I’m grateful summer days are full of daylight – I honestly don’t know where the time goes sometimes (okay, some of it was spent watching The Bachelorette tonight). With a busy week ahead (it is festival season after all), there’s nothing better than a quiet evening capped off with tea and cookies. On to this week’s food notes:

• The Edmonton Food Bank is having a party on July 27 to celebrate “compost, veggie-gardening and the community’s involvement”, with band Jane’s Party on hand for the festivities. More information here.
• Speaking of the Food Bank, remember to bring your non-perishable food donation with you when you head to Hawrelak Park for the Heritage Festival this weekend! I’ll see you there – Mack and I have been asked to be a part of the guest judging team this year.
• Fork Fest wraps up this Thursday. We probably won’t have a chance to take it in ourselves this week, so I was happy to see some of my fellow food bloggers file reports, including Marianne about Jack’s Grill and Chris about The Blue Pear.
• Liane had some juicy restaurant news this week: first, Daniel Costa is taking over the former Kabsa storefront at 10345 Jasper Avenue, and will be opening an Italian restaurant in the fall.
• Second, Liane broke that D’Lish will be transformed into a 70 seat wine bar to re-open in September that will serve both lunch and dinner.
• The new location of Co Co Di got some love in the press this week, with a profile in Vue and a positive review in the Journal.
• See Magazine had an article about the local brewing scene in Edmonton, featuring Alley Kat, Ambers, and the newest company on the scene, Yellowhead Brewery.
• Yelp is hiring a Community Manager for Edmonton to help grow the Yelp community in the city – it sounds like a really fun opportunity!
• The Quons (the venerable family behind The Lingnan and Chicken for Lunch) are returning for another season of reality television, this time in a series highlighting their lives outside of the restaurants as well. Titled The Quon Dynasty, it will begin airing in spring 2011.
• This is an interesting article from the NYT – with how sourcing from local farmers is now becoming a competitive process.
• Apparently McDonald’s restaurants in New York just began charging for condiment packets (I remember being charged for ketchup and dips in England). I wonder if this practice will spread to Canada too?
• We thought our fridge had crapped out on us this week (our fish came out of the fridge warm), but thankfully, it’s now fine. On the bright side, dinner that night meant ordering in from Blue Plate Diner – sweet potato fries FTW!

Sweet potato fries (I can’t get enough of their dip)

• Wonder what television stars eat for breakfast? Film crews were setting up to shoot something in the Excelsior Lofts on Friday, and I couldn’t help but snap a photo of their catering truck breakfast menu.

Catering truck

• This week also saw another outdoor event for our staff, and again, the weather cooperated for our second annual watermelon social. I brought my own fruit (I despise watermelon), but it was a great day to sit out in the sun!

Watermelon

I still can’t believe The Hills pulled that kind of ending on us. Six seasons and four years later, they choose the series finale to tease the audience with the suggestion that everything was staged? Sure, I’ve acknowledged that it was a “scripted reality” from the start, but why not just continue the charade? Sigh. On to this week’s food notes:

• One more week to work on your entries for the Wild Boar & Beer Scavenger Hunt! If you’re not inclined to participate, you can purchase tickets for the event online here.
• Does the Taste of Edmonton menu excite everyone? Something needs to change about the event – it seems to be the same every year. Also – interesting to see Krua Wilai still participating (as The Marc is taking over their storefront) – did they move?
• Capital Ex released the details of their take on marathon food last week – the Monster Burger, made of 1kg of Spring Creek Ranch beef, plus bacon and other toppings, takes 20 minutes to cook, and costs $39.50…unless you can finish it all on your own (it is meant to feed six to eight people).
• Kelly wrote a great post about the limited edition chicken and Eva Sweet waffle sandwich Elm Café offered on Saturday. It sounds like it will be back, due to popular demand!
• A new Vietnamese sub shop is coming soon to the space next to Sweetie’s Cafe on Rice Howard Way.
• Looks like Press’d in Edmonton City Centre is targeting an August 2010 opening.
• The Dish is expanding into the Electrum Design Studio! They will have additional seating room, or if the doors are closed, private space for up to 30 people
• MRKT, the newest lunch spot in the core, gets more blog love, this week from Liane.
• The Journal wrote an article about the first location of a Tim Hortons in Edmonton that has been equipped with a Cold Stone Creamery.
• Also in the Journal, the newest foodie profile – on the Edmonton Community Foundation Executive Director, Martin Garber-Conrad.
• Did you know people are knocking down the doors of Dahlia’s Mediterranean Bistro for their meatballs? I didn’t, until I read the profile of owner/operator Fadi Smaidi in Vue.
• The Queen, a community garden in Queen Mary Park (111 Street and 109 Avenue, just north of the Edmonton Chinese Baptist Church) is having an open house on Sunday, July 25, from noon-3pm! Gardeners will be on hand to answer questions, and the CommuniTea Infusion Van will also be there for the festivities.
• Also on the subject of community gardens, Jennifer Cockrall-King continued her series on urban gardens in Edmonton, with posts about two gardens just west of downtown (I love the Oliver garden, for the record!).
• Marianne wrote about Country Cuisine’s Taste of Summer event (a great alternative to the Taste of Edmonton) that took place recently. Look for their other popular event, Tomato Fare on August 15 – I enjoyed it last year.
• Always great to see new local blogs pop up – welcome, GourmAndrea!
• Are cupcakes saving New York’s economy?
• How’s this for a foodie twist on the traditional matching sites – Salad Match strives to pair you up with someone based on your salad affinity. Would the Alberta equivalent be “Burger Match”?
• Eva told me about Teaopia that opened in Kingsway a few months back. We finally came across it while shopping at the mall on the weekend. We didn’t explore it (I will freely admit I don’t know much about tea), but on a different day, I’ll be back.

Teaopia

• Mack and I are such suckers for novel potato chip flavours (not a new topic). This time, we were sucked into buying a bag of “Late Night” Doritos, which are supposed to taste like cheeseburgers. The verdict? There are hints of ketchup, cheese, mustard and pickles – and the combination does remind us of cheeseburgers!

Mack poses with our new favourite chip flavour

• We haven’t been eating out on the balcony as much as I would like, but we did take a moment outside with some treats I picked up from Whimsical Cupcakes the other day. Yum!

Hurrah for cupcakes!

Sometimes it feels like I’m going to be back-blogging for ages. I know one day I’ll catch up, but until then, thanks for being patient with me! On to this week’s food notes:

• Some of the Fork Fest menus have been released – hopefully the rest will follow fairly soon! The pre-fixe food festival runs July 18 – 22 and July 25 – 29, 2010.
• Advance tickets to the Taste of Edmonton, which runs July 23 – August 1, 2010, are now on sale (they will save you 10%, and time in line).
• I’m not sure how long these hours have been in effect, but Tree Stone Bakery has new hours (they’re open at 8am on weekdays now!).
• We spotted a new festival food vendor at the Works and at the Street Performers Festival called Twice as Nice. May said they have a new storefront location as well, offering Caribbean cuisine (10049 156 street, 780-757-7550).
• Marianne reviewed the new location of Padmanadi – it looks gorgeous inside! Also, a sign up in the window of the original location on 97 Street states that it should have re-opened today, July 12, 2010.
• Marianne also wrote about the revamped Parkallen Restaurant, as did Sarah (though I’m linking to it a little late) – I want to see that wine case in person!
• On the subject of closures, Kabsa on Jasper Avenue and 104 Street has now closed – no notices, but all signs of life has evaporated from the storefront. I had the chance to visit them for the first time earlier this year, and had enjoyed my meal.
• Jennifer Cockrall-King has a great post on community gardens in Edmonton, and an interesting piece on the rooftop hive on the Royal York in Toronto. She’s also taking registrations for the 2010 Okanagan Food and Wine Writers’ Workshop.
• This is pretty cool – the new Kingsland Farmers’ Market in Calgary offers free coffee to the mayor of FourSquare!
• I’ve never heard of Where to Eat in Canada, but Liane posted that the book just released their 2010 edition, which seems to feature a random smattering of restaurants in Edmonton. I’m glad she’s following up to see what the criteria is.
• Vancouver just announced the winners of their food cart lottery – insane to think they received 800 applications for a coveted 17 spots. The carts are to be operational on July 31, 2010.
• The Opener, David Adjey’s new show about first time restaurant owners, is looking for interested Edmonton restauranteurs who would like some assistance with their opening. Take a look at the trailer here.
• Ben & Jerry’s released the finalists in their contest to name their newest ice cream flavour. You can vote for your favourite here.
• Eater posted their round up of the 5 biggest bar and cocktail trends – Treasury, the vodka bar and eatery on Jasper Avenue, would fall into their trendwatch…if it were to ever open.
• A forthcoming restaurant called 4Food opening up in New York is right up Mack’s alley, featuring crowd-sourced burgers, a giant screen highlighting relevant Tweets, and iPads replacing traditional pen and paper systems. Wonder if it’ll survive the novelty, in spite of their claims of quality food.
• Mack snapped a photo of a Breyers ice cream truck that stopped on Jasper Avenue and 103 Street on Friday. They were handing out free ice cream samples – better than coffee for an afternoon break!

We all scream for ice cream!

• Our agency held its annual “Kick Off to Summer BBQ” on Tuesday, having been rescheduled from a blustery day in June. Nothing says summer like a parking lot cookoff, right?

Free lunch!

• Not related to food at all, but timely – I helped organize a soccer game at the office, to help commemorate the World Cup final. We had an awesome turnout, and though the skies poured a half hour before our game was set to start, the sun appeared just in the nick of time. It was a wonderful way to spend a lunch hour, soaking up the rays as a spectator (to have played myself would have equalled death by cardio).

I love it when the weather cooperates

Though we still have numerous boxes scattered throughout the condo, I feel more settled now than I did on the weekend. We even cooked our first meal last night in the kitchen! And I have to say, nothing’s better than being able to walk to the office in less than fifteen minutes – beats waiting for the bus any day! On to this week’s food notes:

• Doors Open Edmonton takes place this weekend, with numerous events celebrating Edmonton’s “built history”. Of note is their Speakers’ Studio, a new series for this year’s festival, which features a talk titled “Incarnation of the Edmonton City Market” on July 10.
• Ever want to know what goes down at a barista competition? Transcend is opening up their internal barista competition, where the top two winners will earn the right to compete in the Prairie Regional Barista Competition. Check out the action July 11 at 2pm at the original Transcend.
• Look for Original Fare’s semi-annual Fork Fest July 18 – 22 and 25 – 29. I’d prefer it didn’t coincide with Taste of Edmonton/Capital Ex, but then again, it’s difficult to avoid double booking with a festival in the summer.
• Tickets to Slow Food Edmonton’s annual Wild Boar and Beer BBQ, taking place on August 8, are now on sale! I’m a little biased because I’m one of the co-organizers this year, but I think it’s going to be a great event – Hog Wild is supplying the boar; Tree Stone Bakery, Cafe Haven and Leva Cafe will be providing the sides; and of course, Alley Kat beers will be on tap. Look for a scavenger hunt to be released later this week on my blog for a chance to win two tickets!
• From the City Market: “The City Market is launching a recipe blog and is looking for local recipes that celebrate the City Market’s great vendors and delicious products. A blog will  launch  on July 31, 2010 as a part of their celebrations marking Food Day Canada.” E-mail your recipes here.
• Speaking of the City Market – Vue Weekly wrote a profile on Eva Sweet Waffles this week (I love that they are at the market every Saturday now).
• BruleeBlog (aka Sherene) reviewed mrkt, which should become a destination lunch spot for the core crowd.
• Chris posted about a second Crepeworks that will be occupying the space vacated by Le Papier on Whyte Avenue.
• The second location of DeLux (on Bourbon Street at West Edmonton Mall) opened its doors on June 30. It’s bigger and better, according to those who have been, and even has a take-out window.
• A second Twisted Yogurt location is set to open in Southpark (along Calgary Trail) soon.
• Eat and drink al fresco: Avenue Magazine published a spread about the city’s best patios this month.
• It was only a matter of time before urban beekeeping was given the same profile as urban chicken coops (which was covered in Vue this week) – some are hoping the City will allow for a small pilot to allow for urban beekeeping.
• I still can’t believe I missed Valerie’s epic taste tripping party last week, but reading the recaps from Chris, Sherene, LeQuan and Lea, among others, was a bit of a consolation prize. And, well, Valerie was nice enough to provide us with two miracle berry tablets for our own use…
• On the heels of Tea Desire closing, David’s Tea is opening up their second Edmonton location in Southgate.

 

David’s Tea

• I took a break from the moving madness on Monday to have dinner with Valerie at Wild Tangerine. Wilson took good care of us, though I probably should have mentioned to him how cold I was – I must have been sitting under an AC vent on full blast!

 

Crispy pork spring roll

Judy’s famous Thai Green Curry with Prawns & Tortiglioni (loved the use of pasta instead of a traditional rice starch)

Asian Chili with Tofu and Rice Cracker (Valerie loved it)

• We’ve were eating out a lot last week, between late nights and a lack of kitchen equipment. One day, we stopped for lunch at the Italian Centre for one of their hunger-busting paninis. The best thing about the sandwich? The bread.

 

Giant panini @ the Italian Centre

• While Mack’s dad was in town this weekend, he wanted to take us out for dinner. Satisfying his request for Indian food, we directed him to Origin India (we think their naan is the best in the city). Martin loved it.

 

Plate #1 at Origin India

• After the gluttony, we took a walk around downtown to help the digestion process along. It was a good opportunity to check out the progress of Shaw Conference Centre’s garden.

 

Great use of space!

• On Canada Day, we were invited to Mack’s friend Reg’s house. His penthouse suite overlooking the Legislature allowed for fantastic views of the fireworks, but even more notable were the appetizers he served hungry guests. He had concocted a Big Mac salad roll, which to our surprise, tasted exactly like a Big Mac encased in rice paper (complete with special sauce and sesame seeds). Bravo, Reg!

Beautiful view

I really thought I could do it all – the sorting, the packing, the moving, the cleaning – all while keeping up with my blogging. But nope, I was defeated by the moving process. We were up until the wee hours of the morning readying the apartment for our move-out inspection – I don’t think I’ve been that exhausted in a long time. On to the belated post:

• The Green & Gold Garden at the University of Alberta South Campus (I wrote about it last year), is now open for the season!
• Vinomania is offering free wine tastings every Saturday in July from 11am-5pm. Best of all, in honour of Canada’s birthday, all of the wines are Canadian.
• Liane posted last week that the former manager of Il Portico is set to open a new French bistro downtown, in the space that was formerly occupied by Krua Wilai (9940-106 Street).
• Cafe Haven was featured in several print publications last week – from a profile in Vue Weekly to a lukewarm review of their brunch in the Journal. I think they deserved better, as I found from our recent visit.
• Relatively new to Twitter, Bon Ton Bakery announced that they are now serving Transcend Coffee! I have yet to check out their revamped digs.
• Apparently Albertans are dining out less, though “they still spend a much larger proportion of their income out than the national average.”
• The Journal featured comments about Indulgence from Chris, Valerie and myself last week – it made for an interesting snapshot of the event.
• Speaking of Valerie – check out the breadth of her experiments with a sous vide machine on her blog (here’s just one example). Her energy and willingness to learn is amazing.
• CBC Radio just launched a weekly food show called The Main Ingredient with Khalil Akhtar. It’s “an inside look at the food we buy, grow and eat. The show will explore modern food marketing, the fast food industry and even the urban farm.”
• Gourmet Magazine is re-launching this fall as an online app.
• Though I wish Edmonton had a food scene more reminiscent of New York’s, I hope this Manhattan trend of haute salads doesn’t hit Edmonton, ever.
• Also from the NYT, a piece on the rising trend of bachelors and bachelorettes opting for tasting menus instead of clubs for their pre-wedding parties.
• I am so guilty of not washing my reusable grocery bags, but after reading this, I think I will start now…
• On our way to the Safe Streets Community Fair in Queen Mary Park last weekend, we stumbled upon Bohemia Cafe (10575 114 Street), a variety space that hosts concerts, displays art installations and also features coffee and sandwiches.

Bohemia Cafe & Variety Venue

• We also peeked inside mrkt on Saturday (the name makes me think of Jean-Georges every time, but then again, I almost always have NY on the brain), a new restaurant above Red Star (10542 Jasper Avenue, 780-757-6758). The space, with its communal table and blackboard menu reminded Mack and I of Farm in Calgary. Carla Alexander of Soul Soup is in the kitchen – so  hearty, solid fare is likely in order. It’s only currently open for lunch – I hope to check it out soon!

mrkt

• For my birthday last week, Mack took me to Chuck E. Cheese (it’s nearly become an annual tradition). We played our usual games, but this visit was notable because Mack won the skee ball jackpot (by breaking 450,000 points). Hurrah!

Winnings

• We stopped by Elm Cafe for a coffee and a freshly-baked muffin this morning – fuel for the move. I loved the paper wrapping on the muffin (it was a delicious triple chocolate, by the way) – an artful alternative to the usual liner.

No chairs? No problem.

Happy Canada Day!

It may be the longest day of the year today, but it could be longer – sometimes there just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in a day! We’re gearing up for a busy week, but it should be a good one as well. On an unrelated note – I’m really happy with who ultimately won season 2 of Top Chef Masters! Here are this week’s food notes:

• A reminder about River City Shakespeare’s Picnic Contest, which I wrote about in late May. Blog about or send them a write-up of your dream picnic basket from Sunterra to be considered for a $100 Sunterra gift certificate and festival passes! The deadline to enter is June 28, 2010.
• We finally bought tickets to our first ArtsScene event, a Behind the Scenes party at Hotel Macdonald, taking place on August 19. Not only will we get an architectural tour of the building, but attendees will be treated to drinks on their spectacular patio. Looking forward to it!
• News from Kerstin’s Chocolates: “For the summer months of July and August, we are serving our hot chocolate frozen.  We are also partnering with Cafe Leva to make an incredibly intense dark chocolate gelato using pure Valrhona dark chocolate.  You will be able to buy it at our shop in the form of an chocolate cookie ice cream sandwich starting June 29.” Sounds delicious!
• New bakery and cupcakery alert: Sweet Krumblz (6861 170 Street) just had an open house on the weekend, and from the gallery on their website, their products looks fabulous.
• Liane reports that Century Hospitality Corporate Chef Paul Schufelt has applied to be on Top Chef’s inaugural Canadian season. Best of luck to him – it’d be amazing to get some local representation on the show!
• Also from Liane – an article in Saturday’s Journal on a meal prepared for six Journal staff by Chef Sebastian Lysz. Apparently hiring personal chefs are a rising trend. See the gallery here.
• Local blogger Alison Mazoff of Well-Blended Vegan gives the new Cafe Beirut on Whyte Avenue a spin.
• Chris of Eating is the Hard Part got a peek inside Shaw Conference Centre’s massive kitchen facilities as staff rushed to prepare a meal for 3000 guests. Worth a look!
• Need a primer on Community Supported Agriculture? See wrote a good introductory piece this week.
• I think it’s awesome that the Calgary food blogging community came together this past weekend for a bake sale in support of Calgary Meals on Wheels. Perhaps #yegfood bloggers could do some similar too?
• Co Co Di’s new location at 11454 Jasper Avenue (780-425-1717) is finally open! Anyone checked out the restaurant yet?

Co Co Di

• Helped along by the fact that Epcor shut down the water for the entire morning at the office one day last week (you realize how reliant you are on running water at that point), I headed to Fo Guang Tea House for lunch. I haven’t been back since my first visit, so it was a nice opportunity to return and sample something different from the menu. The laksa noodles were great – the vegetarian fish balls could have fooled me, as they tasted like the real thing, and the broth with a hint of coconut milk was soothing. As I said in my previous post – the Tea House is a sanctuary in the bustle in the core, and I wondered why it wasn’t full. I guess it might still be a well-kept secret?

Laksa from Fo Guang Tea House

• Mack and I attended Don Iveson’s campaign launch party yesterday. In addition to local beer from Alley Kat and coffee from Transcend, food at the event was catered by Elm Cafe! Mack couldn’t get enough of the warm-from-the-oven bread pudding bites, while I thought the beautiful marriage of strawberries and Kerstin’s Chocolates couldn’t be beat.

 

Nachos with fresh tomato salsa

 

Delectably simple strawberry and chocolate bites

• We ended the weekend with a Father’s Day barbecue at Rundle Park. It was great to see so many people out enjoying the green space. We certainly did too.

 

So many geese!

 

Smile!

While it took me a lot longer to get into the second season of Top Chef Masters, I feel like I am knee-deep now. While I deeply admire his work ethic and perfectionist tendencies, for whatever reason, Susur Lee just rubs me the wrong way – I am pretty much rooting for anyone other than him at this point. Anyway, on to this week’s food notes:

• Latitude 53, with downtown’s only rooftop patio, opens their Summer Rooftop Patio Series on Thursday, June 17. What better way to spend an evening perusing the newest installation with a cocktail in hand? Check it out.
• The St. Albert Farmers’ Market (billed as Western Canada’s largest) starts this week, on June 19. It’s such an overwhelmingly large market, but has a great atmosphere, I think.
• A reminder that the next Farmers’ Market Dinner at Madison’s Grill is taking place on June 25, 2010. The menu is now live on the website under “Feature Menus”.
• Eva Sweet, Edmonton’s first and only waffle truck, has been getting some play in the blogosphere – check out Liane’s teaser and Cream and Sugar’s review.
• Wild Earth Bakery has now completed their renovations! Check out Marianne’s post with a ton of great photos.
• Jason Foster contributed a great piece for Vue this past week about the best cycling route to take for a “two wheeled pub crawl”.
• Speaking of bakeries – Doreen asks whether or not the Old World Bread Factory has been emptied. Can anyone confirm?
• Valerie, Lillian and Dan experimented with a sous vide machine over the weekend. Read about their tasty adventure here (that pork looks to die for!).
• Want to sharpen your kitchen abilities? Get your skills up to snuff at NAIT’s popular Culinary Boot Camps this summer – several of the classes are already full.
• A 35lb (communal) poutine?! Say it isn’t so! I’ll have to get my butt to CharCut in Calgary stat.
• Jennifer Cockrall-King’s been writing up a storm on her blog – recapping her recent trek to Cuba to learn more about the urban farming scene, and currently, capturing her thoughts on LA’s urban agriculture movement. Keep it up, Jennifer!
• Related – Saveur Magazine’s June/July issue is a beautiful one, focusing on markets all over the world. The photos alone are worth the $6 price tag.
• Serious Eats did a round up of some of the “international-style” hot dogs available in Queens. Sigh – makes me wish we had more than just Fat Franks to choose from.
• Brought to my attention by Shermie – forthcoming on the lower level of City Centre West is Press’d: The Sandwich Company. Between this and Fatburger, I’d say downtown office dwellers should be pleased with the number of new options they’ll soon have.

Press’d

• After the farmers’ market on Thursday, Annie and May joined me at the apartment for a home-cooked meal. Annie’s simple pasta of tomatoes, garlic, parsley and olive oil was delicious, which we enjoyed with a side of mixed greens from Greens, Eggs and Ham. For dessert – tiramisu from the Italian Bakery.

Annie’s pasta (half-consumed by the time I remembered to take a photo)

 Tiramisu (a steal at just $2.50 a slice)

• Ellen and I hit up Boualouang on Friday to satisfy our craving for Thai food. For once, the spice level of the green curry didn’t have me reaching for my water glass every bite. The pork was incredibly tender (my default order is chicken), and would definitely be something I’d have again. The pad thai is consistently good.

Green curry with pork

Pad thai

• Mack and I are eating outside every chance we get. On Saturday, that meant pizza al fresco!

I think everything tastes better outside…

If you haven’t yet seen Mack’s Pecha Kucha presentation, what are you waiting for? He did an awesome job Thursday night at the seventh incarnation of an event that aims to inspire the “next generation” of Edmontonians. If you haven’t yet been, mark your calendar for September 28, 2010, when PKN8 will take place at the University of Alberta campus (check the Next Gen website for more details). On to this week’s food notes:

• The second annual Al Fresco 104th Street Block Party is this Saturday, June 12! Look forward to patios, a fashion show, wine tasting, and of course, an outdoor movie screening. See you there!
• I’m getting excited for Indulgence, taking place on June 14. They’ve started to reveal menu items on their blog, and will continue to do so throughout the week. Culina’s dish of “bison brisket, slow-cooked in a balsamic barbecue sauce served with biscuits and horseradish-spiced marinated onions” sounds fantastic.
• Learn more about Eva Sweet, Edmonton’s first and only waffle truck, from Brittney Le Blanc. You can find it at 107 Street and 99 Avenue (in front of the WCB building) from 7 a.m. until 2 p.m. most days, and at the Alberta Avenue Farmers’ Market Thursdays and at the Beverly Farmers’ Market on Tuesday evenings. They’re also on Twitter!
• There’s a new tea shop in town – Cha Island Tea Co. (10332 81 Avenue) in Old Strathcona. It strives to give Edmonton a tropical-themed tea and coffee lounge.
• Mack spotted a new Chop is in the works at Ellerslie Road and 100 Avenue.
• Marianne provided a quick run-down of what eats to expect at the Folk Festival this year.
• The Journal ran their next profile of a local foodie last week – Ruth Kelly of Venture Publishing.
• Gail Hall will be starting her popular Market Fresh Cooking classes again this July. It’s a great way to spend a Saturday morning – shopping for fresh ingredients, getting to know local farmers, and cooking up a storm!
• If there’s anyone that can infect anyone with an appreciation for food, it’s Valerie, so I think it’s great that she will be teaching a cooking class to 10 – 14 year olds interested in learning how to cook at the City Arts Centre this summer.
• Also from Valerie – if you haven’t already, read about her tour through Chinatown with LeQuan (who also posted her thoughts). Food is always more fun with others!
• June 1 was National Hunger Awareness Day – the Edmonton Food Bank announced the winners of their Expressions of Hunger contest last week, cumulating in an exhibition at City Hall. The exhibition has since moved to the Carrot Community Coffee House, where it will remain until June 23.
• Related –  Calgary-based Julie Van Rosendaal took part in A Week in Their Kitchen, which challenged a a few bloggers to cook meals using only what can be found in a food hamper. What resulted was a series of thought-provoking posts.
• It’s too bad Calgary’s City Council voted against allowing for backyard chicken coops last week. Still, I have a feeling it’s not the last time we will hear about the issue, as the article alludes.
• U of A grads can participate in an upcoming 11 day tour of Tuscany through the Alumni Association. I’m sure it would be alot better than the Contiki tour we did a few years ago!
• I saw an ad for a new type of Kraft Dinner made with cauliflower and wheat. Funny how this campaign is alongside the nostalgia ads.
• Food hacker Kenji has the best job – he just learned how to duplicate McDonald’s fries in the comfort of his own home.
• It’s handy to have Cellar Door along my homeward bound bus route – I picked up a lemon meringue pie ($3.25) to share with Mack last week after dinner. I loved the buttery crust.

 

Lemon meringue pie from Cellar Door 

• Another plus of walking to and from the City Market are the stops that can be made easily along the way. I wandered into The Butler Did It for the first time. Though they don’t normally serve breakfast, they were offering it that day. It’s a charming space, where lunches can be had during the week, and can also be booked for functions. I picked up a few kitchen utensils, priced at 30% off – score!

 

Inside The Butler Did It

• I also stopped at Kerstin’s Chocolates, wanting to try out their new Roses are Red Chocophilia, with saffron, rose and raspberry (I like it a lot better than Lemon Dream). The clerk told me that Kerstin is currently working on her bacon-chocolate concoctions for Father’s Day. Expect several special sweets, which may or may not include peanut butter in the mix.

 

Roses are Red Chocophilia

• Lots of new restaurant action on Whyte – it seems Pour House (replacing Flavours) is now open, as are both Press Cafe (10846 82 Avenue) and Cafe Beirut (10812 82 Avenue). Unfortunately, I couldn’t stop in for fear of missing my bus. Has anyone checked out either yet?

 

Press Cafe & Bistro

 

Cafe Beirut

I think I need a few days to recover from the weekend – everything seems infinitely more exhausting when the weather is uncooperative, or is it just me? June is shaping up to be a busy month, so I hope the sun starts to shine (and stay!) soon. On to this week’s food notes:

• I can barely contain my excitement – not only does Edmonton have a brand new food truck, but it serves WAFFLES! I am hoping Eva Sweet makes some downtown stops soon.
• Looks like Nate Box has pushed back his Elm Cafe opening date to June 14. Speaking of Nate, he stopped by the Unknown Studio to talk food – take a listen here.
• Help bid the original Padmanadi location adieu at their farewell buffet on June 2, from noon-1opm ($20/person). They hope to host the grand opening of the new digs at 101 Street and 107 Avenue on June 19, 2010.
• There’s another food blog in town, called May Contain Nuts. Welcome to the scene, King Crabby and Jean Poutine!
• On the topic of food blogs, the St. Albert Gazette published a feature article this weekend about the regional food blogging scene, including interviews with Nikki Stoyko of The Read Onion, Rhianna Morris of Cream and Sugar and me.
• The Municipal Development Plan, which will help protect some local food sources, was passed last week! Thanks to the Greater Edmonton Alliance and the passionate Edmontonians who helped make this happen.
• There are lots of other great things happening in local food – Shaw Conference Centre announced that they have planted a garden for the second year in a row, which will supply the kitchen with vegetables and herbs. Check out the photo gallery here.
• Liane also did a great round-up of some local food initiatives on Saturday, including The Good Food Box, Locavoria and the Greens, Eggs and Ham Futures Program. Duffy even made an appearance on the photo spread!
• On Wednesday, Calgary’s City Council votes on whether or not to allow a pilot of urban chicken coops to go forward. The name of the group pushing for this? The Canadian Urban Liberated Chicken Klub, or, CLUCK.
• Though municipal beekeeping hasn’t been in the news as much as chickens, the discussion will begin soon enough. In Toronto, two hives have been installed on the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, home of the Canadian Opera Company.
• I remember when I was a kid, with no library in my neighbourhood, a book truck would stop at the strip mall across the street every weekend. So I think this is brilliant – a mobile farmers’ market truck in NY that can offer fresh vegetables in underserved neighbourhoods – at least until something more permanent can be set up.
• Interesting article (and fun with data) about how much money people spend for lunch in New York, based on zip code locations.
• Though the official KFC Double Down isn’t available in Edmonton, Chris did his best to make his own version here. Not for the faint of heart!
• So true – “Children’s menus are the death of civilization”, says a NYC restaurant owner. And I say that as someone who grew up as a picky eater.
• More NY – though I know we’re at least five years away from “gimmicky” restaurants in Edmonton, we could probably learn something from New York’s experience.
• We had originally picked up a fresh-to-go meal from d’Lish to serve as an emergency dinner for my sisters, they ended up not needing it. So we had it tonight, a great convenience as both Mack and I arrived home late. We were also pleased that the portion size for this dish, a chicken parmigiana with garlic and tomato pasta, was larger than our previous to-go meal. Though it was a bit pricey ($21.50), I think it’s a win-cubed instance – not only does it support local producers, but also a vibrant, independent business. And of course, fills your belly with tasty food!

 

Chicken Parmigiana from d’Lish

• To help kill time while waiting for the next bus to arrive (and to warm our chilled selves), we stopped inside Axis Cafe on Saturday. I’ve been meaning to check out this coffee shop for some time, and was happy I finally did. It’s gorgeous inside, with two levels of comfortable furniture, funky art, and a beautiful boardroom to boot. My white hot chocolate was good, though a little lukewarm, but I’m willing to give them another shot.

 

Axis Cafe

I’m almost ashamed to admit we slept as much as we did these past few days, but it was clear we needed it – and what better time to rest and relax indoors than a grey and rainy long weekend? On to this week’s food notes:

• Mark your calendar! The second annual Al Fresco 104th Street Block Party is taking place on June 12 this year. Expect two sound stages, a Portuguese BBQ, a crostini bar from Red Star’s Daniel Costa, and a screening of Chocolat – all underneath a canopy of stars! Mack and I went last year, and enjoyed ourselves.
• Looks like Wild Earth Bakery has made the move to the revamped portion of their cafe. Check out Marianne and Cathy’s posts for a peek inside.
• Vue Weekly published a piece on the renovated Parkallen Restaurant this week. It seems as if the owners are trying to woo a younger clientele.
• There’s a new Edmonton food blog on the scene – welcome, Steph of Crisp & Chewy!
• From Valerie: Jeff Sutherland has started an Eating Paleo in Edmonton group, which is a “meetup of like-minded people to help you achieve optimal health by eating real food! Share recipes, tips, advice, support, and inspiration. Maybe most importantly, help each other source real food that is local, ethical, and sustainably produced.”
• Upside-down gardening seems to be all the rage right now – this NYT article is a good primer on the trend.
• On the subject of the upcoming World Cup – a few local bars have applied to open earlier in order to accommodate potential viewers; and deVine’s is hosting a World Cup-themed tasting on June 19.
• Heading to Vancouver soon and needing pointers for good eats? Check out Vancouver Magazine’s 2010 restaurant awards.
• Hellmann’s is providing $100,000 in Real Food Grants to “support initiatives that bring Canadian families and kids together with real food in their community.” Deadline to apply is June 30, 2010.
• I have never seen pancakes as intense as Jim’s. Think I’m kidding? Check out this three-dimensional ferris wheel.
• Some things should never be made vegan, like KFC’s Double Down sandwich, for instance.
• Flavours (10354 82 Avenue) on Whyte is no more – Pour House will be taking its place.

Pour House

• “The legend returns”, or so proclaims the sign outside the former Ivory Club downtown (10304 111 Street), which has been reclaimed and will once again become the sports pub Overtime on July 1, 2010.

Overtime returns

• We stopped by the original Transcend over the weekend to pick up a bag of beans, and was confronted by a line up a dozen people deep. Nice to know the business hasn’t slowed at that location since T2 opened up! We joked around with some patrons behind us that there should have been a “beans only” express line, but no dice.

Love the new vacuum-sealed packaging!

• Mack and I are suckers for novel-flavoured chips, so we couldn’t pass by a display of PC’s Ballpark Hot Dog chips ($2.50) without picking up a bag. From the description on the bag, we were expecting hints of hot dog, mustard and relish, but unfortunately, the chips tasted predominantly like relish, or a variation of dill pickle.

PC Ballpark Hot Dog chips

• One of my coworkers moonlights as a cake decorator at a local bakery. For a potluck at work, she demonstrated her talents with two brilliant desserts – a tiered Coca-Cola can and a giant hamburger. She even had tiny little hamburger cupcakes, made with layers of white cake (the bun), chocolate cake (the patty), and orange, green, red and yellow icing (for cheese, relish, ketchup and mustard). Too cute!

Beautiful cakes