Honest Dumplings: The Pop-Up

Over the last year, Ray Ma and Chris Lerohl of Honest Dumplings have worked hard to build up their brand. The philosophy behind their dumplings sets them apart from anything you’d find at a conventional grocery store – not only are they committed to purchasing local and refrain from using preservatives or artificial additives, but they also focus on unique flavour combinations. In addition, they’ve had a consistent presence at the City Market, as well as at a variety of food festivals and events, including the Mercer Summer Super Party and Hawkers Market. And based on the response to their first-ever pop-up, I’d say they’re in store for an even bigger year in 2015!

Mack and I headed over to Drift’s storefront on 124 Street after work tonight, and encountered a line nearly twenty deep when we arrived. Thankfully, it wasn’t too cold out, and combined with a visit to Duchess across the street to pick up dessert (while Mack held our place in line), the hour long wait wasn’t too bad.

Dumpling anticipation

Given it was their first pop-up, things were really smooth. We paid up front, were directed to a table, and our food was brought out in due time. For $15, diners were treated to an order of eight meat or vegetarian dumplings, a rice hashbrown, lemon pepper tofu, Reclaim Urban Farm sunflower shoots, and a slice of dragon fruit.

Busy kitchen

One of my favourite things about Honest Dumplings is the fact that they always offer a number of tastes with every order – each plate subsequently feels more substantial and value-laden. On this occasion, we were able to sample eight different varieties.

Meat dumplings

Our favourites included the short rib & apple pear and maple pork belly dumplings on the meat side (wonderfully deep flavours in two-bite form), and the mixed mushroom & truffle oil on the vegetarian side. I also really enjoyed the crispy rice cake – I loved the texture, though Mack would have preferred a slightly thinner patty.

Vegetarian dumplings

You can find Honest Dumplings at the City Market every Saturday, or order their product one from SPUD. With party packs for sale ($40 for 32 dumplings plus a dipping sauce), they would be an easy and colourful addition to any appetizer platter this holiday season.

Dipping sauce

Given the popularity of this pop-up (and the successes of the Prairie Noodle Shop), this form of dining is definitely alive and well in Edmonton. Here’s hoping this is the first of many for Honest Dumplings!

Learn more about Honest Dumplings in this Journal article.

Toronto Redux: Unique Eats

Having grown up in Edmonton, and having endured years of reading and hearing about how Canada’s largest city is the centre of the universe, I realize I should despise Toronto. But after my sister moved there, and now having spent some time with her there, it’s hard not to admire and respect Toronto, especially for their vibrant and dynamic food scene only possible in a large municipality.

In March, Amanda and I were able to take in and explore some unique food events and places – things I’ve definitely never seen in Edmonton.

Come and Get It

Pop-up restaurants, mostly in the form of kitchen takeovers and guest chefs, have been all the rage over the past six months in Edmonton. But what we’ve never seen is a truly temporary establishment, as Toronto’s Come and Get It exemplifies.

Come and Get It

Set up on the ground floor of a soon-to-be-demolished building on Spadina, entrepreneurs took advantage of the low rent afforded by an indefinite lease and installed a restaurant inside the vacant storefront. Although a condo building is slated for construction soon, no firm dates have been established, so until then, Come and Get It will be in operation.

Interior

The space is clean, if raw, but befits the concept perfectly (including the . Accents are provided by splashes of colour on the walls and kitschy, retro décor, including a neon Mac monitor, Nike shoes, and plastic Barbie lunchboxes. Our favourite item had to be the N64 (on which I pwned Amanda in a brief post-dinner showdown).

Archie comics!

Come and Get It has an ingenious menu that doesn’t overwhelm a small, makeshift kitchen. The same base combination of ingredients can be requested in either a salad, sandwich or poutine form, easily multiplying the total number of dishes offered by the restaurant. Amanda and I were disappointed to find out that they were already sold out of the Granny Smith’s chicken caesar stream of creations, so she ended up ordering a Hawaiian pork belly sandwich while I chose the chipotle beef shortrib ($8 each). We decided to share a Hawaiian pork belly poutine ($7).

Even though the food seemed like it was ideal for take-out, the majority of customers were of the eat-in variety, as we were. The wait for food wasn’t long and arrived in paper boxes. Amanda’s first impression of her sandwich was that it was quite oily, but she liked the hoisin-glazed pork and the springy bread. The short rib in my sandwich was very fatty, to the point where I couldn’t really taste the accompaniments, which included chipotle aioli, ancho chili barbeque sauce, crispy onions and sweet and sour coleslaw.

Hawaiian pork belly sandwich

Chipotle beef short rib

The poutine was enjoyable – the fries were crispy and topped with a slightly sweet beef gravy and crispy cracklins. We would have preferred that the pork belly had been chopped up so we could easily pick up bits of pork with fries and cheese curds, but that was a minor quibble.

Pork belly poutine

The menu at Come and Get It will change often – but since it is a limited engagement, I’m sure that’s enough incentive for folks to return often. It was a neat to finally be able to visit a true pop-up establishment!

Toronto Underground Market

When my sister found out when I would be in Toronto, she jumped at the opportunity to take me to one of the city’s trendiest food events. The Toronto Underground Market is fashioned after similar events that have happened in other large cities including New York. They allow upstart small businesses and passionate home chefs to share their specialities with the public. Tickets sold out almost immediately, but Amanda was able to score a pair from someone on Facebook who didn’t need the number of tickets she bought.

We took the subway to Broadview in order to catch a shuttle bus to Evergreen Brickworks, where the Underground Market would take place. Like our experience with the Fail FunBus last year to reach the Night Market, it seems to me that Toronto always underestimates the number of people who choose public transportation – again, the small bus could not accommodate everyone who was in line (those who choose public transportation shouldn’t be punished, even if inadvertently so). Thankfully, we were near the front of the line, but felt bad for those left behind.

Evergreen Brickworks

Evergreen Brickworks is a not-for-profit space built on the bones of a former brickyard. Although parts of the buildings have been renovated to house a cafe, shop and teaching centre, the majority of the space is beautifully raw and industrial. Between the brick and high ceilings, it was a blank canvas that would be suitable for many different kinds of functions.

Shop

Covered ice rink!

That said, the Underground Market was set up in a covered, but not enclosed, part of the building. As a result, the frigid air seeped into the space, and even though the thermometer read –4, it felt closer to –20, especially after nightfall. But crowds were far from deterred – the space was packed, and proved to me that Torontonians are a hardy bunch! They wouldn’t let a cold night dampen their hunger.

Inside Evergreen Brickworks

Heat lamps helped, but only if you stood right beside them

Some vendors also had great fun in spite of the cold – these vendors would randomly cheer every few minutes, perhaps to keep themselves warm

It seemed to us that most vendors used the event as a platform to connect with foodies searching for the “next big thing”, and perhaps a launching pad towards a brick and mortar storefront. One obvious example was the taqueria that was physically separated from all of the other vendors out of necessity – their line was at least a hundred people deep half an hour into the event.

The line for La Carnita

Amanda and I weren’t very strategic in our choices, and in most cases, just chose vendors with the shortest lines. Some of our spontaneity paid off, while others did not. One vendor that did work out was Babi & Co. Their congee ($3) could have done with more of their delicious sweet soy reduction, but the egg and pork belly also added some needed texture to the soupy rice base. Their pork satays ($5) were freshly off the coals, but even better, the meat was tender and flavourful. The pickled cucumbers were a nice touch as well.

Congee

Pork satays

The Popover Girl had a neat concept – essentially a sandwich made using a popover in place of bread. But it probably wasn’t ideal for such a chilly night because the popovers really should have been enjoyed warm. My savoury popover was the better of the two, with hot chilli on the inside, but Amanda’s, filled with a Nutella mixture, ended up more like a very dry ice cream sandwich.

Savoury chilli popover

Amanda’s happy she scored a chocolate popover!

Our plunge into the crazy lines was at Comida del Pueblo. Amanda really wanted the jalapeno cornbread sandwich ($5), but even she didn’t think any food item would be worth a forty-five minute wait. Still, we couldn’t leave the line once we committed, so we shivered along until we reached the front. By that point, many vendors had already run out of food, so the crowds as a whole had started to thin.

No surprise, the sandwich didn’t live up to the mammoth expectations. The bread had a good crumb, but the cheese wasn’t melted. I also ordered an Ontario water buffalo empanada ($4) for good measure. It was steaming hot and was filled with a good amount of meat. The pastry was also enjoyably flaky.

Jalapeno cornbread sandwich

Water buffalo empanada

As a whole, it was a great experience, and neat to see so many people embracing small-scale vendors. I wondered if something like this would work in Edmonton, but in many ways, our farmers’ markets serve as the incubators in our city.

Longos

Longos is the largest independent grocery store chain in Toronto, but I didn’t get a chance to visit their store until this trip. Our hotel location meant we were about ten minutes away from the Longos located in the basement of Maple Leaf Square, so we were able to pick up some ready-to-eat items for a quick breakfast.

I didn’t do an extensive inventory of the store’s items, but they did carry treats by local favourite Dufflet in their freezer case.

Dufflet products

I was also impressed by how inexpensive some fresh bakery items were, that would be considered “specialty” items in Edmonton, and aren’t readily available at mainstream grocery stores.

Chapatti

Korean wheat pops (they tasted like lighter rice cakes)

My last post about Toronto will be about all of the restaurants we had a chance to try, including a few more Oliver & Bonacini outlets that we couldn’t stay away from!

Recap: Blink, a Pedway Pop-up

Last June, I remember writing that the first What the Truck?! very much unfolded in the way I had envisioned. I am very happy to say that Blink, the February 26, 2012 pop-up restaurant that Mack and I helped organize also held true to what I hoped the event would look and feel like. In this instance, a lot of that was attributed to our partner, who understood from the get-go what we wanted to achieve.

Pedway from street level

Blink had been inspired by Diner en Blanc and the spontaneous community those gatherings facilitate. As I mentioned in my introduction to Blink, I knew it was too late for an outdoor meal, but we knew of several underutilized indoor spaces in Edmonton just waiting to be colonized with good food and new friends. Mack and I centred on closing a pedway, and as he has already so aptly described, set about garnering the right support and permissions from the Downtown Business Association (DBA) and building managers.

I had initially approached Chef Tony Le of Lux Steakhouse (part of the Century Hospitality Group) about this concept back in December. Lux’s proximity to our desired pedway overlooking 101 Street was ideal, but more than that, CHG had a penchant for forward-thinking initiatives (alley burger and CHG Top Chef being two of them). And true to form, Tony embraced the idea even before we had all of the details ironed out – I really appreciated his trust in our collaboration and faith that we could pull this off. Though Tony took charge of designing the six-course menu, CHG VP Culinary/Managing Partner Paul Shufelt got involved in securing the necessary health and liquor permits for Blink. Paul’s knowledge and existing relationships and contacts really made this easy on Mack and I – Lux was able to get a caterer’s extension to stage a kitchen adjacent to the pedway (thought he majority of the preparation and cooking would still be done in Lux proper), and after a fire inspection, the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission granted us permission to offer alcohol with dinner.

Chefs Paul, Tony and Matt Phillips hard at work plating dessert

To create the dining room itself, Paul was adamant about using proper chairs, to ensure it felt more like a restaurant as opposed to a banquet. That meant carting sixty heavy leather-backed chairs up one floor. Props to the Lux staff who did this over the course of many trips – I wish I could say I helped! The tables were dressed with linens from Lux; overhead costs were definitely reduced because we could borrow and poach from Lux, especially since they are closed Sundays anyway.

Table setting, with custom Blink menus prepared by CHG

That left the lighting to Mack and I. Commerce Place, who controlled the pedway lighting, agreed to turn off the fluorescents, allowing us to add appropriate lighting to contribute to the mood. A friend of mine was nice enough to lend us two hundred feet of white lights she had purchased in advance of her wedding, saving us from having to rent them. With some money we had been granted for the event from the DBA, we could afford to purchase some battery-powered paper lanterns. Strung in the centre of the pedway with fishing line, I thought the room was tasteful but didn’t take away from the street view inherent from the location.

Pedway in daylight

We were lucky Blink sold out quickly – twelve hours, in fact – but I know we failed in setting up an official waiting list (or a proper cancellation policy), something we will improve upon in the future. Still, we appreciate the patience afforded to us by ticket buyers as we worked through the learning curve.

Something else we’d change for next time is also allowing dining room access earlier. We used Scotia Place as a closed lounge area for the cocktail hour, in order to hold off the pedway “reveal”, but given the number of drink orders taken at the table, it would have been wise to have had guests seated at least twenty minutes prior to serving the first course.

The cocktail “lounge”

Mack and I were very lucky that we didn’t have to work during the actual dinner – along with sixty other strangers, we got to experience the communal table firsthand, which of course, included all six of the exquisitely planned dishes.

Chef Cowan prepares his amuse

Busy staging area

Never does everything work out perfectly, and in our case, we had some trouble with the lights – the fluorescents came back on just after the first course had been served, half of our string lights shut off on one side of the pedway, and the kitchen staging area went dark. We actually didn’t get to “run through” the shut off with Commerce Place prior to that night, and without a maintenance worker on-site, it was touch-and-go as to whether or not the problem would be fixed. With some scrambling, the pedway lights were shut off soon after, but we weren’t able to rectify the two other issues.

Fluorescents on

Fluorescents off

Thankfully, nothing else major cropped up that evening, and we were able to enjoy ourselves.

Sweetbread terrine amuse

Bread & butter – focaccia, lardo, pink peppercorns, Himalayan sea salt, brown sugar, fresh rosemary, ciabatta, bacon butter, peach chipotle jam, fresh thyme, rye crostini, quails egg, fried sage, sriracha ketchup

Fish – Alberta pickerel, sesame oil, fresh chili, fried shallots, pea shoots, smoked sea salt (one of my favourites that night)

Ravioli – roasted beet and Smoky Valley goat cheese stuffed, fennel marmalade, micro arugula, chili-mandarin beurre blanc, toasted walnuts (the beet and goat cheese worked incredibly well together)

Rabbit – confit rabbit pot pie, braised bacon, fresh arugula, Yukon Gold chips, northwest truffle (only Tony could get me to eat rabbit, or as he said, “the cuter the animal, the better it tastes)

Cow – Heritage Angus striploin, lobster croquette, bernaise, cabernet demi-glace, sauteed peas

Sweet – macaron, oreo terroir, micro greens, cinnamon chocolate truffles (I loved the “potted plant” presentation!)

As I mentioned above, Blink couldn’t have happened without the support of a number of parties. We cannot thank GWL Realty Advisors and Morguard enough for allowing us to use the pedway, the DBA and the Downtown Edmonton Community League for sponsoring us, and last but not least, Paul, Tony and the rest of the staff of Lux for helping us make Blink a reality.

We hope those who took part enjoyed themselves! We really appreciate that people embraced this idea, and were willing to try something a little unique. Based on the response, we know there is an appetite for dinners in unexpected places, so we are working on another Blink – stay tuned!

Check out what Paul, Liane and Linda had to say about Blink!

Blink: Edmonton’s Pedway Pop-up

When I first saw pictures of Diner en Blanc, I was absolutely transfixed. Hundreds, if not thousands of people, all dressed in white, dining al fresco with the most gorgeous urban backdrops imaginable – the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the New York harbourfront. The scenes just looked so surreal, so serene, that I immediately started imagining what such an event would look like in our fair city. Would it take place in Churchill Square? The Legislature grounds? The 4th Street Promenade? But with autumn fast approaching and winter not far behind, it wasn’t feasible for the season.

Months later, I still couldn’t let go of the idea. I especially loved the instant community created as diners gathered in underutilized or public spaces, transforming them into unique settings for elegant picnics. It was the same principle behind the locations we chose for the two What the Truck?! festivals Mack and I organized last year, hoping to make use of often overlooked areas of downtown.

This was the germ for Blink, a pedway pop-up restaurant Mack and I have put together, with the help of Chefs Paul Shufelt and Tony Le of Century Hospitality Group, and the support of the Downtown Business Association, GWL Realty Advisors, Morguard and the Downtown Edmonton Community League.

On February 26, 2012, the pedway between Scotia Place and Commerce Place, overlooking 101 Street, will be transformed into a sixty seat restaurant. Diners will be seated at a communal table, and will enjoy a six-course menu highlighting some of the best local ingredients available.

While we know other restaurants in Edmonton have hosted dinners featuring guest chefs in unfamiliar kitchens, we’re really excited about this opportunity to gather around food in an unconventional space.

Tickets for the dinner are $65, and can be purchased online. A cash bar will also be available, separate from the ticket price.

We hope you consider joining us for this dining experiment!

You can read Mack’s take on Blink here.

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