Edmonton got a royal visit on Monday. As part of her Canadian tour to promote her family’s vineyard and the famous Sassicaia it produces, Donna Priscilla Incisa della Rocchetta hosted several foodies and wine fans at Lux Steakhouse and Bar. In 2003, Priscilla Incisa della Rocchetta married Prince Heinrich, the first heir of the German state of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn. Yes, in today’s world, these old families of European city-states don...
Four more Edmonton restaurants will be featured in the new season of the Food Network’s You Gotta Eat Here! Host John Catucci and the camera crew recently visited the kitchens at the Highlevel Diner, Louisiana Purchase, Sofra and The Dish Bistro. The second...
Edmonton is the first market outside of three northern Colombian states to get Cafvino on its liquor-store shelves. But what is it? Is it a dinner wine? A dessert wine? A liqueur? With its distinctive light brown colour, it doesn’t look like wine. To the nose, it feels like a Tokaji, sweet and musky. But when you take a sip, it’s not overpoweringly sweet. And, there is no sour or vinegar finish like you get from a lot of wines. That’s because the mellow coffee flavour takes over....
Three chefs prepare for battle. One cooks modern French fare. Another uses molecular gastronomy, turning his kitchen into a lab. And the third is a down-home cooking enthusiast who plans to open a food truck this spring. La Persaud vs. Niche vs. Big City Sandwich. The battle lines were drawn Wednesday night at Ronald McDonald House for YEG Chopped. The brainchild of local caterer and private chef Andrew Parker, the event was based on the Food Network hit, Chopped...
You would be forgiven if the first thing you thought of “Canadian flavoured vodka” was of a mass-produced cheap liquor, with flavours added after the distillation process. But the folks at Yukon Brewing want to change that. Last week, they hosted a tasting event atop the High Level Streetcar to introduce Edmonton media, bartenders, liquor store owners and restaurateurs to Solstice, a vodka with strong hints of sage, raspberry and rosehip. The brewery, located in Whitehorse, has a new German still — and has been able to...
If you are a fan of the Food Network, chances are you’ve seen Chopped. This is how the show works: Four chefs face off against each other. Each of the competitors is given a basket with four ingredients that have to be used in the dish that chef creates. The hook? The four ingredients don’t really go well together. The chef has to find a way to make it work. Imagine this (and this is from an actual episode): Having to make a dish that incorporates lump crab meat, dried shiitake mushrooms, pink grapefruit and bran cereal. Now, well-known...
A new Edmonton tradition is spreading from its Whyte Avenue roots and expanding to 124th Street. Next Sunday (Sept. 16), Edmonton foodies will get the chance to sample from the menus of more than a dozen 124th Street eateries, and raise money for a good cause in the process. On the heels of Red Shoe Crawls held in 2011 and earlier this year on the Whyte Avenue strip, the decision's been made to bring the event to the north side of the river. For $40 (or $100 for a family pass), you can roam participating 124th...
Thanks to Fadi Smaidi, we may soon have a new name for the 124 Street district. And that’s “Little Montreal.” Smaidi’s Montreal roots are evident at Dahlia’s Mediterranean Bistro, where the Middle Eastern dishes were augmented with smoked-meat sandwiches and St-Viateur Bagels, which are flown in for a dedicated cadre of customers. And you always know if the Habs are winning their fair share of games, because you may notice a Montreal Canadiens flag hanging in the window now and then. (Dahlia's is also home to the falafel pita wrap which...
A waiter reaches over, flicks on a lighter and the crème brûlée on a nearby plate becomes illuminated in blue light. The light dances for a minute or two before extinguishing, creating a caramelized layer of burnt liqueur and a smell like that of sweet pastry, which fills a half of Murrieta’s Bar and Grill and lingers until the last bite. The plate belongs to Craig Simpson, former Edmonton Oiler, current lead NHL analyst on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada and Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Simmer Fine Wine & Spirits, a company...
Why are heirloom tomatoes so popular right now? Well, it might have to do with how unpopular grocery store tomatoes have become. On last week’s episode of Day 6, CBC Radio One’s newsmagazine show, a University of Florida scientist discussed how measures spent preserving and enlarging the fruit have sapped it of flavour. Professor Harry Klee and colleagues have spent a decade unlocking the tomato's genome and are now putting it together with more taste. But until then, you can unlock...
