congrats to evan watson and james grant
Two YEG hospitality folks are putting Edmonton on the food and drink map yet again. Evan Watson, a partner at Bar Clementine (11957 Jasper Avenue, barclementine.ca), won the regional Chaîne des Rôtisseur’s Best Young Sommeliers Competition. He sailed through two rounds of competition with the finals consisting of a blind tasting, service exams, oral theory and a pairing exercise. Evan was the sole Edmonton contender in a large field of primarily Calgary sommeliers.
James Grant, bar manager at Wilfred’s (780-757-7009, 10429 121 Street, wilfreds.co), landed in the top four of the Diageo World Class Canada bartending competition this spring in Montreal. He also won the signature cocktail award. It’s easy to see why when you taste The Weekend Getaway. “It’s a refreshing tropical Daiquiri variation and certainly appropriate to the season,” says Grant. Head to Wilfred’s to try it or learn to make it yourself.
taste with a view
The new location of Taste of Edmonton at Capital Plaza (108 Street and 99 Avenue) is getting the thumbs up from event-goers and vendors alike. And, you can wander with your drink! Yahoo! Besides sky high dining, another dinner to book is Taste2Remember — a long table-style dinner featuring four courses from a local guest chef —including drink pairings curated by a somm from Wine and Beyond. Visit tasteofedm.ca for all the deets.
grand taste tour
The 124 Street Grande Market kicks off their grand taste tour with a visit with the Doherty family on Stonepost Farms near Wildwood and dinner at Prairie Noodle. The farm raises pastured poultry, beef, pork and vegetables. It will be a wonderful day in the country followed by a terrific dinner. Some tix are available for dinner only and you could make your way out to Stonepost yourself. Get tix and all the deets at http://www.wearewildheart.com
ritchie goes au naturale with food in the nūd
Food in the Nūd (780-233-3230, 9628 76 Avenue, foodinthenud.ca), the whole food (paleo, vegan, gluten-free) bakery now has a rustic-chic location in the Ritchie neighbourhood, right next to the Blue Chair. Owner Chrysta Morkeberg has an inspiring story and her vibrant joviality is found in everything from the storefront to the baking. Flavours are tasty and creative. We tried their chocolate banana muffin at CRUM Coffee Bar (780-430-4582, 4640 Calgary Trail, crumcoffeebar.com) with crispy coconut flakes and creamy chocolate frosting. Yum.
iced
Have you yelo’d yet? We’ve been driving by the intriguing sign on the north side of Whyte waiting for it to open and discovered a soft serve jewel. Yelo is tagalog (Filipino) for ice, yelo’d means iced. Cool! Discover four flavours of soft serve such as purple yam, mango and Milo along with Filipino-style baking. We have it on good account that the pandesal (sort of like a donut) ice cream sandwich is amazing, Yelo’d, 10150A Whyte Avenue. Check it out!
wine of the week: 2016 Azelia Bricco dell’Oriolo Dolcetto (Piedmont, Italy)
Delicious and sexy Dolcetto is getting harder to find. Many Piemontese producers are pulling out their Dolcetto vines to plant more Nebbiolo, which fetches a higher price. Not Azelia. Yaay! This is a classic Dolcetto, aromatic, light-bodied, with great fruit and lovely tension—oh so drinkable. If we could drink only one red all summer, this would be it. Have with prosciutto and melon, lightly-sauced pasta, grilled pork, cheeseburgers, around $27. https://thetomato.ca/tomatoquarantwo.
