Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Foiled no more - Drift

As summer comes to a close and we stick our heads out in public again, we've been trying to hit some 'spots' that we've missed in the passed little while. Specifically Nomad, Drift and Battista's Calzone Co. Prior to today's outing, all of our attempts to enjoy any offerings from the above had been foiled.

After riding by around 10:45 this morning and seeing 'closed' written the board in front of the truck, I went home and arranged to reconvene with Charles at Drift's 108th Street local about noon. Finally everything aligned and our sandwich eating was meant to be.


By noon they had already sold out of the Duck Confit (port soaked cranberries and cabbage), and just after we placed our orders, the Pork and Leek Sausage (egg, aged cheddar, fries). In the end Charles decided on the Roast Beef (gherkins, horseradish mayo, mustard and greens) and I went for the Jerk Chicken (grilled pineapple and slaw) with a lychee drink and fennel/cumin fries on the side. The entire order came to $20 even, and five minutes later everything was packaged in a paper bag and we were ready to go.



The chosen eating spot

My Jerk Chicken sandwich was moist and the pineapple provided a lovely sweetness and the slaw a rich base. A bit more flavour from the chicken would have been welcome, but overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable sandwich. Charles noted that the Roast Beef was well rounded flavour wise, and like me he also appreciated the warm, toasty ciabatta bun everything sat on. Along with the sandwiches the shared order of fries was the perfect size. On a bit of a blustery, cool day the warm spices were well placed, and Charles walked back to work happily finishing the last few.


Jerk Chicken

Roast Beef

Although there are plenty of spots offering sandwiches downtown, Drift provides a well thought out selection that will definitely have us heading back to 108th Street.

Drift
108 Street and 100 Avenue
Check out hours and any change in local via Twitter
Drift Food Truck on Urbanspoon

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

"Alas, we must once again feed ourselves."

Those were the words of our administrator last week as site kitchen closed its doors. After being spoiled for such a lengthy period of time - nearly two months of lunches and dinners - the adjustment has been rough. Charles and I have been sustaining ourselves on a mixture of V Sandwiches (thankfully now on Whyte), Fringe concessionaires and various meals at the homes of family.

Yesterday evening we finally sat down at our own kitchen table. We were overwhelmed at the market on Saturday morning and came home with a couple bags of produce. In short, there was lots to work with.

Grilled trout with nectarine, corn and tarragon salad.

We attempted a bit of patio dining, but the wasps decided to join, so inside it was. Hopefully you are enjoying the brilliant weather! I promise some sort of restaurant post soon. We're off to Battista's Calzone Company with a friend tomorrow evening, so here's hoping it's as enjoyable as some of the other experiences documented out there.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

The post-Portland stop over

After some advice from friends, Charles and I decided to add a three day stop over in Seattle post-Portland. Strangely enough, I've had a far more difficult time pinning down things to do in Seattle than Portland. So if you have any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate them left in the comments.

Edited: August 24, 2011

Here's what I've got so far food wise:
Here are some great posts I'm going to keep referring to:

Friday, August 12, 2011

EFMF Eats

All too quickly the Festival has come and gone. This year I had lots of time to enjoy the show, the food, the beer and the people - and it was amazing. Here are some of the highlights music and food wise.

The Music

Without a doubt Brandi Carlile and Matt Anderson were it for me this year. On Saturday evening Brandi Carlile closed the show with lots of Edmonton love and the audience gave it right back. So glad she made it back this year. I saw Matt Anderson in Calgary, but his session with Blackie and the Rodeo Kings on Sunday was fantastic. Some amazing blues along with Sunday dinner.

Friday at Stage 2

Brandi Carlile

Cheers to all the volunteers!

The Food

As per usual the Festival Kitchen provided thousands of excellent plates throughout the weekend. Friday was Thai curry with cod, Saturday Bulgogi Beef and Sunday was salmon or a squash pecan loaf with quinoa (I went for the latter and it was my favourite of the weekend). The salads also shined all weekend - my favourites were a lentil cucumber and a pear salad.



Green Tea ice cream with ginger snaps



Stephane (the kitchen manager) has slowly been trying to introduce more local product into the kitchen where possible. This year Mighty Trio's oil was used in many of the salads, as were Mona's mushrooms.

Concession wise there were a couple newbies including Elm Café, Eva Sweet and the Onigiri Co. I had a couple different options from the Onigiri Co., which made great mid-day or late evening snacks. My favourite was the 'Yam n' Salmon' - baked salmon, caramelized yam, ginger, soy sauce and white rice. Though they weren't wrapped in the exciting packaging shown on their website, they were certainly tasty.


I haven't made it to the market in nearly a month, so a waffle on Saturday morning was a nice treat on the way to stage 2. Saturday's lunch was skipped for a pulled pork sandwich from Elm's schmancy booth. I also tried to stop by for the 'roasted beet' sandwich on Sunday afternoon, but long lines throughout the weekend saw them sold out. However, we did manage to score some Duchess cookies that lasted us through the evening.



And finally, I can't say enough about the chai that comes out of Nomad's Kitchen. Made in a large pot each day, they make it just sweet enough and use whole spices that really shine. I've already been down to the Fringe to satisfy my addiction.

Lining up for chai


Though my weekend wasn't as stressful as years past, late nights prior to the Festival - and during - have left me with a nice post-Fest head cold. Here's hoping it clears up over the weekend. 

In the mean time, we're gearing up for Portland - and Seattle for a few days after that - in a month or so. There were some excellent articles on Portland in both the Journal and Avenue recently. Lots of people have been asking us, "Why Portland?" But I think the question should really be, "Why not Portland!?" The place sounds amazing!

Friday, August 5, 2011

The show begins

Clearly blogging has been put on the back burner the past few weeks after lots of (very) late evenings at work and complimentary site food. I'm going to do my best to document a few of the concessionaires at the Festival this year, along with the amazing food served in the Kitchen, so hopefully a couple detailed posts to come on that.

At any rate, Thursday evening was beautiful. At ~8pm my phone stopped ringing and I got to enjoy Edward Sharpe in peace. It was excellent.


Happy Festival to all those attending and happy weekend to everyone else!