OPINION: A tale of two hospitality laws
In Edmonton, it is now illegal to drive a vehicle with a blood alcohol content of .05. As of this year, it is also illegal in Edmonton to drive while eating a sandwich. One of these laws has science and some common sense behind it. The other doesn’t. Can you guess which is which? This […]
SURREAL SATURDAY: Organic produce, protest rally in downtown Edmonton
Finally, a good use for City Hall – a farmer’s market. That’s the obvious joke after attending the City Market’s winter season opening inside our city’s headquarters. The next step will be to use all that space and natural light for a hydroponic greenhouse to raise money for the new arena. Home grown. Open markets […]
FOOD: Thanh Thanh’s break elicits mournful sighs
Vietnamese spring rolls, barbecue beef satay, spicy Thai soup, lemongrass chicken with coconut and hot peppers, better make that two orders, cubes of beef, shrimp in black bean sauce – and Vietnamese iced coffees all around. You order the coffee first so the espresso can have a chance to drip into the sweet cream by […]
Rock ‘n’ roll on tap at Edmonton’s International Beerfest – also, beer
Too many beer festivals? Not enough beer festivals! These are two schools of thought coming into the Edmonton’s International Beerfest, continuing today at the Shaw Conference Centre. There once were none. Then there were three. And now we’re down to about two, give or take – but this particular beer festival is the biggest beer […]
REVIEW: Wildflower Grill pretentious, overrated
When one blows $300 on a dinner for four (including wine), it’s the little things that matter. It was a once-a-year dinner with friends from out of town, so we decided to go to the Wildflower Grill – where the first portent of impending culinary doom was something called a “amuse bouche.” The complimentary amusement […]
REVIEW: Consistently underwhelmingly, quintessentially Canadian
Hap’s Hungry House 16060 Stony Plain Road 780. 483.2288 Hap’s Hungry House on a Sunday is like the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange – if everyone had been sedated by over-sized portions of pancakes and French toast. The Stony Plain Road Diner is so busy on weekends, there’s usually a healthy […]
REVIEW: Food so good, it’s almost rare
Safron’s Caribbean 8307 118 Avenue 780.474.9005 At 2:30 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon, just two blocks from the infamously sleazy old Cromdale Hotel, 118 Avenue feels about as far from the Caribbean as you could get. In the middle of March, of the sun, the surf and the poverty, the adjacent neighbourhood offers only the […]
REVIEW: Blue bayou
Dadeo New Orleans Diner and Bar 10548 82 Ave. (780) 433-0930 Edmonton’s foodie community, it has been noted, can be somewhat fervent. I’d like to think this is a natural extension of their shared passion for all things gastronomic. But the reality is that communities tend to just be fervent. Sometimes, the focus of that […]
