“We’re waiting on our wood oven,” says chef Blair Lebsack. The question was: when are you opening? Blair was on his way to cook for a week in Scotland while enduring the inevitable delays in starting a new restaurant. When RGE RD (10643 123 Street) does open this summer, expect Blair’s seasonally expressive cooking, what he calls untamed cuisine in a warm ambiance with tables made by the Prairie Barn Wood Company. Along with the new resto, Blair and Caitlin Fulton will continue their marvellous on-farm dinners including four with Prairie Gardens, beginning Sunday, July 14. Menu? What’s ripe, fresh and seasonal. Visit Prairie Gardens for tickets.
“The thing was, I was thinking about opening something next year,” said Shane Chartrand, the new exec chef at Von’s. “One of my purveyors said: ‘Go talk to Von’s. They need someone who understands local ingredients.’” Fast forward to late April: “We’ve gutted the whole kitchen. I have brought in new folks, we’re painting, installing new equipment, designing new menus. It’ll be a chop house-style. Dishes like steak tartare that’s torched, when mixed in you get a roasted flavour. We’ll roast marrow, Irvings Farms pork chop, and in the fall we’ll do a stuffed popover made with pork shoulder. Some things are really progressive, but we don’t want it to be too much, too soon, because there are good things on the menu now — prime rib or the Spring Creek Ranch ribeye. We don’t want to scare people. Yes, we’re doing Indulgence, and I’ll be heading up Aboriginal Day at Taste of Edmonton, called Sip and Savour. I’m trying to make indigenous food in a progressive way.”
Wine and Beyond Tastings: Stoneleigh Event, May 2 Emerald Hills, May 3 Windermere; Exploring Grapes with Sasha McCauley, May 8 Emerald Hills, May 9 Windermere; Robert Mondavi with Robert Ghezza May 23 Emerald Hills, May 24 Windermere; Taste of Spain, May 29 Emerald Hills, May 30 Windermere.
Tastings at Unwined (#2 512 St. Albert Trail St. Albert, 780-458-4777): Accidental Sommelier, May 9; Days of Wine and Proses Book Club with Laurie Greenwood will meet in May and June. Check with the store for confirmed dates. Unwined has started a wedding/gift registry —call Bill to register, 780-458-4777.
Don’t miss the third annual Concordia Lobster Fest, on June 8, from 4-8pm — steak and lobster served under a big tent on the Concordia grounds. It’s a fun, casual event featuring the modern Celtic sounds of Cod Gone Wild. Purchase of an additional activity pass allows the holder to take part in the reverse draw for cool stuff, and spin to win prizes such as a $4000 BMW mountain bike. All funds raised support student awards and bursaries. Purchase tickets.
Culina Mill Creek (9914 89 Avenue, 780-437-5588) is open for lunch. YAY! It’s hard to beat a lovely lunch indoors or on their shady patio in quiet Mill Creek. Along with several new offerings, the ever-popular grilled ham‘n’cheese on raisin bread, the steak sandwich, wild salmon with goats cheese and almond sauce, the veggie sandwich, and the popular orange-ginger dressed house salad will be back to enjoy. Lunch, Tuesday thru Friday,11am-2pm, dinner Tuesday to Saturday 5pm-10pm, and Saturday/Sunday brunch 10am-2pm.
Chef Michael Sieffert. Restaurants close. Even good ones. That’s the sad fact of what some call the hardest business. We interviewed the chef, Michael Sieffert about a month before Ousia announced they were shutting the doors. He was running the kitchen of the smart Whyte Avenue restaurant for five months. “I’m new to cooking in general. This was my first restaurant job; I just graduated from culinary arts. I’m learning every day.”
How was the transition from school to behind the stoves? “In culinary arts you don’t feel rushed. You are learning to cook, but not the actual restaurant experience. There’s a lot of pressure working in a restaurant. I’m getting used to working six days a week, 10-12 hours a day.”
“Before I took culinary arts, I took retail meat cutting so I’m comfortable with that. I recommend people do that first before culinary arts — learn to butcher in retail meat cutting.”
The Edmonton Petroleum Club offers a new brunch for members and non-members alike featuring their new kitchen crew on June 9, July 7, August 11 and September 8. Enjoy three courses or a buffet featuring foodstuffs from the Artisan Market held on those Sundays at the club. Have brunch,then browse the market for tasty baked goods from Boulangerie Treestone and Bon Ton Bakery, Steve and Dan’s BC fruit and charcuterie from K&K Foodliner, along with coffee, live entertainment and free parking. As well,the club will stock a booth with signature prepared foods to go.
Carol Neumann started the company 10 Mile Meal to celebrate the culinary and cultural traditions of local farming communities. Carol wanted to highlight not only the foods grown, but also the German foodways that she had grown up with such as smoked fish, sauerkraut and cider made from winter apples. Highlands Kitchen alum Annand Oliviere cooked from family recipes and created a few new traditions of his own at the inaugural 10 Mile Meal held in the historic Glen Park Hall near Thorsby in March. The next 10 Mile Meal is on July 14. Expect a summer fair atmosphere with farm tours, craft and farmers market, and live music. Visit 10 Mile Meal for more info, tickets and directions.