Regional Cuisine

Greater Edmonton is home to a wide dining selection with more than 3,500 eating establishments. Many of these restaurants mirror the diversity of more than 50 ethnic groups, and many feature regionally inspired menus while world famous Alberta beef is a star attraction for restaurant-goers.  Alberta specialty products will also be found on Edmonton menus including locally grown bison, beef, deer, elk, deer, lamb and pork. Fresh fruits and vegetables from area growers along with the province’s world-renowned honey are also worth savouring.  Some event highlights include:

• A Taste of Edmonton, held every summer, provides culinary delights from the city's leading restaurants.
• Edmonton Heritage Festival is an annual opportunity to sample the ethnic foods from more than 50 different cultures in an unmatched outdoor experience.
• FARE, otherwise known as Food and Restaurant Entrepreneurs, puts some of the city's top independent restaurants - known for helping to give Edmonton its unique flavour - at the forefront.
• FEASTival of Fine Chefs is an annual culinary experience where Edmonton restaurants get to showcase their gastronomic talents to more than 1,300 people. All foods featured are Alberta grown or processed in Alberta.

Regional Cuisine refers to locally produced/grown ingredients or processed products that have trace ability back of a farm, locality, or province.  This would include all foods that specify origin on the menu of a restaurant or food event.   

Dine Alberta, savour regional flavour, occurs every September.  Local chefs create Alberta's brand of regional cuisine, with the food we grow right here at home. On special menus through Alberta, including Edmonton, during September you'll find farm-raised bison, elk and deer, pastured pork, wild boar, and natural beef, free range chicken and lamb.  Fall-picked vegetables and herbs will be at their best. Taste the subtle essence of Alberta's world-renowned white honey.  Look forward to freshly harvested potatoes, squash, carrots and the last of the summer berries.  

The purpose of Dine Alberta is to support the family farm and give chefs more locally produced ingredients.  The Chefs want fresh, quality, ingredients to work with, and local producers are looking for alternative markets for selling their crops, meat and processed goods, so both parties can work together towards adding value to their own industry.  Look for sample menus and participating restaurants on line at www.dinealberta.ca.

FARMERS’ MARKETS

There are eight farmers’ markets within the city of Edmonton, and another eight more surrounding the city, all approved by Alberta Agriculture (www.agric.gov.ab.ca). Approximately 80 per cent of the product is made, baked, or grown in Alberta.

City Market – Edmonton’s Original Farmers’ Market: The City Market has been a part of Edmonton's downtown culture for more than a century. It’s an open air market along Edmonton’s trendy 104 Street downtown. Open May through October, the City Market features products from the region’s best farmers, ranchers, chefs, bakers and artists. If you don’t live or work downtown you may be surprised by the array of eclectic stores, shops and restaurants that line 104th Street. It is home to funky lofts and large-scale apartments, and some of downtown’s best destination shopping.

Website: www.city-market.ca 

Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market: The Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market has been a popular Saturday tradition for residents and visitors for over 20 years. Open year-round, the market boasts 130 vendors, offering everything from fine hand-crafted furniture to wild game, to fresh fruits and vegetables. Old Strathcona is a unique historical area located on the south side of the North Saskatchewan River. Its beginnings date back to 1981 when the Calgary and Edmonton Railway arrived. The district is known for its shopping, theatre, and more than 100 restaurants and nightclubs. Old Strathcona was recognized by Air Canada’s EnRoute magazine as one of Canada’s top five coolest neighbourhoods.

Telephone: 780.439.1844 (Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market); 780.437.4182 (Old Strathcona Business Association)
Website: www.osfm.ca; www.oldstrathcona.ca

COOKING CLASSES

If you are interested in the hands-on experience of preparing your own meal as a chef, Edmonton is home to a number of cooking schools.  The following are a few samples of what Edmonton has to offer:

La Cucina Italiana Cooking Classes: Class includes hands-on instruction by a Sorrentino's Chef in a small group (max twenty guests), wine and espresso tastings, recipes, a souvenir apron, samples to take home, and always a lot of fun!  

Telephone: 780.477.2789
Website: www.sorrentinos.com

Seasoned Solutions Loft Cooking School with Gail Hall: Enjoy an exclusive cooking class in the loft home of Gail Hall and experience fresh cooking in a hands-on, full participation class.

Telephone: 780.437.0761
Website: www.seasonedsolutions.ca

TIDBITS

• Experience the fine taste of food prepared by tomorrow’s chefs today. Visit Ernest’s Fine Dining, located in the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, west of 106 Street on 188 Avenue. Lunch is served Monday through Friday, and dinner is available Tuesday through Friday.  www.nait.ca/schoolofhospitality/ernests.htm
   
• Thirteen of Edmonton’s most unique independent restaurants can be found at www.originalfare.com
   
• If you love chocolate, the chocolate buffet at the Sutton Place Hotel is a must. The buffet is served Thursdays and Fridays, and to live jazz music the last Thursday of every month. www.edmonton.suttonplace.com
   
• Slow Food Edmonton is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to supporting and celebrating the food traditions of Edmonton and Northern Alberta. Check them out online at www.slowfoodedmonton.ca
   
• Keep Edmonton Original (KEO) has launched a new website to help you connect to local food suppliers, producers and sellers.  Eatlocalfirst.com includes a list of all food and drink KEO members with information on what they sell and produce, and where to find them. www.eatlocalfirst.com
   
• en Santé Winery is Alberta's first and only organic-fruit cottage winery located in Brosseau area, about 2 hours northeast of Edmonton. The Chrapko family has been producing organic fruits and wines for over a decade. They boast a long, proud tradition of honest, hand-crafted, environmentally-friendly food production.  Visit the website for a list of stores carrying their product.  www.ensantewinery.com
   
• Edmonton’s Chocolatiers: Sweet Lollapalooza opened downtown just at the end of 2009. This is the third chocolate boutique to open in the city centre. The two others are Chocolate Exquisite on 104 Avenue at 112 Street, and Kerstin's Chocolates on 112 Street off Jasper Avenue.  Contact them for information on chocolate making classes or chocolate tastings.

2010 CULINARY CALENDAR & FUN FOOD FESTIVALS

March 5 - 14 – Downtown Dining Week, an epicurean festival. For ten taste bud tantalizing days, residents and visitors alike experience urban dining at its best at a variety of downtown eateries. During Downtown Dining Week, patrons enjoy a special dinner at participating, for a reasonable fixed price.

Website: www.edmontondowntown.com

April 1 - May 7 – Sorrentino’s 19th Annual Garlic Festival includes the Great Garlic Cook-off, garlic cooking classes, Big Garlic Night, Garlic Stomp, and a month long feature garlic menu at all Sorrentino’s locations.

Website: www.sorrentinos.com 

June 14 – Indulgence - the annual Canadian epic of food and wine is presented by Slow Food Edmonton. Join Edmonton’s top chefs, distinctive Alberta food producers, farms and ranches, and the best VQA wineries in Canada for some intense flavours.

Website: www.slowfoodedmonton.ca

August 8 – Beer and Boar BBQ presented by Slow Food Edmonton at Alley Cat Brewery. Enjoy an incredible menu of local, seasonal foods, beer samplings and tours of Edmonton’s award-winning microbrewery.

Website: www.slowfoodedmonton.ca  

July 23 - Aug 1 – A Taste of Edmonton - One of the most popular events during summer in Edmonton is the annual A Taste of Edmonton. Purchase tickets and sample culinary delights from 40 of Edmonton’s leading restaurants at Sir Winston Churchill Square.

Website: www.eventsedmonton.ca

July 31 - Aug 2 – Servus Heritage Festival - The 35th annual Heritage Festival features Edmonton’s rich cultural mosaic in one of the city’s most beautiful river valley parks. Sample the ethnic foods of more than 50 cultures from five continents. Eat your way around the world at Hawrelak Park, enjoy the cultural performances and admire the arts and crafts at 60 pavilions that characterize Edmonton’s international community.  

Website: www.heritage-festival.com

September - Dine Alberta, and savour regional flavour. Local chefs create Alberta’s brand of regional cuisine, with the food we grow right here at home. The purpose of Dine Alberta is to support the family farm and give chefs more locally produced ingredients

Website: www.dinealberta.ca

TBA – Sorrentino’s 16th Annual Mushroom Harvest – Seven locations and seven different mushroom menus. There is a choice of over 100 mushroom dishes to sample from during Mushroom Harvest. Enjoy delectable funghi creations by the talented and dedicated chefs… Buon Appetito!

Website: www.sorrentinos.com 

September 12 – Harvest of the Past & A Taste of Heritage – Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village. This event showcases an old fashioned harvest fair with historical demonstrations, unique foods and musical entertainment. An early-bird breakfast is followed by an abundance of Alberta produced foods including ranched bison, elk, organic food, fabulous berry treats, and Ukrainian favourites. Enjoy cooking demonstrations, purchase crafts and take-away food, and take part in harvest activities, including kapusta (sauerkraut) preparation.

Website: www.ukrainianvillage.ca

September 22 – FEASTival of Fine Chefs – Teams from over 20 establishments prepare Alberta products supplied by members of the Alberta Food Processors Association. Silent and random auctions.   

Website: www.afpa.com/pro/feast.shtml

November – It’s a Chili Cook-off in downtown Edmonton! Chefs from Edmonton restaurants and hotels indulge in some friendly competition for the “Chili Champions” title. The Chili Cook-off is organized by the Downtown Business Association.

Website: www.edmontondowntown.com

November – Normand’s restaurant in Edmonton features Normand’s Wild Game Month. Choose from regular specialties, buffalo and ostrich, as well as wild boar, caribou, pheasant, partridge, musk-ox, or rabbit dishes.

Website: www.normands.com

FURTHER RESOURCES

Alberta Beekeepers: www.albertabeekeepers.org

Alberta Beef Producers: www.albertabeef.org

Alberta Elk Commission: www.albertaelk.com

Alberta Farm Fresh Producers Association: www.albertafarmfresh.com

Alberta Farmers Market Association: www.albertamarkets.com

Alberta Lamb: www.albertalamb.com

Alberta Pork: www.albertapork.ca

Alberta Wapiti Products Co-op: www.wapitiriver.com

Alberta White-tail and Mule Deer Association: www.albertadeer.com

Bison Producers of Alberta: www.bisoncentre.com

Chomp Around Alberta: www.chomparoundalberta.com

Fruit Growers Society of Alberta: www.albertafruit.com

Growing Alberta: www.growingalberta.com


FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Amy Wolski
Travel Media Relations Manager, External Relations
780.969.0481
awolski@edmonton.com

Bin Lau
Director of Communications, External Relations
780.969.0463
blau@edmonton.com

Jenifer Christenson
Executive Director, External Relations
780.917.7890
jchristenson@edmonton.com