Sorrentino’s unveils menu of Assaggini, or little tastes
Join the Farmto-fork tour
I have had a peek at Sorrentino’s “light and healthy” summer menu. (Note to self: if you make a pig of yourself, it’s never light and healthy.)
If, however, you enter the proposition with a level head on your shoulders, it’s true that Sorrentino’s summer menu offers some of the season’s freshest flavours, available in a couple of different sizes, so you can mix it up without, uh, making a pig of yourself. The menu can be found downtown, as well as in the west end, St. Albert and at Bistecca.
Over lunch at the downtown location with Crystal Armstrong, Sorrentino’s marketing director, I sampled the Assaggini, or little tastes, a few small bites priced at $3 each. Think appies such as speck prosciutto and melon, arancino (rice ball) with aioli, and prawns with chili apricot sauce. Sipping a Sgroppino (a cross between a champagne cocktail and a dessert featuring prosecco, grappa, limoncello and lemon sorbetto) makes it extra authentic. Find out more at sorrentinos. com .
If you like the Sunday Brunch at Blue Chair Cafe, you’d soon better hoof it down to the Ritchie area food and music mainstay. The restaurant, located at 9624 76th Ave., closes for the month of August, but has a mellow music brunch on July 14th, the 21st and the 28th. Call 780-989-2861 for reservations. Find out more at bluechair.ca .
K-Days has upped its foodie fixings with A Taste of Canada. Located in the Expo Centre, A Taste of Canada offers homegrown delicacies, including a good selection of Canadian beers and wines, representing four diverse regions: East, West, Prairies and Maritimes. Watch for lobster rolls, smoked meat, bison slider and salmon wraps. The traditional offerings, such as candied apples and elephant ears, will be on the midway, as ever. But midway foods now also include vegetarian and glutenfree options. K-Days is from July 19-28.
I’ll be heading out promptly to sample the fare, so watch for first-hand reports on the Journal website about deep-friend caramel apple pie, pulled pork poutine and jalapeno fudge. For more information, go to k-days.com
Toothsome details on the menu for our Taste Alberta event have been released. The Farm to Fork tour and lunch, which I am hosting on July 21 in the Gull Lake area, combines a tour of local farms and ranches with a picnic prepared by top chefs from Calgary and Edmonton. You can get tickets through Event Brite: $40, adults; and $10, children.
Edmonton chef Eric Hanson of Niche is making a Salisbury Greenhouse Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler, with Rock Ridge Custard, Clover Honey Whip, and a gluten-free scone.
The self-guided farm tour starts at 10 a.m. and includes Brown Eggs and Lamb, Rock Ridge Dairy, a bison farm, and a U-pick.
You can break for lunch any time between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. at the Meridian Beach Hall, near Gull Lake. tastealbertafarmtofork.eventbrite.ca .
The market scene in Edmonton is growing like rhubarb. The latest one is at Century Park, with between eight and 10 vendors selling crafts, produce and fish. It runs Sundays from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. until Sept. 29, in the parking lot south of the Century Park LRT parking area, east of 111th Street and north of 23rd Avenue. centuryparkmarket.com
Local caterer chef Andrew Parker is hosting Dine to Donate — a fundraiser for storm victims in southern Alberta. It features a four-course dinner for $90, including a live jazz performance from Jerrold Dubyk and a silent auction. The event is on Saturday, July 27 from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at Average Joe’s All Star Bar in Sherwood Park.
For details, call chef Andrew at 780-887-6121, or email jessica@chefparker.com (chefparker.ca).
A new judge has been added to the roster for Gold Medal Plates in Edmonton. He’s Brad Smoliak, a longtime chef and entrepreneur in the city. Smoliak, who cut his teeth at the Hardware Grill back in the day, now has a storefront called Kitchen by Brad at Jasper and 105th Street. There, he creates new food products, conducts cooking classes and develops recipes.
Other judges for Gold Medal Plates, taking place Oct. 24 at the Shaw Conference Centre: chefs Chris Wood and Clayton Folkers, cooking instructor Gail Hall, The Tomato publisher Mary Bailey, food writer James Chatto, chef Nathin Bye, Edmonton’s 2012 gold medallist, and your correspondent, me. Proceeds from Gold Medal Plates go to support Canada’s Olympic and Paralympic team. Find out more at goldmedalplates.com