Although there are still some things on the to do list in preparation for the holidays (baking, a bit more shopping), I feel worlds ahead compared with a week ago. And not a moment too soon, given we’re just over a week away to Christmas! Hope you’re getting into the Christmas spirit too! On to this week’s food notes:

• I know we’re not yet at Christmas, but for those already looking ahead to New Year’s, Chef Andrew Parker is offering a $65 four-course dinner at a New Year’s Eve Gala at his new venue.
• Want a peek inside Kitchen by Brad? It’s rarely open to the public, but will be December 19-21, 2012 for last minute stocking stuffers.
• Central Social Hall (10909 Jasper Avenue) opened up on December 14, 2012. Walking past it this weekend, it looks like the secret’s already out!
• Canteen (10522 124 Street), the little sister restaurant to the Red Ox Inn, opened up on December 15, 2012. The menu looks great, though if I’m honest, it’s their brunch that I’m really after (which doesn’t start until January 2013). Looking forward to my first visit already.
• I was excited to read that an izakaya has come to town! Cindy posted about her pre-opening experience at Izakaya Tomo (3739 99 Street), which opened on December 15, 2012. Will it be Edmonton’s Guu?
• Need a winter warm-up? Check out Vue’s profile of unique hot chocolates from T.H.I.S. Place and Block 1912. We bought some of the hot chocolate pops from T.H.I.S. Place and tried them at home last week – we enjoyed the process of making the drink almost as much as the chocolate itself!
• Vue also published an article about Evoolution, one of our own go-to gift shops this Christmas.
• There was a great profile of Get Cooking proprietor Kathryn Joel (and an amazing Christmas dinner she prepared), last week in the Journal.
• Also in the Journal, a piece about some of the wonderful work Slow Food Edmonton has been doing with a second stage women’s shelter, empowering the clients with not only cooking skills, but the tools they can use once they find a permanent home.
• At Evoolution on Saturday, we stumbled upon a display for locally-made Violet Chocolate Company bars. We picked up a banana chip one to try; Mack liked the pairing of milk chocolate, while I appreciated that the banana flavour wasn’t overwhelming.

Violet Chocolate Company

• Target was celebrating their forthcoming store openings in Churchill Square of all places on Saturday. We didn’t stay for their big art reveal, but I really loved the mobile hot chocolate dispensers their staff had, complete with cup receptacles and a fill gun. How about we incorporate these into our Winter Strategy?

Mobile hot chocolate – what’s next?

• At West Edmonton Mall on Sunday (it really wasn’t a smart decision to tackle the mall, but it had to be done), we stumbled upon a Fat Franks kiosk in the Phase 2 food court (open since November). It’s always great to see local representation amongst the chains! Cindy reviewed it here.

Fat Franks

• We also stopped in at Duchess this weekend, and marvelled at their gingerbread Notre Dame d’Epices cathedral. CBC wrote a story about Garner’s labour of love.

Gorgeous gingerbread cathedral

• My work team had our holiday lunch at Sorrentino’s in Little Italy today. It seemed like the place to be this afternoon, with the Mayor dining at one table, and the Oilers brass (MacT, Tambellini and Kevin Lowe, among others) at another. The food was all right – I did enjoy the mushroom cream sauce on my cannellini – but I was more impressed with how the restaurant handled a full house seamlessly during the lunch rush. Bravo.

Cannellini with mushroom cream sauce

After being sick on and off for the better part of a month, I think I’m finally back to being myself! I feel like I need to get back into routine, but more importantly, get into the holiday spirit. I hope you’re enjoying your December so far! On to this week’s food notes:

• Marianne wrote about some great new lines of small batch chocolate available in Edmonton, including The Jones Chocolate Company and The Violet Chocolate Company.
• Lillian posted about a value-laden fine dining buffet available at Ernest’s for just $25.
• First there was Burger King’s meat-scented cologne. Now, Pizza Hut has released a pizza-scented perfume.
• Safeway announced their support of a “Buy Alberta” campaign last week, launched by the Alberta Food Processors Association (AFPA). The campaign aims to help consumers more easily identify food processed at home (not unlike the Eat Local First campaign that started in 2009). Led by the AFPA, it is no surprise that a recent walk through a Safeway store emphasized products in the belly of the store (not a single item in the produce section was flagged with the “Buy Alberta” label), though to be fair, some of the items weren’t as glaringly away from point of origin as the juice below – Sunny Boy for example, is a great line of local flour that Safeway carries. At the very least, the “Buy Alberta” campaign does help to raise awareness, but only time will tell if it does help influence consumer habits.

Buy Alberta markers

• We finally had the chance to check out Knifewear’s pop-up shop on the weekend! We weren’t ready to commit to buying a knife that day, but we think we will be back before they pack up for the year on December 31.

Knifewear

• After a nearby meeting on Sunday, Mack and I had brunch at Urban Diner off Whyte Avenue. There was a bit of a wait to get in (they were serving some huge parties), but after that, service was pretty smooth sailing. The poffertjes were delicious!

Poffertjes

Traditional eggs benedict

Two eggs any style

• Earls (formerly Tin Palace) reopened on Saturday to much fanfare, revealing their $5 million renovation. Mack and I missed the weekend opening, but were invited for a complimentary dinner tonight. The interior feels much more open now, with low banquet seating in the dining room. As a whole, the leather, dark metal finishings and Edison bulbs reminded me very much of Charcut. The food, as per the Earls standard, was approachable and consistent, though we were particularly happy to try some items such as the soft baked pretzels that can only be found at that location. For a Monday night, the restaurant was bustling – I’m sure the secret’s already out that this Earls is back.

Soft baked pretzels with a three cheese dip

Albacore tuna poke nachos

My buttermilk fried chicken sandwich

Mack’s Bronx Burger with onion rings

• The biggest food news this week was undoubtedly the announcement that The Blue Pear is closing on December 23, 2012 after 12 years of operation. In an interview with the Journal, co-owner Jessie Radies said, “I think restaurants have a lifespan, and we’ve hit the end of Blue Pear.” On the bright side, it will be replaced by RGE RD, another locally-inspired restaurant by former Madison’s Grill Executive Chef Blair Lebsack in mid-2013.
• Also in the news – Smokehouse BBQ, which just launched their Edmonton location in October, was badly damaged by a fire on Wednesday. This coincidentally on the heels of a very positive review in the Journal. To get your Smokehouse fill, you can still head out to their Leduc location!
• Nomad teased the twittersphere with the following tweet: “we’ve teamed up w/ @theVolsteadAct and have some big news about our brick and mortar space TBA shortly! we are so excited!!”. Great to hear another food truck is heading indoors – looking forward to finding out more.
• I know your December calendar is probably chock full, but if you have time, stop by NextGen’s outdoor patio party at Public House on December 8, 2012. Don’t you think we could use more outdoor opportunities  in the winter to sit back and soak up our city? (and yes, there will be heaters).
• Earls Tin Palace reopens to the public on December 9, 2012 after a $5 million dollar renovation.
• Liane wrote about T.H.I.S. Place’s new hot chocolate pops – real chocolate on a stick meant to dissolved into milk or water for hot chocolate. I’ve been meaning to try them myself, and they look like they would make great gifts!
• Maki took some beautiful pictures of her meal at The Makk.
• Vue Weekly published a good profile on Shovel and Fork last week.

I spent the weekend in Calgary, visiting with Annie and Andres who moved there over the summer. It’s always nice to get away, especially when it involves catching up with old friends! On to this week’s food notes:

• Have a foodie on your shopping list? 124 Street is hosting a bazaar on November 29, 2012 at The Roxy Theatre which will feature quite a few food vendors with great options for gifting.
• Mark your calendars: the businesses on 104 Street are hosting a Customer Appreciation Day on December 4, 2012. Check out the deals to be had here.
• Chop’s Downtown location in the Sutton Place Hotel (10235 101 Street) opened today.
• Sounds like the Italian Centre’s restaurant venture, Massimo’s Cucina Italiana, will open the first week in December.
• Karlynn reviewed Creole Envie this week – sounds like their muffalatta is a must-try for olive lovers!
• Haven’t been to Knifewear’s Edmonton pop-up shop yet? Cindy gives you a peek of their inventory.
• Vue Weekly profiles Chef Andrew Fung and his newest venture XIX.
• The Shaw Conference Centred hired a new executive pastry chef this month. Welcome, Arthur Chen, to Edmonton!
• A report came out this week criticising the enforcement of Canada’s organic standards.
• I’d been meaning to check out Zocalo’s new glassed-in space, and was finally able to do so on Friday. It feels grand, with high ceilings and bright lights, anchored by their long wooden table (coffee, anyone?). They also had the spaced dressed and ready for the holidays – I know I will be returning for some gift shopping in the coming weeks.

Zocalo

Ready for the holidays!

• While in Calgary, I had the chance to stop by Oliv in Kensington, very similar to Edmonton’s Evoolution. The shop focuses only on olive oils and vinegars (while the scope in Evoolution is a bit broader), and though their olive oil selection was much smaller, they definitely had more vinegars to choose from. The 18 year balsamic was delectable!

O

liv

• Also in Calgary, I was so happy to find a pop-up Phil & Sebastian’s cafe in Holt Renfrew of all places! It turns out it is their second holiday season inside the luxe boutique (Crave also has a small counter on the same floor) – it’d be neat to see more of these kinds of interesting partnerships in Edmonton!

Phil & Sebastian’s pop-up cafe in Holt Renfew

• If you can believe it, we’re already planning for the 2013 What the Truck?! season! Mack and I were able to meet up with a majority of the vendors last week to gather feedback on our 2012 events and start talking about the calendar for next year. Thanks to Terry and Sherry of Smokehouse BBQ for hosting us!

Mack’s pulled pork mac and cheese

• I was lucky enough to be invited to De Dutch’s media event tonight, which showcased some of their signature pannenkoeken and other Dutch treats. The “Abby” Perogie was delicious (how can you go wrong with hash browns, bacon and onions wrapped inside a pancake?), though the fried bitter ballen meatballs stole the show for me. I hope to check out De Dutch this week for lunch, but Phil has reviewed it already.

Bitter ballen

Strawberry cheesecake pannekoeken with cream cheese, strawberry topping and whipped cream

I finally feel like myself again, but it took a week! Funny how being sick and without energy really narrows down that task list to absolute priorities only. On to this week’s food notes:

• Evoolution is offering a guided tasting on November 20, 2012 from 7-9pm, where they will cover the history and chemistry of olive oils, in addition to a formal tasting of Southern Hemisphere oils. Sign up in-store or email.
• A reminder that the Knifewear pop-up in Old Strathcona (8422 109 St) opens November 20, 2012, and runs until December 31.
• Need an excuse to check out Jacek’s new boutique in Sherwood Park? How about a chocolate tasting on November 29, 2012?
• If you’re hungry, don’t click on Valerie’s post capturing her experience as a judge for Northlands’ first annual BBQ Challenge at this year’s Farm Fair. Love the photos of the tasting sheets!
• As the Italian Centre gears up for its third location in Edmonton, it is also casting its eye southward for future expansion to Calgary.
• Congrats to Kinnikinnick Foods for their production plant expansion in Edmonton. Always great to see a local success story!
• Speaking of successes, Duchess was singled out by the National Post in a glowing feature with the following headline: “Edmonton may just be home to the best patisserie in Canada.”
• Are you wondering what will happen to the farmers in the northeast now that the Food and Agriculture Strategy has been adopted? Have a look at Elise Stolte’s piece.
• This isn’t quite as bad as pink slime videos, but if you were ever curious to see how hot dogs are made…
• Mack’s Dad was in town on the weekend, so we decided to have dinner at The Bothy’s new-ish location on 124 Street. With the half hour wait for our food, it was evident the kitchen and serving staff were being run off their feet. Thankfully, our dishes did arrive hot and delicious, and the chicken and vegetable pie (our favourite) did not disappoint.

Chicken and vegetable pie and French onion soup

I had so much I wanted to accomplish over the long weekend: getting a leg-up on my Christmas shopping, catching up with family, chronicling our fall travels. But instead, I’ve been sidelined with a pretty bad flu, so I haven’t been doing much of anything besides huddling in front of the television with bowls of chicken soup and tea. Hope you had a better weekend! On to this week’s food notes:

• Liane posted about a “breakfast for dinner” pop-up that will be taking place at The Common on November 20, 2012 with Chef Jesse Morrison Gauthier.
• De Dutch (10030 Jasper Ave), noted for their pannekoek, opened on November 6, 2012. Based on their Facebook page, it looks like they have received a warm reception so far!
• The Makk, the new restaurant in the space formerly occupied by D’Lish, opened last week. They are hosting a launch party featuring a sampling of menu items on November 15, from 5-9pm. Liv blogged an early review of The Makk here.
• Creole Envie held a VIP opening last week. Cindy covered it here.
• Vue Weekly published a review of Smokehouse BBQ’s new Edmonton location on 124 Street.
• The Journal reviewed Cafe Amore last week. Mack and I will have to make it back there some day – the last time we tried, the restaurant was closed for a private function.
• Liane wrote a very interesting piece about “freegans” – those who dumpster dive for food and other necessities. I had no idea it was such a subculture in Edmonton.
• Eat St. is launching a cookbook of food truck-inspired recipes, due out next spring!

I was hoping things might slow down a bit at work, but the pace has kept up, which leaves me feeling like I haven’t been as on top of things for this blog as I would like. I’m doing my best to juggle things though, even though with the pending holiday season I’m sure life will just get a bit crazier! On to this week’s food notes:

• Underground Edmonton, billed as the city’s “first authentic craft beer lounge” celebrated its grand opening on November 1, 2012. Anyone been?
• Chef Andrew Fung’s new venture, Nineteen, opens on November 7, 2012. Mack and I were lucky enough to preview the menu tonight, which I will write about more this week.
• The North Edge Business Association is celebrating a launch of its new website and directory from 5-7:30pm on November 13, 2012, with an event called Taste of the Edge. There will be samples of food from the area’s restaurants, as well as an Eritrean coffee ceremony. Check it out at the Queen Mary Park Community Hall (10844 117 Street).
• Central Social Hall has taken over the revolving door storefront on Jasper Avenue and 109 Street, and is set to open in mid-December.
• Jacek Chocolate Couture, having freshly christened their new boutique store, was featured in Vue last week.
• It was great to see a familiar face gracing the Journal Food section last Wednesday. If you didn’t have a chance to read all about Karlynn (aka The Kitchen Magpie), check it out here!
• There were quite a few food personalities included on the list of Avenue Magazine’s Top 40 Under 40, released on Thursday. Congrats to Amy Beaith, Kevin Kossowan and Andrew Parker!
• Speaking of Kevin, his new venture called Shovel and Fork, with fellow local food enthusiasts Jeff Senger (of Sangudo Meats) and Chad Moss (formerly of Transcend), among others, sounds amazing. They will be leading classes in topics such as butchery, foraging and cob oven construction.
• Executive Committee accepted the Food and Agriculture Strategy at a vote on November 2. I’m disappointed they did so without pointing out the document’s lack of teeth.
• Jacquie Lycka, a blogger who writes the blog Garneau Home Kitchen, participated in a project that helped raise food donations for the MacEwan Food Bank by picking apples with Operation Fruit Rescue Edmonton. The video they made to summarize their work is worth a look.
• We were in the neighbourhood of Wine & Beyond today, so took the opportunity to check out Western Canada’s biggest liquor store in Windermere. It was indeed massive, almost overwhelmingly so, though their tasting bar area was pretty impressive. We tried our best to locate an Alberta-made wine, but didn’t find one at a cursory glance. We did find an Eskimo-branded wine, though!

Wine & Beyond

• It’s back! Mack and I are suckers for Starbucks’ annual “red cup” campaign. We had our first Christmas drinks this weekend.

2012 Red Cup

• On tour at West Edmonton Mall was the Tim Hortons Tassimo crew. We are bringing more and more of that commercial convenience home, so I guess this was the next logical step for Tim Hortons…

Tim Hortons Tassimo

• While at WEM, we came upon a new-to-us cupcake kiosk called Once Upon a Cupcake. I have to say, I know Liane’s been taking about the downward trend of cupcakes for a while, but I think I have to agree that they’ve finally plateaued.

Once Upon a Cupcake

• I’ve really been craving pho since the weather started turning south. That craving led us to Pho Hoan Pasteur last week. As much as I love Pho Tau Bay, it’s nice to be able to order a side of green onion cakes on occasion.

Pho Hoan Pasteur

• The annual Chili Cookoff, one of the proceedings of River City Round-Up, has expanded from Scotia Place onto Churchill Square this year. 24 competitors will be vying for your votes, at $2/bowl. Look for it on November 2, 2012, from 11:30am-1:30pm. For more on the chili cookoff, check out Jennifer Crosby’s blog this week.
• There are a few opportunities to win admission tickets to the Rocky Mountain Wine & Food Festival on this weekend at the Shaw Conference Centre – check out Karlynn, Chris, Diane, Lillian and Michelle’s blogs for your chance to win!
• Zocalo debuted their new glassed-in courtyard space this weekend, which will feature some cafe tables. Check it out the next time you’re in Little Italy!
• Both Liv and Marlow Moo gave Social Modern Pub the thumbs up.
• EnRoute Magazine announced their list of Canada’s Best Restaurants 2012 last week. Although Edmonton was shut out, two Calgary establishments made the cut: Model Milk and Borgo.
• Come Dine with Me Canada shines the spotlight on Edmonton this week, featuring dinner parties thrown by five different local foodies. Check out the program on the W Network.
• If you were at all on Twitter on Friday, you would have no doubt seen all of the chatter about Edmonton’s Food and Agriculture Strategy, which was being discussed at a non-statutory public hearing that day. The Journal has a summary of the proceedings, which will be continuing on November 2.
• Mark Bittman wants to see better labels on foods. He knows it is a bit of a dream at the moment (though it is now under the purview of the FDA), but I have to say the mockups are an amazing start, covering three categories: nutrition, “foodness”, and welfare. See for yourself.
• It was great to see Angie at the City Market on Saturday! Angie has resurrected her sister’s label Kerstin’s Chocolates, who chocophiles in Edmonton would be familiar with. Find them at the market until at least Christmas.

Angie of Kerstin’s Chocolates

• I caught up with some girlfriends at Blue Plate Diner on Saturday, and had their Kentucky Hot Brown sandwich ($15) for the first time. I loved the idea of turkey, bacon and tomato layered on top of sourdough, then baked with a mornay sauce and cheese. The sauce was a bit unevenly distributed, resulting in overly saturated bread in half the dish, and crackling dry crust in the other. But as a whole, I did enjoy it, and I can’t say enough about their yam fries!

Kentucky Hot Brown sandwich

• I love introducing my favourite restaurants to friends. Last week, it was Pho Tau Bay to one of my coworkers who has never had beef noodle soup before. She loved it!

Pho from Pho Tau Bay

I feel like I’ve been playing catch up for the last month, so thanks for bearing with me as I get back into a normal routine (which includes blogging on a more regular basis, of course!). Onto this week’s food notes:

• Live Local has organized another Farm to Fork dinner to take place on October 28, 2012 at Accent Lounge.
• Great to see some public events (outside of the conference) being offered at Power Up, the November 1-4, 2012 conference organized by the National Assembly of Food Secure Canada.
• Chef Andrew Fung, who was most recently at the Blackhawk Golf Course, is opening his new restaurant in November, called XIX Nineteen. Looking forward to it!
• Creole Envie has shifted from its tiny location in the Haven Social Club to a larger restaurant – the space that formerly housed Highlands Kitchen (6509 112 Avenue). Congrats on the new digs!
• Sloppy Hogs Roed House (10406 118 Avenue) is the newest barbecue joint to open up in Edmonton. Great to see another restaurant addition to Alberta Avenue!
• The new Kelly’s Pub on 104 Street downtown opened on Friday afternoon. It has been packed every night since!
• Mark your calendars: the second of Knifewear’s pop-up shops is to take place November 20-December 31, 2012, next to Three Boars (8422 109 Avenue). Hopefully this leads to a more permanent storefront!
• Congratulations to Gold Medal Plates winners Chefs Nathin Bye (of Wildflower Grill), Shane Chartrand (of Murietta’s) and Paul Shufelt (of Century Hospitality Group) on their gold, silver and bronze awards.
• Did you hear that Justin Bieber and his girlfriend Selena Gomez were spotted dining at Blue Plate Diner?
• Canning courses really seem to be on the rise in Edmonton (something I still need to learn myself). Culina is offering a series of canning sessions at their Muttart location in late October and early November.
• Great timing: while the City is contemplating the recently released Food and Agriculture strategy (which includes a recommendation on examining backyard chickens), a homeowner continues to be targeted with requests to remove her flock of hens.
• The Walrus had an interesting piece about how food trucks can be used as a means of implementing “tactical urbanism”. Love it.
• On the weekend, we finally checked out Duchess Provisions (10720 124 Street), the baking supply shop situated in the space next to the cafe. It is a lovely space to browse, with shelves of specialty ingredients, tools and books lining the walls. I especially liked their pre-packaged kits, which would make a fantastic gift for any aspiring baker. The shop hopes to remain open in this location for at least 8 months, then relocate to a larger location.

Duchess Provisions

• In the same neighbourhood is Smokehouse BBQ’s new Edmonton restaurant! Taking over the space that formerly housed Cosmos (10810 124 Street), Terry and Sherry have brightened the space with splashes of red, anchoring the room with a rustic wooden bar. We stopped by on Sunday for their soft opening (where all dishes on the menu could be had for a $10 donation to the Food Bank), and enjoyed the turkey gumbo and pulled pork poutine. It’s a great option for those who don’t want to venture out to their Leduc location.

Smokehouse BBQ

Turkey gumbo

Pulled pork poutine

• I hate to admit it, but winter seems to be upon us. What better way to commemorate the change in seasons than with a bowl of pho?

Pho from Mama Pizza

In all the craziness since returning from vacation and getting caught up on things, I realized I forgot to thank everyone who voted for me in Vue Weekly’s recent Best of Edmonton poll (the issue came out while we were away). This site came in second in the “Best Local Blog” category, thanks to you (if you’re wondering, Mack came in first)! I really appreciate your votes, and even more, that you’re all still reading! On to this week’s food notes:

• LitFest has a couple of great food-themed events lined up, including a Roaring Twenties party on October 17, 2012, complete with a whisky tasting, and a great hands-on/lecture titled “Food Matters” on October 27, 2012 which will not only introduce the audience to examples of local food production, but will also encourage participation with a pie making session!
• Jacek Chocolate will be celebrating their new storefront location in Sherwood Park on October 20, 2012 with a grand opening!
• Normand’s Bistro received a surprisingly muted review from the Journal. I haven’t yet tried it myself, but if a recognizable name in our local food scene can’t animate the space, who can?
• Some recent shutters: Kiwi Kiss in Edmonton City Centre (as noted in the comments; a bit of a surprise given the seemingly upward rise of other frozen yogurt shops in Edmonton), and Nola (one has to wonder if the restaurant was really as bad as this review made it out to be, or if it just scared potential diners off).
• It’s disappointing to see that not a single made-in-Edmonton beer made the fall brewing feature in Where Edmonton’s September-October 2012 edition. What does it say about us if we don’t even promote our local brews to those visiting our city?
• Short and to the point, I heartily agree with Wade Sirois’ post on the XL beef crisis. Similar thoughts are captured in Liane’s post as she interviews Sherry Horvath of Sunshine Organic Farm.
• It’s amazing how the Cheesepalooza challenge just keeps on growing. Keep tabs with what the group is up to on Valerie’s blog.
• Mack and I attended a cooking demo on Thursday night, put on by Meridian Plaza, a newer condo building downtown. Suburban developments seem to host mostly family-friendly events to attract buyers, ranging from hockey tournaments and bouncy castles, so it was interesting to see a different strategy employed by Meridian in an attempt to appeal to a different kind of clientele. Only time will tell if it worked, but we enjoyed the half hour demo led by Chris Hrynyk, the head catering chef from Sorrentino’s (of the three dishes, the makeshift tiramisu was my favourite).

Chris Hrynyk clearly loves teaching classes

• I was able to check out the St. Albert Farmers’ Market on Saturday, their last market day of the year. Boy, was it busy, packed with Thanksgiving shoppers.

St. Albert Farmers’ Market

Cute pumpkin arrangements

• We’ve been meaning to go on a walk through the river valley for ages, and finally had some time to do so on Sunday. We wove our way down into Louise McKinney and Cloverdale, enjoying the beautiful autumn scenery. Hope you had an equally lovely Thanksgiving weekend!

Our river valley in the fall