What’s up on Edmonton’s food scene in March and April —wine events, special dinners, openings and cooking classes.
Restaurant buzz
Madison’s Grill (10053 Jasper Avenue, 780-401-2222, unionbankinn.com) has a special Downtown Dining Week event, Saturday lunch with a tour of the beautiful historic property on March 14. There is a Wine & Dine special too—choice of guestroom and a special six course tasting menu. Call 780-401-2222 for deets.
Happy 16th birthday to the Blue Chair (9624 76 Avenue, 780-989-2861, bluechair.ca). Coming soon, happy hour with Alley Kat beer, wine deals and a patio musician. The Blue Chair is the best spot in town for dinner and a show.
Chef Ben Staley has opened a new restaurant and bar called Yarrow (101, 10544 114 Street, 587-881-8282, restaurantyarrow.com). Expect an inventive tasting menu, 18-22 small dishes with wines to suit. It has 10 seats only and reservations (called tickets on the website) are a must. The bar is a little different, modelled after the wine and conserva bars in Portugal. Find small bites, a clever selection of well-made cocktails (Chuck Elves is behind the bar) wine and beers, seafood in cans (conservas) and a convivial atmosphere. It’s an interesting space; dark, moody, with low lighting, quite spare, on a semi-industrial street behind MacEwan. There are two doors, one for the bar and one for the resto, but don’t worry if you go through the wrong door. You will end up in the same place. Check it out!
Cavern (10169 104 Street, 780-455-1336, thecavern.ca) launches a refreshed menu and wine list in early spring, featuring themed cheese boards, various sandwiches, cocktails and beer. Also new is the happy hour menu with bites like cheese curds from Vermillion’s The Old School Cheesery, cheese boards, popcorn and pickles listed alongside the wine and draught beer specials. Cavern happy hour runs Tuesday-Friday, 4-7pm and Saturday afternoon, 12-5pm.
Wine tastings, happenings and events
Here is a great idea for hump day: Kitchen by Brad’s (10130 105 Street, 780-757-7704, kitchenbybrad.ca) Wednesday Night Suppers—three convivial courses at the Kitchen island or table with wine and beer by the glass. Tix: $35/p+, book on the website. Long table dinner tickets on sale March 21.
Waste not, what-nots’n wine is a chef collaboration between RGE RD’s (10643 123 Street, 780-447-4577, rgerd.ca) Blair Lebsack and Rouge’s (Calgary) Paul Rogalski. The two friends and colleagues are creating a waste-free feast featuring whole animal butchery, locally foraged and sourced ingredients paired with wines by the Okanagan’s Orofino Winery. In Calgary on March 4 and in Edmonton March 18. Tix: $220/p all in, exploretock.com/rgerd for the Edmonton dinner.
Chefs Christine Sandford (Biera) Kelsey Johnson (Café Linnea), Andrea Callan (Red Fox Club at Indigenous World Winery, West Kelowna) and Aman Dosanj (The Paisley Notebook, Kelowna), are creating a collaborative fundraising dinner at Liquidity Wines (Okanagan Falls, BC) on International Women’s Day, Sunday, March 8, 5pm. They will be joined by Alison Moyes (Liquidity Wines), Christy Bibby (Nighthawk Vineyards), Leslie D’Andrea (Noble Ridge) and Severine Pinte (La Stella Winery), who have donated all the wine. The night promises to be delicious and meaningful. Sunday, March 8, 2020, 5-9:30pm Tix: $165/p+, trellis.org/eachforequal.
There may be a few tix left for the 2020 High School Culinary Challenge Awards Dinner, Monday, March 9, at 6:30pm. Sixty high-school students have competed in a high-intensity culinary competition, and now comes the payoff, a delicious three-course dinner based on the competition menu. Gold, silver and bronze rankings go to the top teams along with scholarships to NAIT’s culinary program. Tix: $35/p, $245/table, edmontonchefs.ca. Don’t miss it!
Wine guy Gurvinder Bhatia is holding several wine dinners celebrating small producers this spring. At RGE RD, Tuesday, March 3, 6pm, explore the wines of Villa Calicantus, who is redefining the wines of Bardolino, and Coffele, the historic certified organic producer in Soave Classico. These wineries are helping to reinvigorate winemaking in the Veneto. Special guest is filmmaker Kevin Kossowan. Gurvinder and Kevin filmed a documentary pilot last fall at the two wineries. Tix: $185, Eventbrite.
Then, at Café Linnea, Wednesday, April 1, 6pm, experience the unique terroir and complicated history of the Sud Tirol via two wineries—Wachter-Wiesler in Burgenland, Austria and Elena Walch in Alto Adige, Italy. Six wines with five courses. Tix: $139, Eventbrite.
Chef Jeremy Charles is NAIT’s 2020 Hokanson Chef in Residence. Culinary explorer, author of Wildness: An Ode to Newfoundland and Labrador; chef and co-owner Raymonds and the Merchant Tavern in St. John’s, Charles is one of the most exciting chefs working today. As part of the week, NAIT offers lunch and dinner at Ernest’s (10701 118 Avenue, 780-8676) on Thursday, March 12, showcasing the work that chef will do with the students, inspired by the traditional ingredients and recipes that have been at the heart of Newfoundland culture for centuries. Lunch from 11:30am; dinner from 6pm. Tix: lunch $39/p all in; dinner $65/p all in, call Tanya, 780-474-8685 or email twright@nait.ca.
Enjoy a taste of the Languedoc with Nicolas Joly at the Gerard Bertrand Wine Dinner at Lyon (10335 83 Avenue, 780-433-0123, lyonrestaurant.ca) Thursday, March 12. Four courses, five wines, 6pm. Tix: $95/++, info@lyonrestaurant.ca.
Have an urban gastronomical experience inspired by Quebec’s traditional cabane à sucre (sugar shack) at Café Bicyclette (8627 91 Street, 587-524-8090, cafébicyclette.ca.) This is the 8th annual event and the first with new exec chef Brian Forrest. Enjoy five courses in a wood-heated trappers’ tent on the terrace. Dates are March 13-14, 20-21, 27-28, and April 3-4. Tix: $75/p+, call to book.
Have dinner with Vittorio Marianecci from Valpolicella’s Zenato winery, Wednesday, March 25, 6:30 pm at Violino Ristorante Italiano, (10133 125 Street, 780-757-8701, violino125.com). Tix: $120/p++, call to book.
East meets west at The Cellar of Confucious; Wines of Moldova Dinner at the Lingnan (10582 104 Street, 780-426-3975, thelingnan.com) features several wines from the Purcari, Chateau Vartely and Cricova wineries in Moldova with pairings by Miles Quon, Saturday, March 28, 6:30pm. Tix: $65/p, Eventbrite.
Two fun and delicious Sunday Supper Clubs coming up at The Marc (9940 106 Street, 780-429-2828, themarc.ca); Bistro Night, Sunday, March 29, $85/p all in and April in Paris, Sunday, April 26, $130/p all in. Call to book.
Upcoming tastings at Hicks Fine Wines (109-150 Bellerose Drive, St. Albert, 780-569-5000, hicksfinewines.com) Weird & Wonderful! featuring wines with unpronounceable names, Thursday, March 12, $20/p+. On Thursday, March 26, learn which wines are best to cellar and why at Aging Gracefully, $25/p+. On Thursday, April 16, 6:30pm, taste six wines with special guest Felipe Olavarria of William Fevre Chile Espino Winery, $30/p. All tastings start at 6:30 and can be booked in person or call 780-569-5000.
The next Cavern Cheese School (10169 104 Street, 780-455-1336, thecavern.ca) is Sunday, March 15, 2-4 pm. Learn all about the savoury and delicious world of washed-rind cheeses paired with wine and beer. Tix: $75/p+, info@thecavern.ca.
Meet Vittorio Marianecci of the fine Valpolicella winery, Zenato, Tuesday, March 24, 7pm at Vines Wine Merchants, (2331 Rabbit Hill Road, 780-434-9444, vinesmerchants.com). Tix: $30/p+, call to book.
Two dinners coming up: historic Argentine winery Weinert at RGE RD Wednesday, April 1 and respected Rioja producer CVNE at Ernest’s Dining Room at NAIT Monday, April 20.
Hicks Fine Wines (109-150 Bellerose Drive, St. Albert, 780-569-5000, hicksfinewines.com) Annual Spring Open House is Saturday, April 4, from 1-5pm. There will be a mystery wine and snacks by the restaurant neighbours. Free, donations gratefully accepted for the Sturgeon Hospital Foundation.
product news
Ham for Easter dinner? No problem with a Meuwly’s (10706 124 Street, 587-786-3560, meuwlys.com) smoked honey ham (#15 on the TomatoTop100) is available in small $35 or large $89. The order includes a jar of their top-notch, house-made honey cider mustard. Expecting a crowd? Meuwly’s offers Connoisseur Charcuterie Boxes—cured and smoked meats, pickles, condiments with a sliced baguette, $75. Pick up from April 10. Easter Weekend hours: 11am-6:30pm, Good Friday, 10am-5pm, Saturday, closed Easter Sunday and Monday. Visit the website to place your order.
Check out this great deal at The Heart of the Home (12539 102 Avenue, 780-705-4928, heartofthehomeyeg.ca); all Staub basil green items are on a super promo, March 14-21. Watch and learn at the pancake demo on National Pancake Day, March 5. The annual Easter Egg Hunt is April 20, and for Earth Day all eco-friendly products are 20 per cent off. Celebrate Earth Day, spend $50 in April and receive a compostable Swedish dishcloth.
at the cooking schools
Upcoming classes at Kitchen by Brad (10130 105 Street, 780-757-7704, kitchenbybrad.ca): learn to make schnitzel, latkes, chicken paprikash and cabbage rolls just like your Baba used to make (maybe even better than your Baba’s) in a Eastern European Cooking Class with chef Brad Smoliak, Saturdays, March 7, 14, 21, 28, 12:30pm.
Get Cooking’s (11050 104 Avenue, 780-566-2106, getcookingedmonton.com) spring schedule is now up. Highlights: Chef Scott Iserhoff’s cooking is inspired by pow wow food trucks, flash fry shacks on the rez and by the traditional food of the land. Learn more at Indigenous Street Food, March 12, 6-9pm. Tix: $115/p+ online. Check out the Friday Date Night classes and book the Earth Day Dinner at Prairie Gardens, April 22.
The Ruby Apron has a new name, Awn Kitchen and, this fall, a new location too. “I’m focused on teaching people the importance of quality, locally-sourced ingredients and the very human experience of cooking and sharing a meal,” says Ballymaloe-trained Kaelin Whittaker. Awn refers to the bristle of the flower on barley and rye. “The word Awn connects my business so beautifully to Alberta—to agriculture.”