekend as well! On to this week’s food notes:

• Elm Café’s Dining Room (9132 118 Avenue) is opening up again for a special event. This time, they will be hosting a Sausage Stand at 6pm on February 28, 2014, celebrating all kinds of Austrian sausage. Take a look at the menu here. Reservations can be made by calling (780) 756-1645.
• It’s that time of year again – Avenue Edmonton will be releasing their new 2014 food issue in March. Help them celebrate who they deem to be Edmonton’s best new restaurants at NAIT on March 3, 2014. Tickets are $10, with proceeds going to the Edmonton Food Bank.
• You may have heard that there will be a new direct cross-Atlantic flight from Edmonton to Iceland beginning later this year, but did you know they have organized a Taste of Iceland, running March 5-8, 2014 to further promote it? Expect meals from an Icelandic chef and Icelandic musical acts.
• An event titled Menu of Modern Art 3 is taking place at Latitude 53 on March 8, 2014. It is a reception involving six different chefs, including Chef Nathan Saurette from Three Boars. Advance tickets are $25.
• Mark your calendars: this year’s Seedy Sunday takes place March 16, 2014 at the Alberta Avenue Community League. Swap or buy seeds, learn about different organizations that can help you get started with gardening and listen to presentations from local experts.
• More details were released about the participating chefs in the March 29, 2014 fundraiser Hot Chefs, Cool bEATS. Chefs like Nevin Fenske of Drift and Ariel del Rosario of Filistix will be returning, joining event newcomers like Chuck Elves of Three Boars and Edgar Gutierrez of Tres Carnales.
• NAIT announced that their 2014 Hokanson Chef in Residence will be Chef Lynn Crawford. As usual, the Chef in Residence will be hosting a luncheon, taking place on March 13, 2014. There are two opportunities to win tickets to the lunch – through NAIT and through Valerie’s blog. Good luck!
• Speaking of NAIT, they have also added to their public food offerings with the addition of a line of cheeses (mozzarella, feta and brie), available for purchase at their meat store.
• Cindy visited the brand new location of Shanghai 456.
• Liv posted a Korean fried chicken showdown – between Coco Deep Fried Chicken and Wing Chicx.
• Liane published her second piece in her deli series, this time focusing on Polish deli Baltyk Meat.
• Mack and I are slowly chipping away at wedding planning tasks. This weekend, we had a cupcake taste-off with my sisters, in order to choose a bakery for our wedding cupcakes. The contenders: The Sweet Side, Crave and Flirt. We’re pretty confident with our final decision, and it sure was a fun way to come to it!

Cupcakes!

• We continued our indulgence by ordering Royal Pizza for dinner. Panago is our typical go-to, but my sister was insistent we had to try the deep-dish deliciousness of Royal Pizza. I have to admit, the crust was pretty tasty, though I’d imagine it would be even better fresh in the restaurant.

Fred’s Special and Donair pizzas

Do you have Olympic fever? I do! The time zone difference makes it challenging to witness the wins in real time, but it’s still great to relive the moments later on. Go Canada Go! On to this week’s food notes:

• Still looking for Valentine’s weekend plans? Sailin’ On is hosting a pop-up brunch on February 16, 2014 at the Mercury Room (10575 114 Street).
• Knifewear is celebrating their grand reopening in Edmonton with beer, hot dogs and a knife sale on February 18, 2014 from 6-10pm. Check out the shop at 10816 82 Avenue.
• The next Dining with Friends event highlights Szechuan food on February 20, 2014. Limited tickets remaining!
• ZINC is bringing back art-themed dishes with their Art Gallery of Alberta Supper Club. The first meal pairs Italian cuisine with their current exhibition and a guest speaker on February 23, 2014. Tickets are $150.
• Maki and Marianne are co-organizing an Edmonton Food & Beverage Blogger Meet-Up, to take place at The Common on March 4, 2014. It’s been a while since the last one I co-organized back in 2010; it’ll be good to catch-up with faces old and new!
• Mark your calendars: the next Green Drinks: Your Local Food Tools is taking place on March 5, 2014. It’s a great place to meet other people interested in local food.
• Shovel & Fork is putting together a fundraiser for Slow Food which will see Drift serve up a set menu to pair with Alley Kat beers. Hijacked – a Slow Takeover takes place on March 8, 2014, and tickets are $30.
• The big news this week was Elm Café’s expansion into downtown, with the opening of District Coffee Co. at #101, 10011 109 Street. They will focus on great coffee (being the first in Edmonton to offer Calgary’s Phil & Sebastian, yay!) and fresh baked goods. Expect District to open on March 3, 2014.
• The Journal positively reviewed Chic-hog-o’s last week.
• Who says vending machines have to serve junk food? Chicago is the home to salad-dispensing vending machines!
• Mack and I took a brisk walk over to the Boyle Street Plaza on Saturday to take in the On the Spot Pop-Up Sale. It was a great use of the building’s gym space, and with the large bank of windows, didn’t feel at all like we were buckled down in the middle of winter. It was also great to see Molly’s Eats out in the off season!

On the Spot Pop-Up

Susan and Teresa of Molly’s Eats

• I warmed up today with some good food and great conversation at Tres Carnales. It’s been too long without fish tacos!

Our spread at Tres Carnales

Hello, winter! We knew we were in for a cold February after an above average January, but it is still a shock to the system. Bundle up! On to this week’s food notes:

• More details were announced about the second Hawkers Market, taking place on February 22, 2014.
• Daravara, the newest 124 Street hot spot, opened on February 1, 2014.
• Liane shared some news about a new coffee shop coming soon to Oliver, called Iconoclast Koffie Huis (first Sloppy Hogs Roed Hus, and now this). Look for it in the coming weeks at 11807B 105 Avenue.
• Shanghai 456 is now open in their new location (14456 118 Avenue). Time to get your xiao long bao on!
• North 53 scored a pair of reviews, from both Robyn and Liv. Their new website is also up, if you want a longer look at their menu.
• Andrea reviewed brunch at Sherwood Park’s Square One Wye Road.
• Vue Weekly checks out The Parlour.
• Liane kicked off a bi-weekly series last week which shines a light on the city’s delis. Her first piece focuses on Omonia Foods in Chinatown.
• This is certainly the first time I’ve seen a restaurant use Kickstarter to fund a campaign to make a Taste of Edmonton booth possible.
• Did you know NAIT grows microgreens and herbs year-round in their Urban Cultivator?
• With an intense craving for burek, Mack and I headed to The Cheese Factory on Friday night. It was also a good excuse to indulge in their squeaky cheese poutine.

Meat burek

Traditional poutine

• We celebrated Chinese New Year over the weekend with friends and family. Nothing like a generous spread to ring in the Year of the Horse!

Prosperity toss!

Though it feels like we just finished celebrating the Christmas season, I’m ready for another festive occasion – Chinese New Year! Happy New Year to those who also recognize the holiday! Onto this week’s food notes:

• It’s the last week for Fork Fest, running until January 30, 2014.
• Why shouldn’t a farmers’ market celebrate a grand opening January? Join the Sherwood Park Farmers’ Market at their new location (401 Festival Lane) on January 29, 2014.
• The Alberta Canola Producers Commission is hosting a fundraiser for the Heart & Stroke Foundation, taking place on February 3, 2014. Six female chefs have created the six-course meal. Tickets are $75.
• The Okanagan Food and Wine Writers’ Workshop opened up their registration this week. The event runs May 9-11, 2014.
• Marianne files the first report on North 53, the restaurant everyone has been talking about.
• Some restaurant closure news: Moriarty’s is shutting its doors on January 31, 2014.
• Woodwork was positively reviewed in the Journal last week.
• Check out Phil’s latest post on his quest for the best burger in Edmonton – this time, he focuses on diner burgers at Hathaway’s Diner and Jack’s Burger Shack.
• Phil has started a new series on his blog – “5 Questions With…”. The first iteration asks chefs about their burger-related preferences.
• Rge Rd held their first ever winter farm dinner two weeks ago, an amazing feat of planning and execution in Alberta!
• I hope Anthony Bourdain’s idea of an authentic NYC food market (patterned after the great food “courts” in Asia) comes to fruition – it sounds amazing.
• Annie sent me this link featuring punny food-related valentines (my favourite: #27, of course).
• Speaking of pho, it looks like Delicious Pho (10418 124 Street), which took over from The Makk, is now open.

Delicious Pho

• I met up with Brittney and Linda for brunch at Urban Diner on the weekend. The poffertjes, as usual, were a tasty way to start, but I was a bit disappointed with the quiche, expecting a tart crust instead of puff pastry.

Poffertjes

Quiche

• The City Market kicked off Lunar New Year celebrations early, with 5 Elements busking, to the delight of shoppers.

5 Elements @ the City Market

• Fork Fest has released their menus. I’ll be checking out the Manor Café next week!
• Hot Chefs, Cool bEATS is back this year, taking place at the Shaw Conference Centre on March 29, 2014. Tickets are $125 and all inclusive of wine and drinks. Mack and I went in 2012, and enjoyed everything from the indoor street party to the displays, and of course, the food.
• Save the date: Eat Alberta will be taking place on April 26, 2014. The line-up of workshops is already shaping up to be one of our best ever. I can’t wait to share more details soon.
• After two seasonal pop-ups, Knifewear has announced that it is staying put!
• Hoang Long is expanding again – another downtown location is joining La Prep in the First & Jasper Building.
• Liv reviews The Phork, which has taken up residence in Grandin.
• Andrea posted about her great experience at 97 Hot Pot.
• Phil’s latest burger odyssey, unfortunately, covers two burger fails from recent Edmonton restaurant additions. Better luck next time, Phil!
• K.A. Café on Whyte offers up solid Lebanese food, shares Vue Weekly.
• Valerie’s latest Canadian Food Experience round-up is all about new year’s resolutions. Click over to read for some inspiration.
• Liane wrote a great piece highlighting food waste in Canada – a little bit from each household does add up.
• On the television front, Masterchef Canada premiered tonight. No Edmonton contestants, but there are six from Alberta in the top 50.
• At the Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market on Saturday, we finally picked up a box of Frickin’ Delights Donuts – several people have recommended the treats as their favourite vegan doughnuts in the city. Good flavour, though the springy texture caught us a bit off-guard at first.

Frickin’ Delights Donuts

• Mack’s craving for butter chicken on the weekend led us to Origin India.

Happy for butter chicken!

• How’s this for random acts of kindness: Jacek Chocolate Couture is giving away 150 box of chocolates on January 16, 2014.
• Sailin’ On is hosting a pop-up on January 18, 2014 at Richie Hall. They’ll have music and some of the truck’s brand new food items!
• Another Fork Fest is upon us it runs January 19-23 and 26-30, 2014 – menus aren’t up yet, but you can see the list of participating restaurants here.
• Craft Beer Market is hosting their inaugural Brewmaster’s Dinner on January 22, 2014. Tickets to the multi-course dinner are $60.
• The Cavern Cheese School will be in session on January 26, 2014. It sounds like it will be a wonderful palate exercise through the tasting of various cheese and wine pairings. Tickets are $75 each.
• Planning your escape from Edmonton? Join Liane on her next food tour to New Orleans in May 2014.
• Liane has more details about perhaps what is the most anticipated restaurant of the year: Daniel Costa’s Bar Bricco, to open in early February.
• Liane also dishes on Daravara, a new bar/eatery to hit 124 Street.
• Andrea reviewed The Glass Monkey.
• Sushi Sugoi is a good addition to South Edmonton, shares Eat Your City.
• Liv dined and wrote about Woodwork.
• This sounds epic: Phil is going on a burger odyssey, and is looking for input on what should be considered in his quest for the best in Edmonton.
• Hopefully we’ll have more than this to look forward to in the arena district, food-wise, but – a Joey’s Restaurant has been proposed to be built just north of the Bell Tower.
• Liane wrote a piece about what to look for in 2014.
• Jason Foster has an interesting comparison of the four beer markets in Edmonton, and what he sees as their distinct approaches.
• First pho (of many) in the New Year!

My usual at Pho Tau Bay

I feel like I’m finally catching up on things, which feels even harder to do because Edmonton’s food scene didn’t take a holiday this year! If anything, our city’s gift from local food entrepreneurs was the breadth of new restaurants to try in 2014. What resolutions?

• Deep Freeze is this weekend! Looking forward to checking out the festivities, but only after filling up on an Elm Café brunch, January 11-12, from 10am-2pm at 9132 118 Avenue.
• If you missed Elm Café’s last feature dinner, they will be cooking up a Burns Supper on January 25, 2014 at the Queen Alexandra Community Hall. Four courses for $40.
• The Tomato is offering a peek into their test kitchen – join Mary Bailey and Chef Brad Smoliak as they offer their tips and tricks through a cooking workshop. 10 spots only.
• Speaking of The Tomato, they are once again soliciting suggestions for their 2014 Tomato Top 100 – the deadline is January 25, 2014. I can imagine it will be hard to top last year’s list without too much repetition.
• Remedy Café is expanding again! They will join Credo Coffee’s second location on 124 Street.
• A sushi wave has broken in Edmonton – Liv reviews new Japanese restaurant Kamiyo (10846 82 Avenue) on Whyte.
• Kenko Japanese Cuisine (9543 42 Avenue) is another newcomer on the south side – both Andrea and Linda checked it out.
• More details have surfaced about the new Tres Carnales project to open in the Mercer Warehouse this summer.
• Liv sums up her review of 2013 and her predictions for 2014.
• Vue Weekly looks back on the Edmonton dining scene in 2013.
• Where Magazine crowned its best new restaurant of 2013: RGE RD!
• To echo Mack, one National Geographic writer’s favourite market that he happened to visit in a calendar year somehow mutated into the accolade of “world’s best farmers’ market”.
• Chopped Canada started last week. Are you watching? Apparently a lot of people are – it smashed Food Network premiere records.
• Eater National has a round-up of what’s hot and not in the US – it’s a great herald of what we can expect to trickle down to us in a few years.
• A well-known New York critic unmasked himself last week – you can read why here.
• Your lesson for the day: the history of the chocolate chip cookie.
• The Greenhouse finally opened their downtown location (10119 101 Street).

The Greenhouse

I would apologize for my extended absence, but a vacation and extended time spent with family and friends was just what my soul needed. I feel rested and ready to take on the new year! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with loved ones, and hope you have a fabulous 2014! Here are some of my catch-up notes that cover the past few weeks:

• A number of new restaurants opened up in December such as Woodwork, the storefront from the folks behind Nomad. Vue Weekly provides a portrait of the restaurant in progress, as well as some of the philosophy behind the food and drink. Andrea had lunch there, while Chris also has an early review, noting that the temperature of the restaurant has been impacting dining experiences.
• The Glass Monkey, replacing the Jack’s Grill in Lendrum (5842 111 Street) is now open. Anyone been yet?
• The Phork (101, 9707 110 Street), occupying the revolving door space in Grandin most recently occupied by Antonio’s, opened on December 13, 2013 (thanks, Eva, for the heads up!). They are ambitious, serving up breakfast to late night. Perhaps this is the magic needed for that location?
• Craft Beer Market, a Calgary import, opened at 10013 101A Avenue on December 19, 2013. They have over 100 beers on tap, and a large food menu. Several bloggers attended their opening event, including Cheryl, Chris and Liv.
• Even Sherwood Park has a new restaurant: Square One Wye Road (#32, 993 Fir Street). Liv has already tried some of their diverse menu items.
• If Urban Shabu is busy, you can now head down the block to 97 Hot Pot (10602 97 Street). Linda checked it out and loved their broths!
• Lincoln spotlights Tasty Choice (107, 2920 Calgary Trail) in his YEGventures series, offering Asian comfort food.
• Sushi Sugoi (2874 Calgary Trail), in the former Outback Steakhouse location on Calgary Trail, is now open.
• No photo, unfortunately, but a restaurant called Delicious Pho is coming soon to the space that previously housed The Makk (10418 124 Street).
• Learn more about North 53 (10240 124 Street), another restaurant in the growing inventory of establishments on 124 Street. They are accepting reservations starting on January 15, 2014.
• The big news this December was twofold – Roast (10359 104 Street) in the Mercer Warehouse closed, ending the presence of another independent coffee shop downtown, but a day later, it was announced that Tres Carnales would be taking over the space, offering a new Mexican concept.
• Congrats to the winners of the city’s Winter Drink competition, Transcend and Jasper Place High School!
• Do your 2014 resolutions include learning more about food? Check out Shovel & Fork’s winter class calendar.
• We had a smashing time in New York, exploring places old and new. I felt we knew a bit more about the city on this visit, so was better able to maximize our time there. There were lots of memorable moments, but as some of you already know, Mack asked me to marry him in Central Park, and I said yes!

At The Mall in Central Park