Wild Tangerine closure is loss to Edmonton
After a decade in the Oliver area, the brother and sister team of Wilson and Judy Wu are closing the doors of Wild Tangerine at the end of June.
“Nothing goes on forever,” says Wilson. “Ten years is a good run in the restaurant business.”
Before Wild Tangerine, Wilson (who ran the front of the house) and Judy (an award-winning chef) owned another restaurant, Polo’s Cafe, for 10 years. Wilson says that Judy, who is in her early 60s, now finds the role of full-time chef a little too demanding.
“The hours are getting tough for us now,” says Wilson.” Maintaining control of our time is the main thing, and we can’t do that in the restaurant business.”
This is a loss for the food community, as Judy is a talented chef who won Edmonton’s Gold Medal Plates championship in 2007, and numerous other citations in the food industry.
In addition to the restaurant, the Wu team had been running a takeout, prepared foods business on the side for several years, selling gourmet frozen products. Now the two plan to rebrand that business Wild Tangerine Urban Cuisine, and run it on a part-time basis. Wilson hopes to have a presence at local farmers markets and eventually, in local grocery stores, too.
Wild Tangerine (10383 112th St.; 780-429-3131) closes on June 21. A Vietnamese restaurant is taking over the space. You can still follow Wilson and Judy @gowildtanger-ine.wildtangerine.com
Chef Larry Stewart has launched Saturday lunch service at Tavern 1903. The full lunch menu and mozzarella bar begin at 11 a.m., making the eatery the perfect place to rest after visiting either of Edmonton’s Saturday markets. Lunch runs till 2 p.m., and after that, light fare is offered till 5 p.m., followed by the full dinner menu. tavern1903.com
Tickets go on sale Wednesday, June 4 for the Jiffy Lube BaconFestYEG. The $75 celebration is on July 4 at the TransAlta Bus Barns and includes lots of bacon food and drink, and entertainment in the Bob Westbury Theatre. baconfestyeg.ca
The Red Shoe Crawl is a fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House. This year, the event takes place on Sunday, June 8, from noon to 5 p.m., with registration in the first hour. Participants who purchase a $45 ticket will receive a pass to stop at up to 20 local businesses, including lots of food and drink outlets. Organizers expect 300 people and in the past, the Red Shoe Crawl has raised more than $15,000 in support of the House. For more information, visit rssna.ca.
Remedy, the popular local café with three locations in Edmonton, is expanding. Owner Sohail Zaidi has taken over part of The Movie Studio space next door to the south side location at 8631 109th St. Renovations are underway right now, and Zaidi expects the shiny new Remedy space to be open in August. See remedycafe.ca.
In other caffeine conversation, Transcend has taken a stall at the Mother’s Market, the new farmers market scheduled to open three days a week, year around, starting June 20 on 109th Street, just south of 103 Avenue. Transcend will have a high-profile spot next to the main entrance, offering hot and cold-brewed coffee, tea, and select brewing gear — plus bags of whole-bean, fresh-roasted coffee. At this point, there won’t be any specialty coffee products, such as espresso. Transcend’s next café location is due to open in the Mercer Warehouse, but not likely before the fall. transcendcoffee.ca
June 21 marks the second annual Chili Cook Off for The Pan Tree in Sherwood Park. It’s from noon to 3 p.m. at #550, 220 Lakeland Dr. Again this year, the Sherwood Park fire department and the RCMP go head-to-head in a friendly competition. Tickets are $8 in advance or $10 at the door. All proceeds go to Kids with Cancer, which received $3,000 from last year’s event. The Pan Tree also will donate 10 per cent of the day’s sales. Advance tickets are available at eventbrite.ca. lfaulder@edmontonjournal.com