Dish

Sage exec chef Shane Chartrand
Sage exec chef Shane Chartrand

under the knife
Don’t miss Sage exec chef Shane Chartrand on this season’s Chopped Canada (episode nine: Every Round Has its Thorn). We’ve been big fans of Shane ever since his apprenticeship days. He’s an active participant in our culinary scene, a stalwart competitor in Gold Medal Plates, and has graced several local kitchens. Good luck! Other contestants with an Edmonton connection include Mount Pearl, Newfoundland’s affable Roary MacPherson,  former Fairmont Hotel Macdonald exec chef, and NAIT-trained cooks Abraham Wornovitzky and Daryle Ryo Nagata.
four and twenty blackbirds
Café Blackbird has opened in the former Jeffery’s Café spot in Crestwood Shopping Centre. Expect live music at night, great coffee, sweets made by the owner’s mother, and a killer signature dish, the deliciously mushroomy Blackbird pie. The owners enlisted Culina founder Brad Lazarenko to help get them up and running — they had met Brad through the Culina Cantina at Edmonton Police HQ. Open daily with brunch available on the weekends, 9640 142 Street, 780-451-8890, cafeblackbird.ca.
Tortilla Soup screens at Get Cooking — part of Relish Fest 2014.
Tortilla Soup screens at Get Cooking — part of Relish Fest 2014.

it’s a wrap!
The inaugural Relish Food on Film Festival offered three days of screenings and events at Metro Cinema, including a lively panel discussion on what it means to farm today. The panelists, vegetable grower Jenny Berkenbosch of Sundog Farm; lamb producer Vicky Horn of Tangle Ridge Ranch; cheesemaker Rhonda Headon of the Cheesiry, and urban farmer Kathryn Sprague of Reclaim Urban Farm described their experiences of farming as a modern career choice. Relish-goers enjoyed dinner and a movie at Culina (Tampopo), Kitchen by Brad (Knifehammer) and Get Cooking (Tortilla Soup); Le Cité Francophone screened French language films. Relish will be back next fall with another entertaining lineup of food films and events.
don’t forget the marabou slippers

36 million sold in the US
36 million sold in the US

Who doesn’t want a heart-shaped box of chocolates? Apparently, everyone does. According to a Chocolate Manufactuerers Association survey, 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolates were sold in the US last year. What’s more fun? When the box is chocolate. This offering from cococo (Bernard Callebaut) comes in three sizes of milk or dark chocolate filled with a variety of fresh hand-crafted chocolates. From $31.
aspiring planners need to know
NAIT Continuing Education’s new event management certificate is one of the most comprehensive in the country. “We completely redeveloped the event management offering,” says Nancy Milakovic, program manager, Business and Hospitality, Continuing Education. The certificate covers everything aspiring planners would need to know including marketing, sponsorship and critical path analysis.“It prepares people for a meaningful career in events, the depth we’ve gone to, people can hit the ground running. They will be able to walk into any environment and get started,” says Nancy. For the complete course lineup, visit nait.ca/docs/ConEd.
save the date
The California Wine Fair rolls into town Wednesday, April 22, 7pm-9:30pm, at Shaw Conference Centre. The annual fundraiser for the Citadel is a highlight for wine lovers, both for its affordable price tag and for its many delicious libations from the sunny state. Tickets, $75, at the Citadel Box office, 780-425-1802.
Heart shaped Le Crueset casserole
Heart shaped Le Crueset casserole

just in time for Valentine’s day
Any dish will taste delicious in this darling pot, a heartshaped Le Crueset casserole. Love it for more than its looks, it is dishwasher safe, made from efficient enameled cast iron with a heavy-duty tight-fitting lid (the knob is ovenproof to 450ºF).