It's a Weird, Wild and Wonderful Life

Brasada Ranch, Oregon: The Wild, Luxurious West

2012-07-20T11:29:00.000-06:00

My daughter, the latest of our brood to finish high school, was given the task of choosing a family holiday destination. This would be her last trip with the family before starting life as a young adult entering university. Two years ago, and aided by a wicked sale from Air Canada, her older sister chose Turks and Caicos. “The world lies before you,” we said, “Go anywhere.”

England, Germany, Jamaica…anywhere.

“Oregon,” she replied.

I know. Those raised eyebrows you’re sporting right now? That’s the same response she got from everyone. Why Oregon?

Because Oregon is a state that has it all: scenic coastline, lush forests, snowcapped mountains, cascading falls, glorious rivers that cut through cities and deserts, progressive urban centers, and tiny towns where you expect Festus and Marshall Dillon to be sitting out front the general store, and where both hipsters and cowboys share a love of Pendleton plaid.

And the food: Oregon is a culinary nirvana, where restaurateurs and foodcart vendors lead the cuisine scene with a cultural buffet of quality dishes made from ingredients sourced from local producers.

I was actually thrilled with her choice, having been in love with this particular state for decades, but we needed a destination that could keep five of us (three teenagers, two adults) happy, occupied and free of familial homicide for 14 days. That’s a long time for five people of varying likes and dislikes to holiday together. The grad-girl had one priority: horses – as in to ride, view, pet, and covet. Stepson needed to fish, husband needed 5star digs and good food, I needed tranquility, and stepdaughter was good with anything as long as there was some shopping along the way.

Central Oregon it was.

Known as the High Dessert, central Oregon covers five counties and averages 4,000 feet above sea level. Bend, dubbed “the outdoor playground of the West” is the largest city in the area with a population of approximately 80,000.

View of Bend from Pilot Butte

Our search for accommodation led us to find Brasada Ranch at Powell Butte, approximately 20 miles northeast of Bend.

Entrance to Brasada Ranch

Central Oregon boasts 300 sun-shiny, rain-free days per year. We arrived during a rare downpour but the rain and ensuing sunshine only highlighted the outrageous beauty of the area.

Brasada Ranch occupies 1800 acres of sage-infused, junipered scrubland. A dozen of the Ranch’s horses roam through the grassy paddocks at the front of the property. Beyond the paddocks, a trestle bridge sits like a spaghetti Western centrepiece. Overlooking the bridge is the Ranch House Lodge, home to one restaurant and a handful of hotel rooms. The whole property is a postcard in the making.

To get one thing straight, Brasada Ranch is not a dude ranch. You will be hard pressed to find any vehicle older than 2011 on the property, and you sure as heck won’t see any rusted out pickup trucks. You will see BMWs, Cadillacs and a Range Rover or two. Brasada Ranch is pretty frou-frou shi-shi.

Now before you brand me with a scarlet “S” for snob, you must know this: we don’t camp (tried it once, still in therapy), and we don’t eat crap food. We’re full-fledged, unabashed Glampers – much to the dismay of our children who would love nothing better than to climb into sleeping bags at night inside tents and drift off smelling of campfire smoke. Brasada Ranch - rustic yet luxurious - was the perfect solution, and despite all the amenities (athletic centre, tennis courts, pools, world-class golf course, spa and two very fine restaurants), not outrageously priced.

We reserved one of Brasada’s cabins as our accommodations. Just like the ranch isn’t really a ranch, the cabins aren’t really cabins – at least not the kind of cabins you camping purists would consider a cabin to be.

Our cabin was a 1,800 square foot house complete with wraparound deck, impressive barbecue, and hot tub. The interior had leather furniture, hardwood floors, four fireplaces, just as many flat-screened TVs, three bedrooms with king-size beds, and a quasi-gourmet kitchen with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances.

The Ranch was recently accepted into American Express’ Preferred Hotels Group - mostly for its spectacular golf course, which I understand is an awesome course (if you’re into golf). We opted to leave the swinging to the nattily dressed, visored men and women walking the course, and spent our time, instead, at the pool.

There are three pools at the athletic centre: one indoor, and two outside. Of the two open air pools, one is a calm, uninspired type good for toddlers and doting parents. The second pool, with its "lazy" river, is for thrill seeking masochists. Turbo jets placed at odd angles knock unsuspecting swimmers into the pumice-like faux rocks along the lazy river route, and until you get the hang of the current, you will be guaranteed to receive a minor abrasion, or two.

Lazy River Pool

We learned to conquer the mighty current by banking our bodies like balls on a billiards table, using pool noodles as buffers against the boulders. The fun part, then, was watching newcomers careen into the rocks like we did before we got smart. What's a holiday without a few knee and shoulder scrapes?

I came to love the early hours while the rest of the family slept. This was my time, and each morning just as the sun was rising, I would slip out the back door and explore the property. Mourning doves cooed; tiny lizards basked on rocks, but other than that, the only other things moving were a a few staff members and desert bunnies. I would make my way to the trestle bridge, sit a spell and inhale the scent of sage and pine as the sun heated up the scrub. Bliss.

We stocked our kitchen with groceries bought in Bend, but did eat at the two restaurants at the ranch. The more informal Ranch House was a great place to grab breakfast or lunch.

A tip of the hat to the chefs at Brasada Ranch who create dishes from locally sourced products. The food (and the serving staff) was probably some of the best we’ve ever experienced at any hotel or resort we’ve been to.

The Range, as well, which we saved for one night of high-end dining, was spectacular: the food, cocktails and wine list, all top notch.

Popcorn Shrimp with Pickled Fiddleheads

Braised Goat on Pappardelle

The Range Bar

Many of our meals were taken off site while we explored the area. (I’ll talk about all that in a separate post.)

If you want peace, you can find it here. If you want activities, they’ve got ‘em by the heaps.

The staff will help you arrange excursions for: whitewater rafting, fly fishing, cycling, horse riding, tennis, golf, kayaking, tubing, and anything else your heart desires. Staff member at the ranch have a “yes attitude” and questions they don’t have the answers to, they find out in a hurry.

Central Oregon afforded tranquility when we needed it, and adventure when we wanted it. One day we were sitting in a field surrounded by 100 alpacas, the next we were whitewater rafting down the Mackenzie River.

My love affair with Oregon continues; my daughter's has just begun.

Under the High Wheel - Edmonton Restaurant Review

2012-06-28T10:16:00.001-06:00

Under the High Wheel bucks the latest trend of restaurants named with one word, or restaurants named in text format using fewest letters as possible. The name of this new restaurant in the Roots on Whyte building has left more than a few people scratching their heads. Apparently, owners Jennifer Ogle and Ada Kalinowski, got their inspiration for this business venture after travelling through Europe where they noticed the names of bistros and other eateries reflected their location by saying "under the (place landmark here)". "High wheel" is another name for the Victorian era penny-farthing bicycle, of which the owners plan to attach to the exterior of the building sometime soon.

The interior is sparse but lovely, modern yet rustic, elegant but without pretension; a nice place to rest your weary bones after shopping, and the patio begs to be claimed as one of the best people watching perches on the Avenue.

So what about the food?

The menu changes based on availability of product, most of which is organic, seasonal and sourced from local producers -- echoing the practises of bistros across Europe. The menu items are not complicated but still thoughtful. For lighter fare, you'll find sweet and savoury crepes, Belgian waffles with house made chocolate sauce, soup and salad $5-$14.

Heartier fare is offered in the form of sandwiches, burgers, and quesadillas, and for dinner entrees, more substantial dishes with items like roast chicken, lasagne and steak.

White bean, ham and spinach soup $5

Salad trio $10

For starters we dipped into the soup and salad. The soup's broth was light but the substance was stick-to-your-ribs with silky white beans, small chunks of ham and spinach leaves. Out of the four salads on offer, we chose the beet and orange, the Greek, and the tuna chickpea melange. Out of the three, the Greek salad was the one that failed to impress, but the beet mixture and the chickpea salads were unique and packed with flavour and texture.

You might balk at paying $17 for a burger, but you have to see this burger. Topping near 6", you'll need to cut this beast in half if you have any hope at all of getting it in your mouth. The patty itself, made from Four Whistle Farms beef, is almost the size of a baseball, and was (thankfully) still juicy inside and not overcooked like baseball burgers usually are. Seasoned just right, and topped with a beautiful mayo and pickled beets, this burger (served with a side of roasted potatoes and artisanal greens salad) was a hit.

The High Wheel Burger $17

But here's where the big surprise really was: the Bangers and Mash.

Bangers (Pembina Pork) and Mash $17

I'm not a pork sausage fan, and the thought of eating eggs for supper makes my brain stall. But...when you combine these ingredients on a plate with the creamiest mashed potatoes this side of Spudsville and a heaping helping of caramelized onions, all nestled in a veal demi-glaze, you'll understand why this dish has become iconic British pub grub--especially if you wash it down with a craft beer, like Dieu du Ciel's Rosée d'hibiscus.

The fibre in the bean soup and the bean salad kicked in and halfway through our entrees and we were stuffed. Dessert wasn't an option -- not immediately, anyway. We grabbed a peanut butter cookie, a vegan chocolate chip, and a raisin tart to go and were able to enjoy them a couple of hours later. The vegan cookie was a tad dry and boring but the flourless peanut butter cookie and the tart were a hit.

The one area in need of improvement is server knowledge. In a restaurant such as this (supporter of local producers), the serving staff needs to know where the product comes from and how the food is prepared. Also, having the serving staff know what the foods and drinks taste like is imperative, otherwise the consumer doesn't feel confident in what the business is selling.

The Roots on Whyte Building -- which houses this cafe along with DaCapo's gelato and coffee bar, the Blush Lane Organic grocery store, and several other community professionals to "nurture your body, mind and spirit"-- is a welcome addition to Whyte Avenue east of the 103 Street train tracks that will, hopefully, bring more traffic to other retailers on the block.

My CBC Edmonton AM review of Under the High Wheel can be heard here.

Nello's South - Edmonton Restaurant Review

2012-06-18T22:24:00.000-06:00

The original Nello's is still operating, as it has been for years, in St. Albert. The business was sold to Nello's son, Tony, who opened the second location in December 2011 in a south side strip of businesses just off Calgary Trail at 29th Avenue.

The interior is in the decor style of all that is modern: warm wood and leather in deep browns, and soft lighting, and white tablecloths. The space is large and split in two: the lounge on the left, the dining area around a wall and to the right with a capacity to fit about 80 people, possibly more.

Everything seems to be large here: the space, the menu (8 or 9 pages) and the food's portion size. I was heartened to hear the server say that everything was homemade. Good Italian food should always be made from scratch.

Nello's pastas

Nello's Appetizers and Salads

From the list of appetizers we chose the Salsiccia in Cognac: Italian sausage flambeed in the french brandy and heaped upon a bed of roasted potatoes, mushrooms and, if I recall, peppers. On the plate as well, was a serving of olive-oiled kidney beans and chickpeas, and a lovely portion of slightly crunchy broccoli with a generous infusion of garlic. Love at first bite - until the salt kicked in, and it was plenty. So much so, that eating more than one piece of the sausage was hardly bearable. Too bad. The server mentioned that the sausage was not made in house, but was from a supplier whom she couldn't recall.

On to the mains:

We were warned that the portions were family-style, meaning to be shared, but needing to try several dishes at an average of $25-$30, I knew this was going to be a very expensive tasting.

The vitella (veal) cannelloni came two to the plate but was barely visible under a staggering amount of sauce and cheese which diffused any flavour of the veal.

Veal cannelloni (before)

One cannelloni adrift in a cheesy ocean of saucy mozzarella

The sauce issues continued with the chicken parmigiana and the side of gnocchi.

The gnocchi, like the sausage, was not made in house and was reminiscent of the gnocchi contained in those plastic packages you see on store shelves. In fact, the gummy little nuggets got stuck to the roof of our mouths - somewhat of an odd dining experience.

The pan-fried salmon fillet was fine and was the one dish that went down without anything to say -- good or bad about it. In hindsight, I realize that this was the least Italian type of dish of the bunch. Hmmm...

The last of the mains, the gamberi e capasente (prawns and scallops) pan-seared in garlic butter and flambeed in Pernod held promise.

The scallops and prawns were large and plentiful, and I chose the penne arrabbiata as its side. Arrabbiato, in Italian, means "angry", and the dish gets its name from the heat of the chili peppers. This sauce was made with jalapeños, so although a pepper, jalapeños are relatively mild and the heat factor was hardly noticeable, making this sauce more ornery than angry. The seafood, unfortunately, was lacking any evidence of Pernod, but more an abundance of watery, salty butter.

Dessert: We were a little disheartened hearing that a very un-Italian Irish Cream cheesecake was on offer along with the usuals of tiramisu, gelati, and a hazelnut chocolate torte, but by this point we were feeling "once bitten, twice shy" and passed on the whole dessert menu.

The service was prompt and cordial, but I feel a little unsettled about the "all homemade" claims. The portions are huge, no doubt, and need to be shared, but I feel Nello's could do better in offering fewer dishes, smaller portions and concentrate more on fresh ingredients and better preparation of the food.

My CBC Edmonton AM review of Nello's (south Edmonton) can be heard here.

Three Boars - Eat, Share, Love

2012-05-24T11:52:00.001-06:00

It took me three tries to get into Three Boars Eatery but I finally made it. After being foiled by lengthy lineups on two occasions, we got smart and went early on a Tuesday at 5 p.m. (an hour after they opened).

If you're into craft beer or single malt scotch or bourbon, this is the place to be. You'll have to fight for one of the seats at the bar though; the place is tiny. However, now that summer is here (more or less) the patio out front has lots more seating and its a great place to sit, sip and people watch along 109 Street.

Upstairs in the old house is where you dine. The decor is simple and rustic and you feel like you're sitting down to a good ol' feast in a country farmhouse. Very cool.

The Boars are Chuck Elves, Brayden Kozak and Brian Welch -- three young men with the right stuff: thoughtful libations, and dishes made from locally sourced food in small plate style to share amongst friends. The menu changes often depending on what they find at the farmers' market or get from their suppliers, or in some cases, how popular a dish is. I caught this tweet a couple of weeks ago:

Yes, they're "crazy like that". Being able to change up a menu mid-service shows the crazy talent of the chef. The night we were there, the Boars were on Menu #22 and they had only been open a month.

The menu is set out in three whimsically-titled sections: Bar Snacks, Rabbit Food and Sharesies. Cute.

We started with a plate of the patatas bravas (roasted fingerling potatoes with a sriracha mayo for dipping).

These patatas bravas were crispy on the outside with enough give on the inside to please everyone at our table. The sauce had just the right sass to be noticeable while remaining subtle enough to not overpower the fingerlings.

The sautéed mushrooms with egg yolk on toast caught our eye from the Rabbit Food section. The Bar Snacks section also offers meatless dishes, so if you're an herbivore, not to worry, you can still dig in to lots of good stuff here.

This is a dish that you will crave to have again. The creamy egg yolk over a mix of fried mushrooms on top of a toasted baguette (from Bonjour Bakery aka Treestone) was completely decadent. Next time I will not share this one.

If meat is your thing, the Sharesies section is where you will, quite possibly, have an awakening. What impressed me is the use of off-cuts, like the lamb neck served confit-style over a mound of fingerling potatoes and cheese curds. Not for dieters, but everyone deserves a treat every now and then!

The boars got creative with their bánh mì as well, filling a crusty, chewy baguette with braised beef tongue, expertly julienned vegetables, homemade pate, that saucy sriracha mayo and sprigs of cilantro. I hope this one shows up as a regular on the menu because it is definitely something I'd crawl back for.

Also getting thumbs up from my dining partners was the Spring Creek Ranch flat iron steak with Gull Valley tomatoes and artisanal greens. Nicely done, Boars, nicely done! The steak was tender, grilled to a perfect medium rare and the large portion of salad dressed in a garlic confit balsamic dressing allowed some respite from all that juicy protein.

One more dish that we couldn't say no to was the Cornish game hen:

Sprinkled with bits of lardon and nestled in a glorious puddle of sage-infused apple cider vinegar, this little bird was juicy and tender beyond belief. The exquisite roasting and the finishing with just the right smattering of sea salt is worth mentioning. The right amount of salt is an area where many a cook fails. Not here.

Desserts: Take it or leave it - The Boars offer only one dessert nightly, but trust me, you should take it whatever it is. Fresh baked fig and chocolate cookies were on offer the night we dined and they were warm and wonderful with just the right chew factor. The server recommended we wash down our cookies with a dark Belgian ale called Pannepot. I wouldn't have thought to do that on my own, so I'm glad she recommended it because the beer had deep chocolate notes which complemented the cookies to a T.

Is the Three Boars Eatery worth the hype that has surrounded it thus far? Yes. Oh, yes. Go forth, Edmonton: eat, share, love.

My CBC Edmonton radio review of the Three Boars can be heard here.

Edmonton's Elm Café Proves You Don't Have to be Big to be Mighty

2012-05-22T11:37:00.001-06:00

Last week I finally sat down at Elm Café -- not inside where four stools are available for patrons, but outside on the patio where more tables allow customers some elbow room and a place to soak in the sunshine and savour the incredible flavours coming out of Edmonton’s tiniest café.

Inside Elm Cafe

Looking out to the patio

The man behind the Elm is Nate Box, former head chef at the Sugarbowl Café, and now creative genius and flavour guru at this 195 square foot eatery. Almost two years ago, Nate opened up Elm Café on 117 Street and set the bar very high for other like-minded individuals thinking of getting into the bistro business.

Craft sandwiches, healthy salads, exquisite soups, and muffins from famed Duchess Bake Shop are the offerings from the ever-changing menu. Nate believes in using seasonal fare from local producers and to find out what the Elm crew is serving, you must follow them on Twitter (@ElmCafe) or like them on Facebook.

On this first visit to Elm, "dill pickle soup" stared back at me from the menu board. This is something I’ve come across at other restaurants, but I’ve never been enticed by--let’s face it--liquid dill pickles. However, on this particular day, I was with good-food crusader, Jennifer Cockrall-King, who urged me to go for it. Jennifer, who just published her first book, Food and the City, knows good food, and I'm happy to have caved to her prodding on this one.

The silky soup was heartier than I anticipated and a bonus round of potato chips added just the right amount of salt and texture to the pickly puree.

The lunch sandwich of the day was a roast chicken cacciatore: a hefty portion of juicy roasted chicken, topped with greens, snuggled in the bosom of a buxom bun. Together, soup and sandwich cost about $14 -- a fair price to pay for a feed of locally grown products.

Twenty-four hours later I returned for more food, with more people in tow. Good things need to be shared.

The soup of the day was broccoli cheddar. From the picture below, you can get an idea as to how velvety this soup was, and the flavour? Ridiculous -- and that's a compliment.

We shared two sandwiches: the grilled cheese (cheese with roasted onions, additional crispy fried onions, fresh basil and a subtle horseradish aioli)...

And the "Italian" (my moniker): layers of genoa, soppressata and prosciutto gussied up with an herb chevre, and a pesto-y tapenade.

Combining ingredients that not only play nice together but also play off each other is what Nate Box does best. It's hard to say what my favourite sandwich was, but I'm game to go back and taste again (in the name of research, of course).

Elm also cooks up an early sandwich for those people needing some good breakfast nosh. Here are some examples of past breakfast "sammies" (as they like to call them):

1) fried egg, pork belly, banana pepper, provolone, spinach, dijon
2) fried egg, yam, ajvar, fruilano, spinach, fried onion

3) fried egg sandwiches with Irvings Farm Fresh Ltd pulled pork, tomato, havarti and spinach

4) fried Four Whistle Farm egg, smoked Irvings Farm Fresh Ltd ham, fontina, spinach, aioli.

And if you're looking for salads, they've got some beauties with one on offer each day, like:

1) orzo, olives, feta, fennel, basil, cucumber, artichokes and greens with ricotta mint dressing, or

2) white beans, kalamata olive, radish, basil and lemon zest with a basil balsamic dressing.

I could wax on and on about the incredible fare made at this shoebox of a café, but trust me I would just be repeating myself, and I'd be wearing out my thesaurus looking for synomyms for words like "tasty" and "good". What you should do is trust Nate and his staff and enjoy whatever they're putting out. This happenin' little joint is also a great spot to go and enjoy a wicked latte or a cool summer drink.

Elm Cafe also caters, so folks, if you're looking for creative dishes, wouldn't it be nice to have something outside the box and made from locally-sourced ingredients?

To listen to my CBC Edmonton AM review of Elm Cafe, click here.... and then head down to 117 Street.

Crepe Symphony - Edmonton Restaurant Review

2012-05-04T09:17:00.001-06:00

Life is too short; eat dessert first.

At the recently-opened Crepe Symphony (Rice Howard Way in Edmonton), you can do just that because the delicious crepes they create are available at 9 a.m. Monday to Saturday. The Nutella Banana crepe pictured above, and the Tropicana crepe below (two of six dessert/breakfast crepes), are just fruit pancakes by another name, right? So put your guilt aside, and dig in.

Don't despair, the menu also sports a savoury selection: smoked salmon and cream cheese, spinach and cheese (vegetarian), chicken and mushroom, and ground beef with sun-dried tomato.

Chicken and Mushroom Crepe $8.35

Ground Beef, Sun-Dried Tomato $8.30

The crepes are light and come two to a plate. Those with heartier appetites might want to supplement their selection with a salad or home-made soup and finish off the meal with a slice of cake or dessert made by mama (the one whipping up the crepes in the kitchen).

What you need to know: this is an independent, family-run restaurant where you go up to the counter to order, and Gil (in charge of serving and social media) brings the food. The drink selection is varied and includes coffee, lattes, tea, juice and soda. A liquor license was in the works and could very well be approved by the time this post goes up. Desserts are plentiful and all home-made and like some of the soups (borsch), exhibit the family's Russian heritage. For those people with gluten issues, the crepes can be made gluten-free on request.

With proximity to great shopping, the Art Gallery of Alberta, Citadel Theatre and the Winspear, Crepe Symphony is a sweet addition to Edmonton's downtown area. To listen to my CBC Edmonton review of this new restaurant, click here.

East, Restaurant Review - Malaysian Street Food Fusion

2012-04-19T15:49:00.003-06:00

Go far enough north on 97 street in Edmonton and you’ll run into East, a new restaurant touting “modern Asian cuisine with a Malaysian twist.” Richard Lim, who also owns Wildflower and Lazia, opened East in December in a new strip mall just north of 160 Avenue. The restaurant sits smack dab in the middle of retail purgatory with the usual fast food suspects anchoring corners of the parking lot. Hopefully, East can rise above the homogenously drab boxes that surround it.

Richard Lim greeted us with hospitable exuberance the night we stopped by. The menu is extensive and according to Lim, is a result of his wanting to bring Malaysian street food to Edmonton. East offers several familiar Asian dishes we’ve come to know in our city, but to my relief, several unique dishes also appear, like: Zen Yuan Poached Chicken, Char Kuey Teow and Silver Needle Noodles. The menu, rife with rice bowls, tofu offerings, vegetables and oodles of noodles, should appeal to vegetarians as well.

Visual aids

The problem, then, was deciding what to order. Lim was quick to help, giving us the history, the ingredients and the proper pronunciation of the dishes we were waffling on. Without hesitation he suggested the Roti Canai (pronounced RO-tee cha-NYE) a dish that is apparently receiving a lot of praise from diners. The soft, pliable flatbread came to the table freshly made and served with a bowl of mild curry dipping sauce. Oh, what a joy it is to eat something that has you dreaming about it later. Next time I will drink the dip and use the bread as an edible napkin. And no, I won’t share, although all the dishes we had that night were definitely large enough to share.

Roti Canai $6.95

The 3 Flavour Ribs followed the roti. You’re probably wondering what the three flavours are. I may have forgotten to ask, but if I had to guess I’d say “faith, hope and charity” or some other triad of loveliness.

3 Flavour Ribs $9.95

Next up, Egg-Floss topped Shrimp. Here’s one of those “never before” dishes I was talking about. A platter of lightly battered plump prawns topped with curry leaves and this crazy eggy floss. This dish will probably become East’s signature dish based on its popularity, and rightly so; its fun and just plain fantastic.

Egg-Floss Shrimp $17.95

The shrimp were followed by Fried Crispy Sweet and Sour Pork belly. I don’t think there’s ever been a time I’ve said no to pork belly on a menu. This belly was different though, according to Lim who described it as being more like bacon, sliced thinner than your regular pork belly, deep-fried and covered in a slightly sweet tomato sauce. Different, but delectable.

Crispy Sweet & Sour Pork belly $13.95

Do not attempt to eat a full plate of this. As hard as it is to stop, just a few of those rich strips of belly will do ya’.

The Nyonya Fried Chicken in Kapitan Sauce was the last of the entrees, or as I call it now, the “nom-nom chicken.” Marinated in spices and ingredients too precious to reveal (tamarind, soy sauce, kaffir lime leaves perhaps?), this chicken is the bomb. The Kapitan Sauce, in simple terms is a curry-type sauce with cinnamon notes and a coconut milk base. Altogether fantastic.

Nyonya Fried Chicken $13.95

Dessert. We toyed with sharing the Momo Cha-Cha, a mixture of syrup, sweet potatoes and black-eyed peas, but that sounded too much like Thanksgiving dinner and I just couldn’t embrace that in March. I’ll admit it, all of the desserts sounded very strange to my Canadian ears, but life is too short to say no to trying new foods. We ordered up the Black Glutinous Rice Pudding and the ABC Ice.

Don’t expect your usual rice pudding here. It’s black, it’s runny, but strangely tasty. The smaller portion (in relation to all the other dishes on the menu) is deceiving; this too is a dish you can share.

Black Rice Pudding $3.95

The eight ingredients in the ABC Ice range from sweet corn to grass jelly but what you need to know is that all the ingredients combined result in something that tastes like jelly bean ice cream, which isn’t such a bad thing at all.

ABC Ice $4.50

The space is casually chic, the service friendly and the food well prepared and refreshingly different making this experience an all round enjoyable one. I’ll definitely return…I’ll be heading west from the east end; those in the west need to head east to East, and if you’re coming from the north, head south to East, and from the south, head north. Or just enter 16049 – 97 into your GPS and let technology do its thing.

My CBC Edmonton AM review of East can be heard here.

Eat Alberta 2012: I do, and I did.

2012-04-16T16:22:00.000-06:00

What happens when 100+ curious, food-loving Albertans get together for a day of hands-on and educational food sessions? A whole lot of food-love, that's what.

April 14th, 2012 was the day of the 2nd Eat Alberta conference hosted by NAIT, and organized by a whiz-bang team of local food supporters consisting of:  Suzanne Dennis,  Ming Franks, Valerie Lugonja,  Mack Male,  Nicole Schroth,  Allan Suddaby and  Sharon Yeo. The presenters’ list read like the family tree of a Bon Appetit sire and a Cordon Bleu dame. With a roster like that, ticket buyers knew this was going to be one heck of a food extravaganza, and it was.

The day got off to an early start with breakfast and coffee held at Ernest’s. The buzz in the air was palpable. Conversation flitted from table to table as attendees introduced themselves to each other and compared their class schedules. Now, let me say, choosing classes was no easy task. How can you choose between learning how to make sausage and learning how to make gnocchi? Or, would one really give up beer tasting for gleaning knowledge on safe mushroom foraging? Choosing the wrong beer could be disastrous! How about the art of baking sourdough bread? Is that more important than making cheese? One cannot live on bread alone you know, and who hasn’t wanted to learn how to cook bison properly? What about the knife skills needed to carve, slice and dice that animal.

The last time I had to make so many hard decisions was when I was had to decide on a shade of paint for my living room. Not easy.

At 9 a.m. all attendees assembled for the morning keynote session to listen to Shannon and Danny Ruzicka of Nature’s Green Acres farm talk about “Life on the Back 40”. We learned of the importance of moving animals from pen to pen in order for the land to renew itself; we leaned of how sensitive chickens are to change and what social animals they are; we learned of the importance of raising animals on grass instead of grain and without hormones and antibiotics; we learned that Ruzicka's pigs don’t wallow in their own poop, preferring the spa-like attributes of good clean mud and water, and lastly we learned why Danny doesn’t like bees.

This is NOT Shannon and Danny, but I didn't take a picture of them at the conference, so consider this a stand-in photo.

Most importantly we learned that people like the Ruzickas work hard not only to put conscientiously raised food on their own table, but on the tables of Albertans as well. Hopefully now, more people will understand why someone like award-winning Chef Blair Lebsack supports this young farming family and why his Range Road 135 Field to Fork dinner on their property last year was a phenomenal success.

By 10 a.m. we were off to our first class, The Art of Sausage Making with sausage master, Allan Suddaby.

The Intense, Passionate Suddaby

I had, through the food community, heard about Suddaby and was aware of people’s adoration of the man, but I had no idea the level of knowledge he had, nor the passion he possessed for the product. Eat Alberta was wise in choosing this presenter for a class. We learned about the meat, the casings, the technique of stuffing and the science behind everything sausage. About two minutes into the session I became a Suddabite. One hour was not enough to soak up this man’s wit, skill and expertise.

Contemplative, yet daring to go where no sausage maker has gone before

Class two was chosen to ease away the stress and undo hardships of all that early morning sausage learning. Our second class was Beer Tasting with Jason Foster whose professional designation is Beer Writer. I would like to obtain a BW designation; I think that would be an awesome credential to have on a resume. Jason is also the beer columnist on CBC radio. Talk about a cool gig.

I don’t know why more people didn’t sign up for beer tasting in the morning slot. Lightweights. A low class enrolment in the early session meant more beer for those of us who put a lot of thought into scheduling. Ha.

Jason Foster in action

I went into this class with what I thought was a lot of beer knowledge—after all, I’ve been studying it since I swiped a bottle of warm Bohemian from my dad’s storage room in 1975, so, I was surprised to find myself leaning in, intently listening to Foster explain the differences between ales and lagers, hops and malts, and why Czech beer tastes so good. I learned that I don’t like super-hoppy beer but could see it being more palatable say, if it was served with bacon and eggs in a morning session. (Maybe next year?)

the view from my desk

Fortified by sausage and beer, we headed to the dining area to have lunch. Us foodies needed more food, and NAIT stuck to the theme of local by providing lunch made with local products. Nicely done.

After lunch we found our way to our next scheduled session: How to Magically Make Mozzarella. If you have milk, a pot, a thermometer, and a tablet of rennet, you too can make cheese--it’s that simple. However, I was a bit busy tweeting and texting and my neglect towards my curds resulted in a pathetic blob of white "stuff". NAIT’s Chef Alan Roote, a very kind and patient instructor, said this of my cheese: “Well, I’ve seen worse.” Bless him.

Doomed cheese?

We put our mozza balls into ziplock bags and placed them in the cooler to set until we could take them home at the end of the day. When I opened the cooler door and saw everyone else’s perfect cheese balls lined up, I have to admit I was tempted to exchange mine with Carmen Cheng’s (@FoodKarma) whose mozza mound looked like it came straight from Italy. Damn that Carmen and her perfect cheese ball. But somehow, through the miracle of science, cooling, and absolute fluke, my cheese transformed into a rather tasty, somewhat toothsome oblong mass of mozzarella.

Our final class: Bison with Blair Lebsack where Lebsack had three cuts of bison on the go: brisket, sirloin roast, and striploin steaks. A huge pan of root vegetable hash was caramelizing its way to glory while Blair instructed us on the finer points of bison nutrition, versatility, trimming and cooking methods. I love Lebsack’s unwavering level of food integrity, his skill, his creativity and his commitment to conscientiously raised foods. I vow to have more bison on my table.

Blair Lebsack trimming bison striploin

Cutting into bison brisket

By 3:45 we waddled into the final session where a panel of food warriors (Shannon Ruzicka, Amy Beaith, Kevin Kossowan, Jeff Senger, Allan Suddaby) expounded on How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse using personal methods of food preservation, caching, fermenting and storage techniques. It has to be said that no one on the panel has yet encountered a zombie, but I have no doubt that come the day of the Apocalypse, we’re all better off now knowing what to do to survive. In all seriousness, we learned that it doesn’t take much to sustain oneself either by growing one’s own food, or trading with others who do. It takes commitment and heart; two things Albertan foodies have a heck of a lot of.

Warning: Members of the Panel Are Not as Docile as They Appear

After all that learning it was time to “wine down”. The Eat Alberta team organized one last event to cap off the day with a wine and food pairing, giving attendees one last chance to compare notes and revel in what they had just experienced. Spectacular wines from Ex Nihilo, Barr Estate Winery, and Birds and Bees were paired with beautiful food mini-bites. The wine down was so wonderful that no one wanted to leave. It was one of those “you don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here” happenings, but home we went, our heads and bellies full of knowledge and food.

And all that for $125. I’ve been to conferences where I’ve learned less and paid more, and where the food was hardly fit to eat. This conference was outstanding. In fact, if the Eat Alberta team would have had sign up sheets for EA2013, I would’ve signed up right then and there. Thanks to the organizers, the presenters, the volunteers and to NAIT. For those interested in next year’s conference, keep your ears on the foodvine; tickets are going to be one hot item.

Speaking of tickets, be careful where you park. Right, Kevin?

Steve, aka Johnny Lawyer on the Spot, tending to a "Much Ado About Nothing" parking incident.

Much more erudite blogposts on Eat Alberta have been posted. Please check out my fellow food bloggers: Sarah at A Random Sampling, and photographer-extraordinaire, Maki, from In My Element.

Bubba's - Edmonton's King of BBQ

2012-03-16T10:02:00.003-06:00

Every day is a good day for barbecue and nothing stops us Canucks from firing up the bbq even when the temperature drops well below zero. For a long time, Rand Peterson--the man behind Bubba's BBQ--served tasty hunks of charred meat to avid followers from his trailer in Triton's parking lot off Davies Road, and then, like a puff of smoke, he was gone. For months, Peterson became the Waldo of the Edmonton food scene as Bubba fans flooded the Twitterverse with "Where's Bubba?" tweets.

In November of 2011 Peterson re-surfaced in a parking lot behind Superstore on 51 Avenue and Calgary Trail South and immediately, again on Twitter, Bubba sightings were reported. It didn't take long for happy eaters to return, lining up even in the coldest temperatures for Bubba's bbq.

And they keep coming back because what Peterson serves out of his small white trailer is honest to goodness good barbecue: simple offerings of wonderfully smoked, juicy meats (pork, chicken and beef) but what you need to know is that only one item is served each day, and every item costs $11. Here's the schedule:

Monday - Chicken and Tennessee (pork) Ribs

Tuesday - Tennessee Pulled Pork with Rice and Beans

Wednesday - Carolina-style Pulled Pork on a Bun

Thursday - Beef Brisket on a Bun

Friday - Tennessee Ribs with Shrimp Rice

The difference between Carolina and Tennessee barbecue is in the sauce. Carolina sauce has a base of mustard and vinegar whereas Tennessee barbecue's sauce is tomato based. The cup of dipping sauce and the spice rub on the ribs and chicken are Peterson's secret blends (all good barbecue-ers have secret recipes) and come from years of smoking, tinkering and barbecue devotion. According to Peterson, he's been eating barbecue his whole life...and I'm talking real barbecue folks; what we do here in Canada, for the most part, is grilling. You need to go south--way south--to know what them Americans are talkin' about when they say "Y'all want some 'cue?"

So, if y'all want some good 'cue here (or "Q" as its also referred to down yonder), head on over to Bubba's Monday to Friday. Start lining up at 11:15, he opens at 11:30 and take cash only; he's not set up for any other payment method. When the food's gone, he's gone, so good luck in gettin' some, and although Bubba doesn't tweet much, you can follow him on Twitter @BubbaKingofBBQ

The only thing missing is a place to sit and enjoy the food, something Peterson is hoping to change if he could only find time to build them, so if anyone has wooden picnic tables to donate, he would love to receive those in the meantime. If you have one to give up, call him first to discuss: 780-909-8036

You can listen to my CBC Edmonton AM review on Bubba's BBQ here.

For more reading on my travels through the Deep South, follow these links:

Memphis - Quest for'Cue 2011

Memphis Part 2 - 2011

Exploring North Carolina 2010

Carolina BBQ 2009

New Orleans, Louisiana 2009

Cafe Haven - Sherwood Park's Gem

2012-03-14T16:06:00.000-06:00

Cafe Haven, a bistro/coffee house in Sherwood Park has been around for a few years and is well-known to local residents. I've frequented this little restaurant several times but recently when I stopped in for lunch, I felt it had really hit its stride. The owners, Michael and Julie Harvey, offer up conscientious dishes inspired by global travels and made from local, seasonal and organic (when available) ingredients. They also offer an extensive list of tea and coffee drinks, locally brewed beer and a small selection of wines. Oh, and the Harvey's are environmentally conscious as well; they recycle, they compost, and they belong to Live Local. They're the kind of restaurant owners that other restaurant owners should emulate.

The Space

The restaurant is located in an old bank, and the cherished seating is in the vault, or what is now known as the Red Room.

The rest of the space is furnished in Formica-topped tables and kitschy chairs interspersed with contemporary furnishings and a few leather chairs to nestle in near the fireplace.

Cafe Haven feels like home.

The Food

Cafe Haven offers breakfast and lunch, and brunch on weekends. Each day features a home made soup and special. The day we went, butternut squash with roasted garlic soup was simmering on the stove and those ingredients combined were the perfect remedy to winter's chill outside.

Butternut Squash and Roasted Garlic Soup with
Coconut Curry Chicken Wrap

Chicken Sandwich with Caramelized Apples and Brie
served with Roasted Potato, Cheese and Bacon soup

Crab and Feta Quiche on a Dill Crust

Irvings Farm Fresh Smoked Ham and Cheddar with Hummus Salad

I like what the Harveys do with food. Ingredients are sourced locally meaning what homemade food comes out on the plate is fresh and flavourful. I also like their commitment to local producers and the good relationships that result.

The desserts bring back memories of church potluck suppers and the good old days when we'd drive to relatives farms for weekend get-togethers, and I was happy to hear that all desserts are made in-house except for some that are made by an elderly couple with recipes used out of an old church cookbook -- like the butter tarts. The cinnamon buns could very possibly take home the gold medal if they were ever entered in a contest.

Butter Tarts just like Grandma's

Finest Cinnamon Buns in the County (and beyond).

Go for the food, go for the coffee, go for brunch on weekends, but you might have to fight the rest of the masses who know what a haven this Haven really is. Also, being given Honourable Mention for best cafe in the March 2012 issue of Avenue Magazine (Edmonton) hasn't hurt business either.

Or, go on Thursday nights when they're open late for Music Night. Follow Michael Harvey on Twitter @cafehaven for menus, specials and events.

To listen to my CBC Edmonton AM review of Cafe Haven, click here

Nola in Edmonton - The Deep South, Northern Style

2012-03-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

New Orleans--known as Nola to locals--is one of my favourite U.S. destinations. The city is both gritty and pretty, steeped in history, mired in mystery borne of pirates, plantations, and voodoo; ravaged by hurricanes and rebuilt by indefatigable people, Nola is a city to be explored and cherished. And the food...oh, the food. If its not been officially declared as one yet, New Orleans, Louisiana, should be every foodie's Mecca.

So, when a place called Nola opened up in Edmonton, you better believe my ears pricked up in a hurry.

The place bills itself as a Creole Kitchen and Music House. That's a very good combination; in New Orleans you can't have one without the other. The night we went to Nola in Edmonton, Alfie Zappacosta was on stage, and though I've never been a huge fan, I have to say the man won me over that night with his vocals and humour. Maybe the rum had something to do with it...

L: Embalming Fluid R: Hurricane

Nola's drink list is impressive and fun. You gotta love a drink called Embalming Fluid. But horror of horrors, they had run out of mint for the Juleps. If that happened in the South, there'd be a riot.

The menu looked enticing with many a "Nawlin's" dish to be offered: gumbo, jambalaya, blackened snapper, hush puppies, and more. We were ready to dig in to some Creole fare and asked our server what she'd recommend. She replied, "I'm not a fan of Creole food..." Such uninspiring words are not what you want to hear from your server and after our eyebrows lowered to their normal positions, we settled on fried oysters, hush puppies and a bowl of gumbo to start us off.

I can still taste and recall the fried Gulf oysters I had at Felix's Oyster Bar in New Orleans--big, succulent, lightly breaded and seasoned. The ones we had at Nola in Edmonton were, well, strange; more oyster bits than anything (a minced combination of three Canadian oysters). At $9, a huge disappointment, but that being said, what bits were there, were very tasty.

Fried ~~Oysters~~ Oyster Bits

The hush puppies were quite good, but aren't your typical hush puppies. 'Puppies in the South are made of cornmeal and few other ingredients. These hush puppies were a combination of seafood and cornmeal and called "seafood fritters". They (and the smoky red pepper aioli) went great with the French Quarter dark beer, made specially for Nola by Amber's Brewing Company. I'll give the chef at Nola some creative leniency here with his version of hush puppies.

Hush puppies $8

Speaking of cornmeal, the little cornmeal muffins that came before everything were the highlight of the whole experience. Moist, fluffy, and served with a whipped butter made it hard not to fill up before the rest of the dishes came. They were a wonderful accompaniment to the gumbo which lacked a little in flavour and could've used a "BAM!" a la Emeril to kick it up a notch.

Gumbo

For mains we went with the blackened snapper, a nicely spiced chunk of delicate fish, cooked perfectly and served with roasted fingerling potatoes and vegetables, all nestled in a bourbon butter sauce. Don't fear the bourbon, it was remotely present to the point of being unnoticeable.

Blackened Red Snapper $18

Any Creole kitchen worth its salt should have an étouffée on menu. The word means "to smother" and a bowl of seafood étouffée should be smothered in a rich dark roux (gravy) made from fat and flour. The darker the roux, the deeper the flavour. At Nola, the seafood étouffée was a combination of all the right ingredients (shrimp, clams, scallops, vegetables), but the roux was more broth than gravy and lacked the depth of flavour it should've had. The restaurant also lacked Louisiana hot sauces, a big no-no.

Seafood Etouffee $24

After all that food, we forged ahead to the dessert menu because when you're faced with southern desserts, you just can't say no.

The desserts at Nola are substantial and not for the faint of heart (or heart patient). The beignets are again, not like the ones New Orleans is known for (light, fluffy, one to a plate), but rather dense dough balls swimming in chocolate. Try to put your past beignet experiences aside (if you have them), and enjoy these, because they're deep fried dough in chocolate, and how can you not enjoy that?

Beignet with chocolate sauce $8

The bread pudding left something to be desired though. It definitely needed the sauce and the strawberries to let the tastebuds know there was flavour present and it could've benefited from less heft.

Bread pudding in whisky sauce $8

Overall, the food was decent but lacked a bit of soul. The experience was enjoyable -- music, food, cocktails and local beer. The service, or rather, server was more booze-oriented than food-savvy, and the whole concept of vacating your table after two hours was confusing being that you're there to enjoy food and music performers. Sorry Alfie...would've liked to stay, but our time was up. ?

To listen to my review of Nola on CBC Edmonton AM, click here, and to read about our New Orleans, Louisiana experience, click here.

Dahlia's Mediterranean Bistro - Small Spot, Big Flavour

2012-03-05T08:43:00.000-07:00

Dahlia's Mediterranean Bistro is located at the base of an office building on 124 Street and a place you might not notice if you don't work in the area. There are lots of good things going on in this part of Edmonton lately--from bakeries to wine bars to boutiques. I'd heard positive snippets about Dahlia's for quite some time and finally made a point of stopping by for lunch a few weeks ago on a Saturday afternoon.

Fadi Smaidi, son of a Lebanese restaurateur in Montreal, opened up this bistro in 2009. His goal was simple: to bring authentic Mediterranean fare to Edmonton and provide unwavering quality to his customers.

The day we went, Fadi was behind the counter and he greeted us with a welcomed dose of genuine hospitality and good-natured ribbing. That, along with some pretty cool art on the walls and a heady aroma of garlic, smoked meat and spices, and we knew we were about to embark on a memorable food experience.

Service is cafeteria style -- menu boards are on the wall, so after you've had a look, go to the counter where hot foods are waiting and place your order with Fadi or the sweet and wonderful Rochelle (fantastic server), grab a drink, pay, and have a seat. Or, get your food to go -- which is how a lot of workers in the area go about it.

For starters, you will find falafel balls and tahini dip; hummus or babaghanouj (eggplant dip) with pita bread, fatayers (a pastry sort of mini pie filled with meat or cheese or spinach, or combination of ingredients), a soup of the day, and the most incredible, delectable, garlic potatoes with garlic sauce.

fatayer

Garlic Potatoes

You can also find four salads: the parsley-based tabouli, a hearty yet healthy fattoush (cucumber, lettuce, tomatoes, radish, mint and baked pita chips), the ubiquitous Greek salad, and Caprese (tomato and mozzarella). A bonus that Saturday was a chickpea salad rife with Mediterranean flavours and packed with fibre. This salad is extremely filling and definitely one to split between a few people.

Greek Salad

If you're a sandwich person, you're going to be happy with what Fadi offers: Nine in total starting with some from the Middle East: chicken or beef shawarmas and falafel, all of which are packed with onions, parsley, pickled turnip, tomato and tahini sauce and bundled in a soft pita.

Chicken Shawarma

Falafel

Some more creative combinations are found in the turkey and artichoke on ciabatta; the Gruyere and caramalized onion on rye; a pastrami and sauerkraut on Swiss, and the one we jumped on, the Montreal smoked meat on a marbled rye bread. Thank you Fadi for bringing some of that Montreal flavour to our city. I'm happy to report that smoked meat sandwich was the best I've tasted this far west in a very long time.

Montreal Smoked Meat on Rye

Dahlia's is one of those places that you kick yourself for not discovering sooner. Fadi's genuine interest in people, his love of food, his commitment to quality, and his sense of humour made instant fans of our group, so much so that a week later my family went back while I was out of town, taunting me with tales of what they ate. But I made up for it the following week by returning for three large containers of those sinful garlic potatoes to feed a crew who were helping move a friend across town. (You know what they say about eating garlic...if one does, you all should. We did, and it was good...very good.)

Dahlia's is the type of business that is making 124 Street a destination for dining and shopping. A tip of the hat to 124 Street and Area Business Association for their hard work in making 124 street a vibrant and vital economic area. If you haven't strolled down there lately, check out the area's website at www.124street.ca/.

To listen to my CBC review of Dahlia's Bistro, click here.

Portland, OR - A First Timer's First Impression

2012-01-09T10:45:00.001-07:00

Portland is a food, beer, wine and cocktail lover’s Utopia; a shopper’s treasure; an artist’s haven.

With Mount Hood to the east, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and scores of rivers, waterfalls, forests and hiking trails all around, the area is also a nature lover’s playground.

Multnomah Falls

Portlanders are hip, artsy and ruggedly cool. Guys wear plaid shirts and 1970s down- filled vests. Women wrap their necks with natural fibre scarves and look enviably healthy and beautiful with no makeup. Portlanders love their Happy Hour and ramen. Community gardens sprout abundantly in empty residential lots and the dining establishments that don’t serve locally grown and natural, consciously raised food products are the odd ones out. There are as many old cars and trucks on the roads as new ones. Think 1972 Chevy half-ton. Jeep Wagonneers. Portland’s cool factor is off the charts.

Merchandise at Animal Traffic on Mississippi Avenue

The city was named one of the most livable cities in the USA in 2010, and if you spend any time there, it won’t take you more than a day of exploring to understand why.

We had five days after Christmas to take in Portland. We would’ve gladly spent five weeks had we the time.

Food: You'll want to do your research on places to eat and you'll find a plethora of information on the web. (I'll post some restaurant recaps in a day or so.) The Pacific Northwest is abundant with good--no, make that great--food. If you’re a food truck/food cart fan (and who isn’t?), Portland boasts over 500 portable food purveyors. Check Portland's Food Cart website for info. Only a handful, however, were open over the Christmas/New Year break and because of that, we have decided to return to Portland for a food cart tour this year.

Downtown Portland Food Trucks

Food Trucks on Division Street

We had spectacular food in Portland but we managed to find a couple of duds too: Henry’s Tavern in the Pearl District (if you’re Canadian, think any over-decorated restaurant geared to big plates, big fixtures and over-processed, big bang-no whammy food), and Jake's Grill (a McCormick and Shmick's property) in a gorgeous historical building downtown. This is what happens when you don't do your research.

Lodging: The Hotel Monaco-Portland holds the #1 rating on Trip Advisor, and deservedly so. We chose it because of its downtown location and because of the types of rooms it offered. Traveling with four teenagers means we need space and the Monaco definitely offered that with the rooms we chose. Staff is extremely helpful and knowledgeable about the area, and the nightly wine and mingle hour in the lobby gives patrons a chance to taste local wines and enjoy the hotel's art collection.

Lobby at Hotel Monaco Portland

This hotel is pet-friendly, so if you don’t like dogs, don’t stay here. Several guests brought their canine companions along but we never experienced any barking issues or unruly beasts. The Monaco’s mascot dog, Timmy, lounges anywhere he so desires and is the object of everyone’s attention that passes by.

Sightseeing: The OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry), the zoo and the Portland Art Museum are listed as the city’s top attractions, but we found worthwhile sites just by driving or walking around and taking the time to shop, eat or stop for locally roasted java in one of the many coffee houses in the city.

Shopping at Flutter on Mississippi Avenue

Around the corner from Voodoo Doughnuts SW 3rd Ave

Exploring Alberta Avenue Arts District

Great Coffee at Caffe Vita on Alberta Avenue

The city's historic buildings add to the charm and are home to countless cafes, boutiques and pubs.

The infamous Voodoo Doughnuts - original location SW 3rd Avenue

Portland revels in its quirkiness. In fact, bumper stickers and even a building sport the slogan, “Keep Portland Weird”. How wonderful to see a city promote its individuality and resist homogenization.

Portland has everything a city needs to lure travellers back for another visit. It's interesting, quirky, vibrant and will keep you fed and watered with good food and drink in more ways than you could imagine.

Portlanders, I envy you -- even your airport is cool.

Check back soon for more blog posts on this incredible city.

An Outsider's Peek Inside Pok Pok - Portland,OR

2012-01-06T11:52:00.001-07:00

Five days in Portland gave us only a taste of wonderful things this city has to offer. PDX, as it is sometimes called, is high on the global radar list as a must-stop food destination and its not hard to understand why when you consider the talent of the chefs in the area and the availability of incredible fresh food products at their disposal. And then there's the wine, beer, cocktails and coffee culture. Portland is a veritable Food Garden of Eden.

Our first stop (and entirely by accident) was Pok Pok, a divey little hideaway on SE Division Street known for its Southeast Asian streetfood. We were actually after ramen at Wafu across the way, but were there two hours before they opened. Pok Pok it was -- and that was just fine because this is a restaurant I have read much about. Being a Vietnamese and Thai food fan from way back, I was thrilled to find myself on its doorstep.

Here's what Fearless Critic has to say about Pok Pok:
"If you haven’t spent serious time in Thailand (and outside touristy areas), forget everything you think you know, and experience what Thai food really is (and then wonder why on earth no one else is doing this): lime, chili, fish sauce, fermented shrimp paste."

Forget everything you know...

What Andy Ricker serves at Pok Pok is cuisine from northeast and northern Thailand (with an influence or two from surrounding countries). He has traveled there, spent numerous months there and has eaten, breathed and lived street food until it was coming out of his ears. He returns yearly to learn and taste more. I like that in a chef.

We, like thousands before us, went crazy over Ike's Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings. We ordered both flavours (in spicy and regular). Sweet mother of God; eating these was almost a religious experience.

The wings are big. Like, really big. I imagine the birds, from whom these appendages once sprang, lived their days getting tattoos and throwing each other off hay bales before slinging their duffel bags over their shoulders en route to their final destination. These are wings you can really sink your teeth into. And we did, with gluttonous gusto. Our kids were fine with the heat factor; the spicy variety was not so much a hot spice as it was luscious layer of zippy depth.

I can't remember what the name of this soup was or what the ingredients were, but I do believe a dose of angel tears was amongst them. And liquid sunshine. And definitely coconut. Come on Ricker, you're killing me here. Give me a snorkel next time so I can submerse myself and linger in the moment.

The menu at Pok Pok changes seasonally. Why? Because that's what good restaurants do.

Below is the much lauded Kai Yaang - roasted game hen stuffed with garlic, lemongrass, cilantro and magic dust. They call this their signature dish. This was a gorgeous bird. Don't be afraid to order the full size instead of the half...you'll want to eat as much as you can. SUCC-u-LENT.

But here's the pièce de résistance: Papaya Pok Pok, or what I like to call "Hellfire-Crack and Damnation".

The server warmed me that it was spicy. I said, "I like spice." In fact, I was so sure of myself, I ordered it with the optional salted black crab Isaan style (fermented fish sauce called plaa raak, and dry chilies). The server advised that maybe, considering it was my first time, that I go easy and order it regular. But I was committed. I like spice. Bring it.

Forget everything you know...

Eating this salad is like sticking your tongue on a mosquito zapper. You should stop, but you can't. Even after the pain hits, you want more. And yet the flavours-- the lime, the garlic, the papaya, the fish sauce--they all hit your tongue like raindrops. Like pelting, acid raindrops. So why, you may ask, would anyone want to eat this? Because one week later, I am craving it, that's why. The heat, the sweet, the tang, the crunch...all those things together make this dish the culinary crack of Pok Pok.

If this was our first Portland food experience, I couldn't wait for what the next day would bring.

Pok Pok, by the way, is named after the sound that is made when pestle and mortar meet.

And something else you should know: the food, simply said, is some of the best stuff you'll ever put in your mouth. Oh, and also: Andy Ricker, the man behind it all, was awarded the 2011 James Beard Foundation Best Chef Northwest award. 'Nuff said.

For a list of accolades, articles and awards, visit Pok Pok's website.

Cibo Bistro in Edmonton - Restaurant Review

2011-12-22T17:30:00.003-07:00

Ricotta, pancetta, pappardelle, gnocchi: Viva Italia! Or, to quote the Boston Pizza chicken wing guy, "Knock me down and call me Susan." I get a little excited when I think about Italian food, and Cibo, Edmonton's newest Italian restaurant, has had me quivering in my boots since I saw the press release of their opening.

The team behind Cibo: NAIT Red Seal Chef Rosario Caputo and Sous Chef Matt Helstein are in the kitchen curing their own meats, making their own pasta, simmering ragùs and whipping up heart-stopping desserts. Michael Giampa (Rosario's cousin) gained front-of-house experience over the years working in local restaurants before he and Rosario opened Cibo two months ago. They have the experience and the DNA. So far, so good.

The space is the old Tesoro Caffe & Bar, so while architecturally it's still the same, the colours have been deepened, the lighting has been dimmed and the space overall more fine-dine'afide.

The guys tweet, they Facebook; they're young, they're hip, they're cool, and they're into food. So let's talk about that—the food—starting with some plates meant to be shared:

1. Pan Fried Ricotta Cakes - house made goat ricotta, formed into little pillowy puffs that are topped with a tasty slathering of tomato basil jam and tender shredded chicken conduto. House made ricotta should be the standard method for any restaurant featuring this cheese. It makes all the difference in the world. This was a very good starter with all the right elements: savoury, sweet, salty and creamy.

2. Polenta Fritta - French fry-like rectangles of polenta with a stack of calabrese salami to wrap around each crispy stick, and a side of aioli for dipping. Did not expect this. And pleasantly surprised by how my kids inhaled them seeing as they all "hate polenta".

3. Trio di Bruschetta Della Casa - three types of toppings on crostini: braised fennel and roasted red pepper, chanterelle mushroom ragù, marinated zucchini and dill. The best of the lot was the mushroom, followed by the fennel and pepper, and lastly and unanimously, the zucchini dill which was not liked by any. Too tangy, too vinegar-ish was the consensus.

The Mains:
This is a good looking menu, albeit a little on the caloric and carbohydrated side. Besides three pasta dishes (pastas made in-house), Cibo offers three meat entrees (pork, beef, veal) and four sides (three vegetable and one deep-fried rice ball). Diet-conscious eaters are going to have trouble here. One lonely salad peeks out from the antipasti area. The Brussels sprouts are done in brown butter and the mussels come in a bath of black garlic cream. So, good luck.

Throwing coronary caution to the wind, we went with:
1. Ravioli al Sugo - ricotta filled pasta squares topped with a tomato veal ragù. That's my soul food right there. The pasta was delicate and plentiful, the ricotta tangy and soft, and the ragù hearty and rich. A bit too much salt in the ragù but overall a very satisfying dish.

2. Pappardelle Bolognese - the menu says "traditional bolognese with wild boar" but that is incongruous with the origins of the dish. This meat-based sauce originated in Bologna, Italy and there is, believe it or not, an actual Bolognese delegation that stipulates what exactly can go into a traditional Bolognese sauce. It is Italy after all where regions and delegations and designations are paramount where anything edible or drinkable is concerned. In 1982, the delegation registered the traditional Bolognese recipe as one made with beef and served on tagliatelle, not pappardelle and definitely not—Dio mi perdoni!—spaghetti. No other meat is considered traditional and I dare you to tell someone from Bologna otherwise. That aside, wild boar is similar in taste to beef, so you'd actually be hard pressed to tell the difference anyways, especially in a dish like this. Cibo's pappardelle bolognese was very good. This meat had obviously been simmered and coddled and whispered to and what resulted was some sweet Italian love clinging to those al dente noodles. (Photo fail, no photo).

3. Gnocchi - served in a gorgonzola cream. In my household, the topic of gnocchi is a hot and steamy one. Ricotta, flour or potato? Naked (as in gnudi) or covered in cheese? At Cibo, the gnocchi are definitely a heavier dumpling and not the light, fluffy, airy pillows that some people favour. If I were a betting man, I'd say these were potato gnocchi made with a Yukon gold or other waxy spud...but I'm no man, and I don't like to bet—unless I'm in Vegas and drinking lychee martinis. Cibo, you let me down here. Those poor gnocchi suffocated and sank like little gummy Titanics under that heavy blanket of creamy gorgonzola sauce.

4. Guance di Manzo - Braised beef cheeks served with arancini and wilted rapini. I've saved this stunner for last. It's been a long time since I've beheld a more tender piece of meat and my hat is off to whomever in the kitchen cooked this wonderful cut. Rich, deep flavours, toothsome yet yielding in texture. You could cut through it with a fork. The arancini, a deep fried ball of rice stuffed with mushroom and cheese could not compete with the star of the show, and the rapini...well, it's rapini. What can you say: green and boring. That's rapini. But the guance di manzo? Dreamworthy.

All that food meant we were going to be sharing desserts—you know, we didn't want to overdo it. We shared the chocolate trio plate that came with a dark chocolate tart, white chocolate gelato, and a mousse made of Frangelico and milk chocolate. The chefs should be arrested, or sent to a confessional, because this chocolate was absolutely sinful.

The goat milk panna cotta was thankfully—finally!— a fairly light offering. Despite being a custard, it wasn't heavy at all and was quite soothing to our over-taxed systems. The peppered blueberry sauce was more berry than pepper (that's good), and topping it all off was a dusting of grated cheese. What kind of cheese? We asked and were given "I think it's something like Parmesan..." by the waiter and when pressed, returned to tell us the kitchen told him they were too busy to tell him. Say what?

Unfortunately, this was the server's modus operandi and the only thing that left us with a bad taste in our mouth—well, next to the frightful cocktail at the start that had both our server and the owner adding a dash of this and a dash of that only to be altered with god knows what liquid (water?) to compensate for the over-dashing of whatever was mistakenly poured into the glass.

The end result tasted like a watered down, melted, blue Popsicle. Cocktail fail. Even though my husband said it was watery, our server just smiled, touched my shoulder, and then walked away.
The food shone, no doubt. The service though, or rather our particular server, concerned us initially with his mispronunciation of menu items and lack of menu knowledge, and then irritated us with his hands on approach (literally hands on, as in touchy-feely every time he stopped by), and finally just offended us when he tried to snow us with bogus information. Very disappointing and not acceptable when the restaurant is trying to establish itself as an authentic Italian bistro.

And finally: the wine list has several spelling mistakes which need to be corrected in order for the establishment to be taken seriously. The Jumping Grape Sparkling Shiraz/Cab is listed in the Italian category which is something they might want to rectify because everyone knows that Italians don't give their wines cutesy titles like Jumping Grape.

A few glitches, easily remedied.

My CBC Edmonton review can be heard here.

Bird's Nest Soup - A Once in a Lifetime Lunch

2011-12-22T09:57:00.000-07:00

It's not every day that you come across bird spit soup on a menu, so when we saw it featured at the Palazzo's Asian restaurant, Zine, in Vegas, we had no choice but to order it. The lychee martinis may have had something to do with our decision, after all, the soup cost $128 a bowl and no sober person that I know of would spend that kind of money on a bowl of soup.

This soup, actually known as Bird's Nest Soup, is a delicacy in Chinese cuisine and has been ingested there and in various parts of Southeast Asia for centuries. Quick research indicates anywhere from the past 400 to 1500 years. In some countries the nests (built by swifts) are harvested by cliff-scaling pickers and are only taken after the eggs have hatched and the young have flown. Typically, it takes 35 days for the swift to use its spittle to wind and weave an intricate basket about the size of a human fist.

White Birds Nest
photo credit: http://www.luxist.com/gallery/birds-nest-soup/1323980/

These days the nests are more commonly harvested from purpose-built nest houses. White nests can sell for up to $2,000 USD per kilo, but the red nests (the pigment is due to minerals found in the caves) from Thailand can have a price tag of up to $10,000 USD/kilo. At Zine, the soup alone cost around $90 for the bowl but with the papaya, the price increased to $128. That's one heck of an expensive papaya if you ask me. Vegas. Go figure.

Why do people eat this stuff? The saliva is rich in nutrients and according to Chinese medicinal claims, eating said saliva will improve all sorts of ailments--from dull complexions to dull libido, and everything in between.

So what does bird spit taste like? Hard to say as what we mostly tasted was the papaya. But I can tell you this, bird spit has a texture like...spit. Strings of spit. Sort of like slimy glass noodles--which is what you will need to tell your brain as you spoon the saliva strings into your mouth: "Glass noodles. I'm eating glass noodles." And then wash them down with another martini.

Monta Ramen House, Las Vegas - Sweet Merciful Ramen!

2011-12-12T12:01:00.003-07:00

A night of over consumption in Las Vegas had us in search of hangover food the next day. Vietnamese Pho is usually a good fixer-upper but lately I've been curious about ramen, a soup dish that has become hugely popular across North America. In fact, I had just finished reading Jay Friedman's article in the Nov/Dec 2011 issue of Northwest Palate so we were thrilled to find Monta, Sin City's top rated ramen house.

Photo cover of Portland's Boke Bowl - a non-traditional bowl of ramen topped with southern fried chicken

Ramen, said to have originated in China but adopted and adapted by the Japanese, is what people seek when they want umami-packed Asian soul food. At 11:40 a.m. the place was packed.

We grabbed the two remaining seats at the counter, right next to a fellow from California who drove over four hours for Monta’s ramen. This man, who has traveled all over the world, said Monta’s ramen is the next best thing to what he experienced in Japan. Still, we had no idea what to expect.

We didn’t expect heaven in a bowl—which is pretty much what we got, and exactly what we needed after a night of dallying with several of the seven deadly sins.

Tonkotsu-Shoyu with egg $8.50

Monta serves ramen (wheat flour noodles) in four broth styles: Shoyu (soy sauce), Miso (bean paste), Tonkostsu (pork bone) and Tonkotsu-Shoyu (combination of pork bone broth and soy sauce). The pork broth is made by boiling pork bones, fat, and collagen over high heat for many hours until all that remains is a cloudy, viscous, deeply layered broth. All of Monta's ramen soups come with green onions, two slices of chashu, bamboo shoots and kikurage (mushroom). You can choose to add more toppings like nitamago (soft boiled egg) which adds more silkiness to the hearty soup. I would highly recommend ordering extra chashu, a thin slice of pork with a noticeable fat strip that makes the pork literally melt on your tongue.

Have you ever eaten something so good it almost makes you weep? This is ramen. And when ramen is this good, it’s not just food, it’s an otherworldly experience. In two weeks we’re going to Portland which, along with Los Angeles and New York, is apparently, a ramen hotbed and thanks to that article in Northwest Palate, I know exactly where we'll be headed: Shigezo, Biwa, Yuzu, Wafu and maybe even Boke Bowl for that southern-fried chicken ramen. Five days, five ramen restaurants. Entirely do-able.

Ousia - Mediterranean Restaurant in Edmonton - Review

2011-12-08T10:24:00.001-07:00

The area on Whyte Avenue in Edmonton between 108 and 109 Street is quickly becoming an interesting dining destination. Ousia, a Mediterranean inspired chic little joint joins a Vietnamese pho place, a Cuban café and a couple of Lebanese restaurants all in the span of one block. Ousia though, is the most chic of the bunch and although the word, Ousia, is Greek for essence, the menu is far from any other Greek menu you’ve probably seen.

First impressions were very good on entering Ousia: warm, dark, intimate and classy. The owners took their time and money on designing a very inviting spot.

The menu too was impressive – not for length, for simplicity. Sometimes less options are better. Cocktails are creative; the tamarind Margarita, although a bit sweet after a while was refreshingly different and delicious.

House made breads and a Turkish dip are placed on the table to nibble while deciding on what to have. A nice touch.

We started with the ouzo cured gravlax and the patatas bravas. If you’ve been to Spain, you’ll have seen and tasted your fair share of the latter and these at Ousia rival any I had in Spain. Hot, crispy on the outside, perfectly cooked and served with a sundried tomato puree and spicy chili aioli. You’ll be tempted to order a second helping.

If you like ouzo, you’ll like the gravlax; the liqueur is definitely front and centre in this dish but that could also be its downfall overshadowing the delicate flavour of the salmon. The plating was artistic and the lemon gelee was a great touch. Not sure about the beets though; their flavour, like the ouzo was a bit aggressive.

The shrimp ceviche was a hit. At first we thought four taro chips wouldn't be enough to scoop the shrimp, lime and avocado mixture, but it worked just fine and the chips were the perfect vehicle to bring those tasty morsels to mouth.

We were off to a good start. The appetizers, overall, were nicely done. On to the mains:

The special of the night was pan-seared duck breast with kumquat cherry compote. All the flavours were there but the duck breast was chewy. Presentation-wise, it wasn't sitting too pretty on the plate either. We eat with our eyes first, right?

Braised lamb shank: Served in a big bowl was one heck of a big shank. For $32 I got a lot of bone and a little meat that was hard to get at in such a deep bowl, but the meat that was there was braised nicely and the chorizo tomato stew surrounding the perfectly cooked polenta square was delicious.

The most soulful of the lot was the wild mushroom, truffle-drizzled mascarpone risotto. A hearty risotto that was ultra creamy, this would be a great dish for two people to share as a side being that the entrees are protein-focused and light on the accompaniments.

Two dishes that failed completely: the veal afelia -- over-peppered small thin slices of veal had this dish returning to the kitchen after two bites. It was replaced with an over-salted, over-cooked chicken kebab dish that also went back. The server took the charge off our bill and apologized profusely saying that the chef agreed with our concerns. It takes a lot for me to return a dish.

The desserts, thankfully, brought us back into a happy place. The flourless espresso chocolate cake was spectacular. Fudgy, smooth and dense...this would be perfect with a glass of port. And the mascarpone cheesecake with brandy cherry compote held just the right combination of creaminess and tartness. Ousia's desserts were a hit.

Service was very good, if a little fast at first and despite the server having to run to the kitchen to ask what certain words meant and what ingredients were. She certainly had enthusiasm and put the effort in.

Overall, Ousia holds promise. The ambiance scores high, as do the appetizers and desserts. The entrees were disappointing but those issues should be easily fixed and with that in mind, this restaurant will be a nice addition to the Edmonton dining scene.

My CBC restaurant review of Ousia can be heard here.

Thermomix Goes to Harvard

2011-12-06T10:34:00.037-07:00

Canadian Foodie, Valerie Rodgers-Lugonja, sent me an email last week with a rather odd request asking if I would be interested in taking my Thermomix (and hers) to Harvard University. The machines were needed for a food science demonstration being put on by Bill Yosses (the White House Pastry Chef) and Najat Kaanache, “apprentice to the world’s best chefs”.

Chef Bill Yosses at Harvard with the Thermomix

Lynette MacDonald, Australia's Thermomix Queen, who knew Najat from when she traveled to Australia, was enroute from Australia but without her machine (different voltage). Two machines were needed and none could be found in the Boston area so Lynette called Valerie and Valerie called me because, in her words, I was the only one crazy enough to do this on short notice.

The course at Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) uses cooking techniques as physical demonstrations of scientific phenomena. In their effort to explain physics, SEAS professors and guest lecturers demonstrate the why behind the what and the how. The food science sessions which have been running for almost a year have included chef lecturers Grant Achatz, José Andrés, Juan Roca, Wylie Dufresne, and David Chang among others. Ferran Adrià was at Harvard in preparation for his lecture December 4.

We met up with Christina Andujar, a coordinator at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and were taken down to the bowels of the North Lab. After meeting Najat and her crew, we left them to use the Thermomixes in preparation for the session while we headed into Boston to do touristy things. You know what they say about having too many cooks in the kitchen…

L to R: Me, Najat Kaanache, Lynette MacDonald

The next night, several hundred people crammed into Hall C to listen to Bill Yosses and watch as Najat combined various compounds to created olives, cheese and chocolate and poured liquid nitrogen over assorted foods in a dramatic display of culinary wizardry.

We also received some insight into the lives of these two chefs. Bill Yosses revealed that President Obama's favourite dessert is banana cream pie, and Najat told of what she learned at the hands of some of the greatest chefs in the world: patience, discipline and the luxury of simple food.

But nothing was simple at this lecture while liquids foamed, honey freeze-dried, and Bill Yosses explained the complex nature of emulsions, foams and gels.

Bill Yosses (l) and Najat Kaanache

The next day in a session attended by students only, we got to sample more of Najat’s modern food creations.

It was hard to detect what was the real thing and what was created through molecular gastronomy.

Lots of “smoke and mirrors” as Bill Yosses said.

the creation of an olive

Is molecular gastronomy still hot, or not? Have we tired of all the "smoke and mirrors" and yearn for good ol’ salt of the earth food?

This course was not so much about how to create olive spheres and pink foam, but more of what happens to food when science is introduced. Fascinating, yes -- maybe not for the everyday table, but if you want to get physics students interested in physics, its not a bad idea to do it through the deconstruction and creation of food especially when tasting the experiment is the end result.

Hats off to the staff at Harvard who have arranged these lectures--massive undertakings considering the arrangements needed to bring these chefs from around the globe and into the classroom. Kind of makes me want to be a student again. With sessions like these, I’m sure physics would be more palatable than it was 25 years ago.

Watch the full lecture here:

Hakuna Matata Somalian Restaurant in Edmonton

2011-11-24T11:57:00.002-07:00

Just saying the name of this restaurant will have you humming the song from The Lion King. I've had Timon and Pumba in my head for the past three days: "Hakuna Matata...aint no passing craze. It means no worries, for the rest of your days..." Now that winter is here, I'd like to have no more worries for the rest of the long cold days ahead.

I was a little worried when I walked into this Somalian restaurant on 118 Avenue at noon on a weekday. The room was quiet, cold and cavernous. We were the only people there for the entire lunch hour which surprised me especially after we tasted the food. Why aren't Edmontonians partaking of this home-made East African food? What I heard from one person on Twitter was that everytime she walked by the restaurant, it was closed. That's not good; Halima, one of the women who owns the restaurant told me they're open from 10 a.m to 10 p.m. every day.

My take is that the owners are struggling to find their foothold in the dining scene. Halima, who acts as lone cook and server until later in the day said they tried offering a buffet when they first opened two months ago, but the demand wasn't there. The decor is not a priority, the room is too big, and maybe the name is just a little too kitchy to entice Edmontonians in for a serious bite.

So, let's get to the food because that's really where this restaurant's strengths are.

Halima brought us a bowl of soup as soon as we sat down. She is shy and softspoken so we didn't understand that this was complimentary and only learned of the ingredients after we asked. Not sure if something got lost in translation, but the soup is a "bean soup" according to Halima although it has the consistency of pureed lentils and an onion garlic earthiness combined with citrus and pepper: delicious and much appreciated on a cold day.

The menu is odd. Everything from malawah (Somalian pancake and liver) for breakfast to beans for dessert. There's even spaghetti--which I scoffed at until Steve "The Walking Encyclopedia" informed me that Somalia was an Italian protectorate from the mid 1880s to the mid 1940s and was actually called Italian Somaliland for a while. As a result, Somalian food has a smidgen of Italian influence.

The bajiya appetizer is 5 fritters made of ground beans (again I suspect lentils or chickpeas), mixed with peppers and served with a spicy dipping sauce. These could be addictive and would go well with beer although there is no alcohol served at this restaurant.

The samosas were also very tasty. Called "sambosas" here, they were typical of other cultures' samosas: deep fried dough filled with a flavourful filling of ground beef and onion, and served with a hot pepper and mayonnaise dip.

We passed on the chicken steak and spaghetti with fish and ordered the Firdhis Sampler Combo, a platter of food good for 2 people to share, at a cost of $24. This was a great way to taste a variety of dishes including rice, chicken and beef suqaar (a stew of meat, peppers and onions), tender hunks of goat meat, salad and...spaghetti. Seems we were going to get that pasta whether we wanted it or not.

The suqaar was great and exactly what we expected. Big flavour, not too spicy -- wished there was more of it. The goat was tender and surprisingly not "goaty" like some I've had in the past. The salad was a simple chopped lettuce with Italian dressing (I'm talking Kraft-like, not Italy-like); the rice was cooked perfectly and mildly seasoned. The tray also came with anjero (soft flat bread) and Halima snuck in some ugali (cornmeal cooked to a poridgy-dough consistency) and vegetable stew. The woman is generous and even though some of the information got waylaid on the language highway, the food was definitely cooked and served with a skilled hand and a lot of heart. And the spaghetti? Better than I thought: served in a simple tomato and basil sauce and somehow worked just fine with the rest of the items.

There are more interesting items on the menu like muufo (spiced corn bread), mandhasi (sweet bread) and that dessert made with beans just begs to be tried. If you're looking for something unusual in your next dining experience, stop in at Hakuna Matata and visit Halima, but maybe call first (780-756-6884) just to make sure they're open.

My CBC Edmonton AM restaurant review with Rick Harp can be heard here.

Dumplings Restaurant - Review

2011-11-10T14:10:00.000-07:00

I want to share a little dumpling love with you. I stumbled across this restaurant just after they opened August 2010 and it didn't take long for me to become a devotee. I've blogged about Dumplings in the past (click here for the first post, and here for a later post), but there have been a few additions to the menu in the past little while, and I felt it was time to make Edmonton aware of this great little hidden gem on the city's south side.

With winter coming, you're going to want to get some of the Sichuan Dan Dan Noodle soup (pictured below) to ward off the cold days we know are ahead.

The restaurant is located at 2431 Ellwood Drive, Edmonton, and open from 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. seven days a week. (Sunday is debatable, so call 780-469-8885 if that's the day you're planning to visit.)

You can listen to my CBC Edmonton AM review by clicking here.

Canadian Maple Syrup -- Liquid Gold

2011-11-09T05:32:00.005-07:00

We've just returned from a conference in Dubai and London where we took gifts to fellow attendees and relatives in England. Peoples' eyes lit right up when they saw what we had brought: ice wine and maple syrup, two iconically Canadian food products.

Yesterday I recieved a Twitter notification that @PureCanadaMaple was following me. I did what every Tweeter does (I think?): I scoped out their profile and clicked on the link to their website. I figured out that PureCanadaMaple is the social media name used by The Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, a federation that represents, defends and promotes over 7,000 maple businesses. Rifling through their website and looking at all the mapley goodness transported me back to Mom's kitchen. There I was again, snorfing down a stack of her syrup-drenched pancakes (best in the world, hands down), and watching her make Dad's favourite birthday cake--maple chiffon.

So thanks, Federation of Maple Syrup Producers, for taking me down memory lane. It was nice, but it also made me very hungry.

I was happy to notice, then, the Federation's recipe database with loads of enticing recipes and tantalizing food porn. One look at their Maple Potato Pancake--all hot and steamy and glistening and covered in cream--and I was a goner; I had to make them.

If you have a Thermomix, this recipe is perfect for it. If not, follow the website recipe instructions by clicking on the link provided. Here's what you'll need to make Maple Potato Pancakes:

2 potatoes, grated
1 red onion, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp. flour
1 egg
3 tbsp. maple sugar ( I didn't have any and used maple syrup instead. Worked, but a little runny)
1 tbsp. chives, finely chopped
4 tbsp. olive oil

Step 1 (using Thermomix): Peel and halve one onion, put in Thermomix and pulverize ( 1 or 2 pushes on the Turbo button, that's it).

Step 2: Add halved potatoes, pulverize with 4 to 6 pushes. (I think hand grating would be better because the Thermomix is like Thor of the Small Appliance World.)

Step 3: Add remaining ingredients (except olive oil).

Pretty easy. Three steps and you're almost done. Add oil to a frying pan and heat just over medium. (Next time, I would use canola oil as the olive oil I used was too fruity and imparted too strong a flavour.)

Scoop out some pancake batter and add to hot pan. Turn after about 4 minutes (or golden brown) and fry for another 4 minutes (more or less). That's it. Easy as can be.

I served mine with Irvings Farm Fresh Pork Breakfast Patty , berries, and some pure Canadian maple syrup, of course. Beautiful.

The kids loved them and they were very easy to make. Guaranteed these pancakes will be made again in the near future. All I need to do is find a place to buy maple sugar (something I've never seen before). If anyone out there knows where to find maple sugar in Edmonton, please let me know. Enjoy!

Food Incubator Article in Edmonton Journal & Calgary Herald

2011-11-07T13:08:00.000-07:00

I spent a few hours interviewing four food entrepreneurs developing their products at Alberta’s Food Processing Development Centre and the Agrivalue Processing Business Incubator in Leduc . The link here will take you to my article which was featured in the Taste Alberta section of the Edmonton Journal and the Calgary Herald.

The companies were generous with their time and passionate about their products. The bonus for me was I got to take home a whole bunch of their goodies. Ahh, the joys of a freelance food writer!

Thanks to Siwin Foods, Fresk-O, Reddi Food Solutions and Honey Bunny for making my mission a delicious one, and to the Centre's Senior Operations Manager, Robert Gibson for his patience and tutelage.

Noorish - An Enlightening Food Experience

2011-11-07T06:09:00.002-07:00

I’m an omnivore; I’ll eat anything—but I have a particular fondness for meat. Juicy, chewy, charred or chilled, raw, roasted, braised or broiled. These incisors weren’t meant for attacking bananas, no sir. I like meat; I like it a lot.

Naturally I started to salivate at the sighting of a new restaurant on 109 Street. The name, Noorish, caught my eye—sort of like Moorish and nourish all in one. I imagined spicy kebabs, roasting goats, the scent of garlic wafting through the air like incense. Then I got closer and saw that Noorish described itself as a conscious eatery and superfood elixir bar. A what?

That’s right folks; Noorish refers to itself as “a vortex of positive energy, euphoric culinary concoctions, and enlightening events to noorish the body, mind and soul.”

Okay—I can be "down" with that whole enlightenment thing. Us meat-eaters have souls too.

I sought out Noorish’s culinary concoctions on a Saturday. At 1 pm, the staff—noticeably overwhelmed by the response of eager health food eaters—was scrambling. The line at the order counter moved slowly but I took a deep breath, blew it out through my nostrils and took the opportunity to peruse the environment.

Big chunky, wooden tables and chairs, hanging glass lanterns—Arabic, Eastern and Moorish influences are evident. Teas brewed, blenders whirred, and instrumental music filled the air.

The menu, printed on plain paper, confirmed my suspicions that I’d be going meat-free here.

Noorish offers raw, organic vegetarian and vegan dishes only. I was definitely in unfamiliar territory so naturally, my inner-carnivore demanded I go with what I thought would be the biggest, most filling dish possible because everyone knows vegetarian food can’t be filling, right?

If there was vegetarian crow, I’d be eating it right now.

The Laughing Buddha’s Belly Bowl ($16) is a large bowl, half filled with steamed quinoa in a Thai green coconut curry, flavoured with fresh basil and mixed with an assortment of vegetables (bell peppers, onions, zucchini, eggplant and green onions), and topped with a lime wedge for your squeezing pleasure. First thing that hit me was the aroma of the basil and the coconut curry; second thing that hit me was the flavour of the nutty quinoa and the tartness of the onion mixed with the mellow squash and eggplant. There was a whole bunch of goodness going on in this bowl, and I soon realized that quinoa is more filling than it looks. I washed my food down with a delicious, refreshing citrus smoothie but only got through half of the bowl. Buddha definitely got the last laugh there.

Our other menu item was the Bodhi Tree Burger—a sprouted chickpea burger topped with walnut basil pesto, herbed cashew cream, avocado and tomato slices, a tahini drizzle and vegan cheese, served on a nutty bun and accompanied by a wilted kale salad—a tastebud-popping mixture of kale, shredded beats, hemp hearts, sprouted quinoa, tomatoes and carrots and tossed in a lemon miso dressing. This was one heck of a nutritious and flavourful meal. I have never before met a veggie burger worth eating twice but this burger, despite its $17 price tag, is definitely worth returning for.

Fruit Smoothies

So, did Noorish make me leave my wanton, meat-eating ways behind? No (or maybe I should say, not yet), but it did make me want to incorporate more vegetarian options into my meal planning, and that's a good thing.

By the way, I was still full nine hours later.

More details of my meal at Noorish can be heard here on CBC Edmonton AM with Mark Harvey.

Sage at the River Cree Casino - Review

2011-10-25T10:08:00.001-06:00

We were kid-free and ready for a getaway last weekend. Vegas sounded like a good idea. People often tell me of finding amazing last minute deals for Vegas. Surely, I thought, we'd be able to find something.

Surely...not. Apparently amazing last minute deals are for other people.

So we looked close to home, specifically to the River Cree Casino. We could splurge on a fine dining experience at Sage, throw a bag of money away on slot machines, stay at the attached Marriott hotel and still be about $4,000 ahead.

So that's what we did.

It's been about a year since I've dined at Sage. I think about it often enough, but its on the exact opposite side of the city (5 minutes west of West Edmonton Mall, technically in Enoch), and that's one heck of a hefty cab fare there and back. Because of its location, Sage remains a place we go for special occasions--or when we want to go to Vegas but can't.

Chef Christof Ithurritze has been running the show at Sage for the past couple of years and if you haven't had the pleasure of sampling this man's food, you are truly missing out.

His list of credentials and accomplishments are so long, I don't have the room in cyberspace to list them all. Suffice it to say, Wolfgang Puck lost, and Edmonton certainly won the day that Ithurritze packed up his knives and headed north to our city.

The pictures were taken with my iPhone 3 and are extremely poor in quality, but what you need to know is that our meal at Sage was one of the best I've had in Edmonton in years.

We ordered all seafood, starting with a half dozen Kushi oysters and one lovely, large Maryland crab cake.

Kushi Oysters

Maryland Crab Cake

Maryland would be proud. No filler, no extraneous vegetables that have no sense being there in the first place. Just big, juicy sweet lumps of crab held together with some mayo and a bit of panko bread crumbs.

Entrees were delicate John Dory over sautéed gnocchi and peas, and the Sea of Cortez scallops over a sweet pea puree and corn and bacon succotash. Both dishes were divine. Pricey (John Dory was $47), but divine.

Sea of Cortez Scallops

John Dory over Gnocchi

Details of the meal can be found by listening to my review on CBC Edmonton AM here.

Service was extremely professional with just the right touch of humour. Timing was spot on and our server's knowledge of wine was impressive.

Sage remains one of my favourite fine dining destinations in the Edmonton area and my only regret is that its too far from my home to go more frequently.