Mack and I took in the last night of The National Elevator Project on Sunday, and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Although I know a part of the reason had to do with the novelty of the elevator as a stage, it was also because most of the playwrights so deftly took advantage of the intimacy of the space, playing with conventions of distance and audience involvement. Though the run has now finished, look for Part 2 of the project during the Canoe Festival, January 23 – February 2, 2014. On to this week’s food notes:

• River City Round Up starts off this Friday with the annual Chili Cook-Off in Churchill Square on November 1, from 11:30-1:30pm. Grab your bowl of chili for just a buck or two! On Saturday, November 2, the Kick-Off Celebration will feature a pancake breakfast, a taste of the past and entertainment.
• I know some are already planning for Christmas, so – Quickfire Cookery is planning  a Christmas Secret Bistro on November 29 and 30, 2013, with a six course dinner and wine pairings.
• Congratulations to Chef Paul Shufelt of the Century Hospitality Group for capturing first place at this year’s Gold Medal Plates! Silver went to Chef Doreen Prei of the Edmonton Petroleum Club and bronze to Chef Paul Campbell of Café de Ville.
• Liv posted about Sky High Burgers, a new joint in Sherwood Park.
• The Journal reviewed Café Bicyclette last week.
• The cooler weather got you down? A trip to Urban Shabu might warm you up – check out Cheryl’s recent visit.
• Plow & Harvest has closed less than two months after opening its doors. The website reads, “We appreciate your patronage and wish we could have continued to serve you and the Edmonton community.”
• Starbucks will be releasing their holiday drinks (in red cups, of course) on November 2, 2013.
• After a trip to West Edmonton Mall on the weekend, Mack and I stopped in at the new Italian Centre next door for lunch. Their margherita pizza ($11) hit the spot, the crispy thin crust holding up well. Worth making the trek to the west end!

Pizza!

• The third back alley “burger” (pioneered in Edmonton by Hundred, replicated in po’ boy form by Creole Envie) hits the streets on October 26, 2013 at Wild Tangerine. Pick up an O’my Bao, stuffed with Spring Creek Ranch beef cheek, Sylvan Star gouda and Asian slaw.
• Mark your calendar: All is Bright, a new festival on 124 Street will be taking place on November 23, 2013. There will be light displays, sleigh rides and outdoor patios, among other things.
• Get your xialongbao fix now: Shanghai 456 will be closing no later than November 12, 2013 (because of the airport lands appropriation). It sounds like they are looking for an alternate location though!
• Woodwork posted an update this week – it is looking good!
• The Edmonton Journal launched Gastropost today, a community that will be encouraging fun weekly food missions.
• Cheryl reviewed the recent Sturgeon Valley Food and Wine Festival.
• Eat North, a website dedicated to highlighting Canadian food, was launched recently by three Calgarians. They do want to shed the entire country though, and have reached out to writers accordingly.
• How’s this for your Halloween frights? Salon posted an article titled, “7 horrifying truths about your chicken dinner”. I hadn’t heard about the Obama administration passing the law permitting chicken processed in China to be sold in the US without the appropriate labeling.
• The City Market started its indoor edition last week. It was quite busy when we stopped in, likely benefiting from the additional traffic from the advanced polls located in City Hall.

Inside City Hall

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving! Mack and I were fortunate enough to have not one, but two wonderful turkey dinners surrounded by family and friends. On to this week’s food notes:

• Co-op is hosting its annual Grape Escape in Edmonton on October 18-19, 2013 at the Expo Centre.
• Mirepoix Trio is hosting two upcoming pop-ups: brunch on October 20, 2013 and a Ukrainian-themed dinner on October 24, 2013.
• The Bruce Peel Library at the University of Alberta will be unveiling a special exhibit titled, “Collecting Culinary: Cookbooks and Domestic Manuals Mainly from the Linda Miron Distad Collection”, which will run from October 25, 2013 – February 7, 2014.
• Sabzy Persian Grill, which relocated to the southside (9314 34 Avenue) from its original location in Old Strathcona, is now open.
• Vue Weekly reviews the newest Filipino-focused restaurant to hit the streets, Cuisine Ni Mutya.
• Andrea and Robyn shared their experiences of State and Main, the new pub located in Southgate Centre.
• Tavern 1903 continues to garner attention from the Journal and Dine and Write.
• The City Market hosted its last outdoor market on Saturday, and on October 19, 2013, will kick off its indoor market season in City Hall.

Promoting the winter market!

• The Common must have been having an off-day on Friday. Everything from the service to the food was disappointing that night. Our server was MIA for much of the evening, and never once offered to refill our water or even ask if we’d like dessert before serving us with the bill. The food was also uneven – the calamari was all right, but both entrees were problematic – May’s chicken was too dry, while my fish and chips were in dire need of salt.

Fish and chips at The Common

• Cactus Club is getting ready to unveil its second location in Edmonton, a ripe streetfront space on Jasper Avenue and 111 Street. I attended a media reception on Wednesday night, and sampled bites ranging from their new tuna sushi cones (I loved the tempura crunch) to their ever-popular BBQ duck clubhouse sandwiches. Though Chef Rob Feenie was on hand, I have to admit I was more excited to meet Chef Matt Stowe (Top Chef Canada’s season 3 winner that we had been rooting for). The location opens some time this week.

Interior

BBQ duck clubhouse

With Chef Stowe

I have a feeling October is going to zoom by, with my eye already towards Thanksgiving next week. It’s also a really light week on the food end of things – I’m sure things will pick up as we transition into (gasp!) the holiday season:

• Mack and I spent part of our Sunday outside the Bissell Centre, taking part in a special What the Truck?! event that saw 900 meals served to underprivileged Edmontonians. Thanks to the trucks who took part, and to the Bissell Centre for being a wonderful partner.
• Outdoor farmers’ markets are coming to an end! Get your fill this weekend, at the 124 Street Market’s Harvest Celebrations on Thursday or on 104 Street at the City Market on Saturday.
• Great to hear that Café Bicyclette, the new restaurant at La Cite Francophone, is planning to have a winter patio!
• Loved Kevin’s video of the Really Long Table Dinner that took place in Calgary last month.
• Vital Signs, a report on Edmonton’s food security was released last week by the Edmonton Community Foundation, in partnership with the Edmonton Social Planning Council.
• Ever wonder what makes a Dorito so irresistible?
• The brisk, chilly weather last week was perfect for one thing: pho!

My usual from Pho Tau Bay

• A friend and I got together for drinks and nibbles at Tzin. It’s been a while since I’ve been there, but I’ll always enjoy their braised pork belly dish. For the fall, topped with crunchy pickled cabbage, it’s a little taste of the season.

Braised bacon from Tzin

Thanks to those who voted this blog as “Best Food Blog” on Vue Weekly’s Best of 2013! Crazy to think Only Here for the Food is nearly seven years old – thanks for reading! Mack and I were also thrilled that What the Truck?! was voted the “Best Pop-Up Event” – with some help, we’ll do our best to keep that streak alive! On to this week’s food notes:

• Dishcrawl’s first ever Battledish is this Saturday, October 5, 2013. I’m looking forward to tasting six dishes being put forward by Downtown area chefs for their chance to win diners’ votes. Tickets are going fast, but here’s a tip – enter the code “yegbattle” for free admission!
• The Sturgeon Valley Food and Wine Festival is taking place October 5, 2013 at The Enjoy Centre. I attended the inaugural event last year, and found it to be a nice alternative to the larger Rocky Mountain Wine & Food Festival.
• Creole Envie is hosting a Live Local dinner on October 20, 2013. The menu looks great! Tickets are $60 each.
• Nomiya has opened a second location in southwest Edmonton, at 11160 Ellerslie Road.
• Phil has a pretty exhaustive review of the dishes at Tavern 1903.
• Mack wrote about the first meeting of the Edmonton Food Council, which took place last week.
• If you have a bit of time, consider completing this online survey which will be used to investigate “food deserts” in Edmonton.
• Barilla Pasta is backtracking this week after their Chairman made comments about his unwillingness to cast a gay family in their advertisements, instead, favouring what he views as a “classic family.” Let these Twitter responses speak for themselves.
• This is a little late, but I loved this series of NYT videos featuring five of their food reviewers, as they speak out on everything from trade secrets to overused adjectives.
• Mack wasn’t the champion this time at Cookie Love’s Cookie Eating Classic, held at the 124 Street Market on Thursday, but he had fun squaring off against other media personalities! Congratulations to CISN’s Chris Sheetz for taking home the title, by eating 9 cookies in 4 minutes.

Mack was disappointed in his effort (for the record – 3.5 cookies in 2 minutes)

• I had a great time at the Edmonton kick off of Alberta Culture Days on 104 Street on Friday. The weather held out for the al fresco event, though I think many appreciated the hot, buttered popcorn the Downtown Edmonton Community League was distributing!

Larissa and I handed out free popcorn

• Mack and I met up with some friends at Café Amore for dinner on Saturday. The room was full as usual, but service didn’t fall by the wayside – I love the personal touch of being greeted at the door and genuinely thanked on the way out. Oh, and the food’s great too.

Truffle chicken pasta

Pasta pescatore

We’ve had such a beautiful transition from summer to fall that it’s hard to imagine that we’re already at the end of September! Hope you’ve had a chance to enjoy the gorgeous weather! On to this week’s food notes:

• To commemorate the first anniversary of their shop, Cookie Love will be hosting the Cookie Eating Classic at the 124 Street Market on September 26, 2013 at 7pm. Mack will be among the media personalities competing for bragging rights, as well as collecting donations for a variety of local charities.
• Alberta Culture Days kicks off on September 27, 2013 with an al fresco party on 104 Street. There will be music, an artisan market and food trucks. I’ll be there with the Downtown Edmonton Community League handing out free popcorn – hope to see you there!
• The Italian Centre is celebrating its newest location in the west end (17010 90 Avenue) on September 28, 2013 from 11am-4pm. Expect food, entertainment, car displays and a tango flash mob at 2:45pm.
• The Edmonton Community Foundation and Edmonton Social Planning Council are releasing Vital Signs, a report on food security in Edmonton, on October 1, 2013.
• Choklat, the only Alberta “bean to bar” chocolate shop, is now open in Old Strathcona.
• Liv reviews one of the newest food trucks to hit Edmonton’s streets: Orbitz.
• Vue Weekly profiles Mealshare, a relatively new program to Edmonton that partners with local restaurants. For every Mealshare item purchased from participating restaurants, a meal will be donated to a local charity.
• I was so sad to have missed the Long Table Dinner in Calgary, but Valerie’s post recaps what looked like an amazing event.
• Dead tired on Saturday, neither Mack or I were in the mood to cook supper. Our go-to that night? Our reliable standby, Route 99.

Poutine from Route 99

I felt a bit overdue for a break after this whirlwind summer, so we took advantage of a weekend wedding in Calgary and stayed on an additional night. As a result, a delayed set of food notes:

• Join us for our biggest What the Truck?! ever, with 16 trucks in Churchill Square on September 20, from 4-8pm. Check out the menus here.
• Elm Café and the Oliver Community League are teaming up again for a delightful outdoor brunch on a tree-lined street on September 21, 2013 from 11am-1pm.
• Dishcrawl’s newest event series, Battledish, takes place on October 5, 2013 from 2-6pm. Six local chefs will be competing for your vote. It’s neat to see that Edmonton is the only Canadian city that is a part of this event!
• The deadline to pick up early bird tickets to the Rocky Mountain Wine & Food Festival is September 20, 2013. The event is taking place on October 25-26, 2013 at the Shaw Conference Centre.
• Did you know there’s a new juicery in town? Glow Juicery in Sherwood Park promises drinks that are “designed as a convenient way to nourish your body, increase your energy and add a little more ‘glow’ to your day!”
• Andrea checks out Tavern 1903’s tempting mozzarella bar.
• RGE RD gets a rave review from Vue Weekly.
• It looks like we will be getting Meat for Dinner in Old Strathcona after all! Congrats to the team for this progress – looking forward to the restaurant!
• Val’s fourth round-up of the Canadian Food Experience Project features the participants’ most cherished Canadian recipes.
• In Calgary this past weekend, we made sure to hit up some old favourites, along with some new restaurants. It was a scorcher, so we couldn’t think of a better way to cool off than with some Village Ice Cream.

We all scream for ice cream!

• We did make it out to the last Find It Night Market on Friday evening in Inglewood. It was a pretty eclectic range of vendors, from familiar local businesses like Rosso and Spice Market to more random sellers of Persian rugs. They also had an interesting “trunk sale” component, where vendors were literally selling out of the back of their vehicles. One of these vendors was Bruce’s Beez, who has seven urban hives in Calgary. We picked up some of his raw honey and lip balm for the road!

Inglewood Night Market

Bruce’s Beez

• Our original intent was for brunch at Blue Star Diner on Sunday, but already late into the afternoon, we decided we couldn’t stomach the proposed 1.5 hour wait, and headed next door to DeVille Café. We both ordered the stuffed ham and cheese French toast, but were disappointed to find that it was more sandwich than stuffed, and more panini-pressed than French toast.

Braised ham and double-smoked cheese stuffed French toast

• Work was calling, otherwise, it would have been glorious to have stayed for the Long Table Dinner outdoors on Stephen Avenue. We did check out the set-up before leaving for Edmonton, though – too cool.

Long table on Stephen Avenue

• Of course, the reason behind our trip was to help Dickson and Tammy celebrate their marriage. It was Mack’s turn to be a part of the wedding party this time, as he was one of the groomsmen. The ceremony was beautiful, and there was no doubt how happy the newlyweds were. Congrats to the both of you!

With the happy couple

Save the date for the last What the Truck?! of the year: 16 vendors, an all-star line-up of DJs, and the biggest food truck party of the year. See you at Churchill Square on September 20! On to this week’s food notes:

• I’m sad to miss it this year (due to being out of town for a wedding), but the Downtown Edmonton Community League’s annual Corn Fest runs this Saturday, September 14, from 11am-3pm. Come on down to Beaver Hills House Park on Jasper Avenue & 105 Street for some free corn!
• The Mirepoix Trio, a chef collaborative, is hosting another vegan pop-up, this time at Accent Lounge, on September 15, 2013. Check out the menu here.
• Mosh Burger’s next pop-up, under the theme of the “Dirty South”, is taking place on September 16, 2013. 5 courses and a drink pairing for $100.
• The Friends of the Royal Alberta Museum has planned another hosted Chinese meal. The spotlight at the September 19, 2013 dinner falls on Peking duck, prepared by Beijing Beijing. Tickets are $40 per person.
• Liane wrote about the new Café Bicyclette, now open at La Cite Francophone, which has freshened up the space formerly occupied by Bistro La Persaud.
• Plow & Harvest has not been getting good reviews – this time, from CBC’s Twyla Campbell.
• Hurrah for food trucks – Calgary’s fleet will be operating soon on a permanent bylaw, voted in on September 6, 2013.
• Congratulations to May and Antony on their wedding this past weekend! I was honoured to be May’s Maid of Honour. Though it was a bit disappointing that the weather didn’t hold up to allow for outdoor photos, she didn’t let that dampen her spirits and still enjoyed the milestone day.

Happy day!

What a beautiful long weekend! It feels nothing like September – let’s hope this weather continues on into the month. On to this week’s food notes:

• A reminder that the 124 Street Red Shoe Crawl is on September 8, 2013. Tickets are still available!
• Tavern 103, Larry Stewart’s venture in the Alberta Hotel (9802 Jasper Avenue), is now open!
• Su alerted me to the forthcoming The Italian Place that looks to fill the vacancy left by That’s Aroma (11010 101 Street). Anyone know more?
• Vue Weekly reviewed Japonais Bistro last week.
• Chris wrote about the most recent 10 Mile Meal that took place in August. Sorry to have missed it!
• I love reading about some of things being done to try and direct people to pick up more produce items at the grocery store.
• I’ve always ordered pho when it is offered on a Vietnamese menu, but last week at Mama Pizza, opted for a vermicelli bowl instead. On a day when I wasn’t up for soup, it hit the spot!

Grilled chicken and spring roll vermicelli bowl from Mama Pizza

• Mack and I had dinner at our neighbourhood Blue Plate Diner on Friday. The shepherd’s pie was delicious, and their sweet potato fries are among the best in the city.

Shepherd’s pie from Blue Plate Diner

This has probably been the worst August on record for this blog – my apologies for the lack of posting – but after foolishly committing myself to running events three Saturdays in a row, I had to prioritize! The last of this month’s festivities takes place on August 31, and I hope to write a bit more about it tomorrow. In the meantime, on to this week’s food notes:

• State & Main, the newest Calgary-based pub/restaurant franchise to hit Edmonton, opens its first location in our city at Southgate Centre on September 1, 2013.
• Liane has a few more details about North 53, a forthcoming locally-themed restaurant in the 124 Street area. When it opens, it will inevitably draw comparisons to its similarly- named Toronto establishment, Mark McEwan’s North 44.
• Vue wrote a nice profile on one of our newest neighbours, The Cavern.
• I realize I don’t have an accompanying photo, but over the weekend at the Fringe, we were quite disappointed with the food options. So much so that we ended up at Zaika two days in a row, as nothing else really appealed to us. It was a little surprising that there was not a single non-special event food truck at the event, given they’ve been popping up at so many of the city’s festivals.
• While strolling through the neighbourhood, we encountered Budding Rose Teas (10728 82 Avenue), a two-month old tea shop on Whyte. They sell loose teas, but also offer edibles, including vegan, soy-free and gluten-reduced options.

Budding Rose Teas

• It looks like Calgary’s Choklat (Alberta’s only bean-to-bar maker) will be opening up an Edmonton location on Whyte on September 7, 2013 at 8111 Calgary Trail. We checked out the Inglewood shop in Calgary several years back.

Choklat

• Another meeting over food, this time at De Dutch over the weekend.

Denver Omelette