After attending Indulgence last year, I wasn't sure whether or not I wanted to return based on my experience of the event. But when the time came to buy tickets - I jumped on that train and decided to give Indulgence another chance. For those of you new to the concept, Indulgence is all about celebrating local food and drink. Showcasing local producers and talented chefs. It's a night of food, wine, friends and full stomachs, and this year's event blew last year out of the water.

With all tickets being sold out in three days, it's amazing to see how much this city supports it's local food scene. At $62 per ticket, you're given access to dishes from 21 local restaurants and producers, and unlimited wine pairings. Best of all, this year's beneficiary of sale proceeds went to the Junior League of Edmonton - eating while supporting a good cause is something I would do anyday.

As most of these dishes can't be found in restaurants, take a peek down below and have a nice long drool - then hit up the restaurants in the near future to support local food!

4404 Restaurant: chive & Sylvan Star Gouda arancini lollipop with Calliope Winery Sauvignon Blanc, gruyere cheese fondue. I love many of the cheeses from Sylvan Star, but my favourite has to be their grizzly gouda. It has a wonderful nutty flavour to it!

Cafe de Ville: Progressive Foods quick cooking barley, Edgar Farms asparagus risotto & barley beer nuts. This was my first encounter with the quick cooked barley, and I really enjoyed it's chewy texture. Edgar Farms asparagus is no stranger to me though - they produce amazing asparagus, and it's always quickly snatched up at the farmers market! So good. Seriously, give it a try!

Beautiful tomatoes from Gull Valley

Indulgence. What does that word bring to mind for you? For me, I see myself sitting at a table of glorious food ready to dig in and stuff my face silly til I pass out and fall over. Yeah.

Okay, so maybe that's not the picture you had in mind, but it's totally the one you have in your head now.

This past Monday, I had the opportunity to attend Indulgence: A Canadian Epic of Food and Wine held at the Delta Edmonton South. It was my first year at the event, and although I was a mixture of feeling hungry, nervous, and overwhelmed at the same time, I had a great night eating great food and spending time with wonderful people. I'd like to extend a big thankyou to the committee members, winemakers, producers, chefs and volunteers who worked so hard to put this event together. Everything was well organized and ran smoothly - you all deserve a huge enormous round of applause.

All the proceeds for the ticket sales for the event goes in support to the Junior League of Edmonton. Judging by the number of people at the event and the scorching temperature in that room (it felt like I was back in Hong Kong from time to time!), I'd say the event was a success. So let's just keep this plain and simple: I'll show you pictures of the food created by the restaurants and you can pretend you were there eating it too. But be warned, there were 21 stations - more pictures after the jump.

4th and Vine Wine Bar & Bistro: Savoury Mo-Na's mushroom bread pudding with red & white
currant reduction, pickled maitake, beech brown mushrooms and roasted garlic tops


Urban Diner: Sylvan Star Grizzly Gouda grilled cheese served on aged Gouda sourdough with
aromatic tomato soup & Italian-style herbed mac & cheese croutons


vivo ristorante: Four Whistle Farm smoked lamb leg braised with Gull Valley tomatoes and
served on fig & olive bread with red onion jam & wild watercress


Share: Doef's Greenhouses' cucumber and daikon raita salad with black curry
Queen Charlotte halibut & spiced tomato chutney