got your tix? kitchen party is october 12
On Thursday October 12, eight Edmonton chefs will vie for the opportunity to compete in the Canadian Culinary Championships next February. The contenders: Levi Biddlecombe, Backstairs Burger; Earl Briones, Birdog; Bri Campbell, Restaurant May; Winnie Chen, Fu’s Repair Shop; JP Dublado, Red Deer Resort and Casino; Doreen Prei, Rivera Glenora Park; Robert Wick, Northern Chicken; Jesse Woodland, Central Social Hall (see photos on the cover). It’s a fun night with great food, live music and the chance to support youth via Musicounts, SpiritNorth and local food charities. Enjoy nibbles by the 2022 champ, chef Serge Belair, and a special tasting of some of Canada’s best wines with David Lawrason at the VIP event. Tix: greatkitchenparty.com.
chartier is closing
Chartier is closing at the end of September. This is sad news for all the fans of this wonderful spot on Beaumont’s main street. Chartier was a perennial on the Tomato Top 100. We will miss this cheerful spot, the delicious food and drink they served and the atmosphere they created over the past eight years. “The outpouring of support has been incredible,” says Sylvia Cheverie, co-owner of Chartier. “People are rallying around us asking what can they do, how they can help.” The news reminds us that while running a restaurant has always been hard, it’s even worse now. “It’s unsustainable. Flour has tripled, salt has quadrupled. Our utilities are $4,000, $5,000 a month. Interest rates, we are paying more just to exist. Everything has gone up far quicker than the consumer is willing or able to support. This is an issue happening across Canada,” says Sylvia. “Other independent restaurant owners are seeing the same things. It’s an industry-wide problem that needs to be solved.”
dolly’s cocktail bar
It’s pink, it’s whimsical and has great food. That’s Dolly’s Cocktail Bar, located in the former Fu’s (and even further back, Glenora Fish and Chips) on 109 Street. It’s been the summer of pink for sure, but the namesake here is Dolly Parton, not that other dolly. The inventive menu by Joshua Nhan, with Peruvian, Italian and Asian influences, has lots to love, starting with a salmon sashimi with a piquant passion fruit sauce. The Huancayo-style fried potatoes (with a spicy cheese sauce) were delicious as was the lomo saltado (grilled steak) on risotto. Speaking of cocktails, when Niki Willis is in the house, you know the drinks will be delicious. Dolly’s is light-hearted and fun, definitely another winner from The Common/Fu’s group of restaurants. Open Wednesday to Sunday from 5pm. Dolly’s Cocktail Bar, 9902 109 Street, www.dollyscocktails.ca.
the prairie companion
Twyla Campbell and Dan Clapson debut Prairie: Seasonal Farm-Fresh Recipes Celebrating the Canadian Prairies (Appetite by Random House, $37.50). This collection of 100 recipes is a winner. These two Alberta food writers know their stuff. The layout is straightforward, by season (the winter section starts with the sentence: ‘Minus 30 doesn’t scare us’). Each section ends with cocktails that incorporate fruit wine, mead and other things grown here. The last chapter, called Staples, is a goldmine, with recipes for syrups, sauces and spice rubs, dressings, vinaigrettes and chef Carla Alexander’s recipe for ricotta. The book is clever, it’s funny and there is some delicious cooking in these pages. We can’t wait to make Twyla’s crispy sunchokes, or Dan’s version of chef Christine Sandford’s cheese curds. The gorgeous photography is by Calgary-based Dong Kim. Prairie is a treasure; it belongs in every good cook’s library. More about Twyla Campbell in Feeding People.
barrel fest tickets on sale now
Brewers across the country are devoting time and energy to the wonders of barrel fermentation and barrel-aging. Blind Enthusiasm wants you to taste why. The Ritchie-based brewing company, headed by Greg Zeschuk, hosts the inaugural Barrel Fest to explore and celebrate this unique style of beer. Taste beers and ciders from Category 12 (BC), Nokomis (Saskatchewan), Low Life (Manitoba), 2 Crows (Nova Scotia) and Alberta breweries such as Annex, Blindman, Blind Enthusiasm, Cabin, Campio, Endeavour, Establishment, Grain Bin, Town Square, Trial & Ale and Uncommon Cider. Sounds like a blast. From 1pm-5pm, Saturday, September 23 at Ritchie Park, 7727 98 Street. Tix: $35+ $4 pours, includes a commemorative glass, blindenthusiasm.ca/barrel-fest.
eat more beans …
Chef Jesse Chambers, centre, and kitchen crew
… and lentils and chickpeas. Alberta Pulse Growers held a dinner this summer at the Old Red Barn near Leduc. The challenge for chef Jesse Chambers of Wetaskiwin’s Farm to Table Catering? Incorporate Alberta-grown beans and lentils in every course. Challenge more than met; challenge exceeded. The menu was delicious—fava beans and sprouts on crostini, red lentils in the soup, green lentils in the elegant beet salad, pinto beans in the hearty cassoulet served with braised bison short rib and a flourless chickpea and chocolate brownie with haskaps for dessert. “We buy from all the local farmers’ markets and Gallimax Trading (based in southern Alberta) supplies what we can’t get from next door,” says chef. Bravo to chef and the Alberta farmers growing all those delicious pulses. Find many tasty recipes using pulses here: albertapulse.com/recipe.
gotta get that sinclair street candy!
Thane Chambers and Jason Webb make an amazing peanut butter brittle. “It’s a soft brittle with some addictive qualities,” says Thane. Roger that. It’s so delicious, you will have a hard time stopping at one piece. They met in the kitchen at Chateau Lake Louise. Now, Thane is a librarian and Jason, the food service manager at a seniors’ community, but they still like to explore in the kitchen. Taste their delicious candy at the St. Albert Farmers’ Market on September 16 and 30. While you are picking up boxes of brittle, ask for a taste of whatever they are working on. Caramels maybe? Or peanut butter taffy? Yum. Sinclair Street Candy Company, sinclairstreetcandycompany.weebly.com.
l’oca is coming
Plans for L’oca Quality Market, the upscale grocery store opening in Sherwood Park in the spring, are being hatched in an Edmonton strip mall. There, in the test kitchen, the team has been testing recipes and cocktails, sourcing local and beyond suppliers and setting up an efficient back office. Joshua Thatcher heads up the team with Paul Moran as culinary director and James David running the bakery. There will be grocery, gourmet take-away, a full service bakery and chocolatiere, specialty cheese, a deli, butchery, foundry (rotisserie and wood-fired pizza), coffee and two restaurants (the higher end, sleekly modern Oro, and the more casual Pyro, with wood-fired food) and a wine shop with somm Tara Smith. If you are familiar with Eataly, it’s a similar concept. The second location at Ellerslie Road and Calgary Trail is already in the works. The Sherwood Park location is expected to open after Easter, 2024. L’oca, 340 Baseline Road, Sherwood Park, loca.ca.
new japanese in crestwood
exec chef Tony Le in the kitchen at Stingray
Chef Tony Le (Century Hospitality Group) has opened a new resto in Crestwood, the Japanese-inspired Stingray. Highlights: the gyoza, the rainbow grilled veg and of course sushi and sashimi—spicy tuna handrolls; torched salmon with tobika and cucumber. It’s somewhere you can take the whole family, with a cute kid’s menu called Lil Samurais and there’s even a burger. Open daily, from 3pm on Sundays and holidays. High Tide Happy Hour daily and Sundays. Check it out! Stingray, 9682 142 Street, centuryhospitality.com/stingray.