Yeah, you read the title right. Another Prairie Noodle Shop pop up was hosted on Thursday night, this time at the Pourhouse Bier Bistro on Whyte Ave. After three long months of waiting, the team behind Prairie Noodle Shop announced that a vegetarian ramen was up for tasting this time around.

One week prior to the big night 100 tickets were released to the public and they were sold out in under five minutes. If that doesn't say that Edmonton is dying for some good ramen, I don't know what does.

I will admit I was a little skeptical about a vegetarian ramen, wondering where the richness and depth of flavour would come from, but I was game for trying out a bowl of garlicky, cheesy, miso ramen. A miso based broth is actually my go-to choice when I go out for ramen, so that part I was definitely looking forward to. But cheese? That was a completely foreign territory and I didn't know what to expect.

As guests were settling in that evening Arden gave the quick low-down about the third ramen bowl they created. After eating bowl after bowl of ramen in Vancouver, the Prairie Noodle Shop team realized just how rich the ramen broth is. The heavier bowls are well suited to cold, rainy weather on the West Coast, and that was what the team aspired to make for their next bowl. Instead of using pork bones to get a rich, fatty broth, they headed in a completely different direction with the guidance of their consultant Chef Wendy Mah. She knew that a combination of miso and cheese (lots and lots of it!) could attain a rich broth with lots of flavour, and thus was born the vegetarian ramen.

Starting off with a Chinese style vegetable broth made with suey choy, a red miso paste was added to give umami and depth of flavour. The ramen noodles were made two days earlier from their secret Chinese lady, and had that great bite and texture. Toppings this time around were Chinese pickled radishes, fermented bean sprouts, fresh chives, and a mountain of Sylvan Star smoked gouda. There was so much cheese you literally could not see anything else, but that's not a bad thing in my books. A generous portion of raw garlic paste sat on the edge of the bowl to allow everyone to adjust the garlic flavour to their liking. Each table was provided with a small plate of kimchi and pickled leeks to cut through the rich broth every few bites.

Being vegetarian ramen, this bowl definitely exceeded my expectations. Upon mixing all the ingredients together the heat from the broth slowly melted the cheese, making the ramen creamier with each bite. Given all the different components in the dish, I loved that each bite had a different texture. Whether it was the crunchy radish, fresh snap of the bean sprouts, or the soft, gooey cheese, every bite was a little different. The acidity from the kimchi and leeks was definitely appreciated, and it really did cut through the fattiness of the broth. As I made my way through the bowl the raw garlic slowly mixed itself in and made the ramen increasingly spicy. By the end of it, the bowl was quite salty and garlicky. I was a vampire's greatest nightmare.

I love the direction that the team took with this third bowl. It's going to be a great option for vegetarians compared to other offerings in the city given the substantial portion size and deliciously creamy broth. Looking forward, Prairie Noodle Shop is looking to host their next pop up at NAIT if all goes well. The bigger venue means more space and possibly more bowls, 300 of them to be precise! The next pop up will feature a fourth bowl, and the previous three ramen bowls (Pork, Chicken, Vegetarian) if all goes according to plan. I'm incredibly excited to see where Prairie Noodle Shop is headed, but for now we wait until the next pop up. Keep your eyes peeled on Twitter/Instagram @YEGNoodles for the next announcement!

It's rare, but every once in a while I have a meal and think "WOW, what did I just eat?!" because my tastebuds are blown away by the amazing dining experience. This very instance happened last week when I had the opportunity to participate in an underground dinner hosted by Chef Tony Krause of The Salt Room.

The Salt Room - 10251 109 Street (Mothers Market) - Edmonton AB

Tucked in the corner on the upper floor of Edmonton's Mother's Market, Chef Tony Krause serves food to the weekend Market crowd (Friday-Sunday) and is now venturing into hosting underground dinners during the week when the market is closed to the public. With a passion for foraged food, nose-to-tail dining, and housemade charcuterie, Krause (previously of The River House and Privada Wine & Tapas in St. Albert) is offering five course meals with non-alcoholic beverage pairings at $70-$100 per person, depending on ingredients.


The Three Fish: Tom, Tom and Tom
Dinner was to start promptly at 7PM, and I fully expected to be amongst many diners. To my surprise I was seated with 8 other individuals at a communal table. Much more intimate than expected, but the smaller setting allowed for inclusive conversation and a chance to get to know everyone. The dinner menu had expanded to include two extra courses, and all seven dishes focused on using local ingredients. Certain ingredients were foraged from the Edmonton and St. Albert forests while the remainder were sourced from the various vendors at Mothers Market.

Dinner started off with an amuse bouche made with variations on potato, olive, and duck. A potato chip was topped with smashed Russet potato, dehydrated olive dirt, yeast purée, a thin slice of duck prosciutto, and a pea tendril. The contrasting textures of the smooth mashed potato and crunchy chip went well with the salty cured prosciutto and fresh pea tendril. I couldn't quite taste the olive, but regardless, this small morsel of awesome had everyone at the table excited for the courses to come.

The next course was a presentation of beautifully baked breads. On the plate sat rosemary focaccia, a potato bun, and a half portion of a pretzel bun. Served with a quenelle of whipped brown butter topped with bacon bits and Maldon sea salt, this course was deadly - we were all going to be full by the second course! The breads themselves were fantastic. All of them were soft and airy, but different in their own way in texture and flavour. The butter had a wonderful aroma and enhanced the flavour of each bread. Lucky for us all, mason jars full of brown butter are available for sale at the market on the weekends for $7.

Our third course was a play on shrimp cocktail, featuring langostine from Sgambaro's Seafoods, and beets two ways. The langostine was lightly grilled over charcoal and placed on a splash of pickled beet purée. A yellow beet sponge accompanied the langostine and the entire dish was finished with a garnish of radish and daikon microgreens from Harvest Microgreens. The purée had a delightful tang, while the beet sponge had a dense foamy texture. Both flavours and textures combined well with the natural sweetness of the langostine, and I really enjoyed the different textures on the plate. The dish was also paired with a great housemade ginger ale!

Next up was my favourite savoury dish of the evening, and it came as a shock to me when we were told what was on the plate: beef heart cooked to a medium rare and coated in mustard jus served with a play on a Lyonnaise salad. The tangy salad was made with charred onion and red leaf lettuce hearts, and the dish was accompanied by a dollop of purple carrot purée for some sweetness that we all cleaned off the plate. The heart was so incredibly moist and tender that I never would have known what cut of beef I was eating had I not been informed. The dish was paired with a housemade iced tea which we adjusted to our own tastes with some simple syrup.


Iced Tea
Our fifth course of the night was a kale pasta with a generous serving of braised lamb neck and Sylvan Star's Old Grizzly Gouda. This dish combined some of my favourite things all into one: pasta, lamb, and old grizzly gouda. There could be no wrong. Chef Tony takes freshly pressed kale juice and mixes it into his pasta dough to give that fresh green colour. From there an extruder forms the zucca, which is pasta in the shape of a squash stem. The fall apart braised lamb was moist and flavourful and the cheese made the dish rich and comforting. It was a little saltier than I prefer, but the Juniper Italian soda served on the side was perfect to mellow out the flavours. Oh, and I must mention - Chef Tony and his partner Chelsea made the soda with Juniper branches that they foraged in St. Albert. It was my favourite drink of the night, hands down!

Dessert that evening was stunning. Mimicking a terrarium, the glass vase was filled with a blood orange bavarois topped with dehydrated chocolate mousse chunks, drizzled with a light caramel sauce and finished with cinnamon basil. When smashed, the chocolate lid released the fragrant smell of orange blossom. It was such a decadent dessert with hints of citrus, and it really showcased Chef Tony's artistic abilities and wide culinary skillset.

We were provided with a box of petit fours to take home, but I have to admit that they did not make it into my house. I ate them on the drive home! We received a popcorn caramel, smoked alder chanterelle chocolate truffle, and a sour cherry gummy, and none of them disappointed. The caramel was rich and gooey, the gummy tart was sweet, while the truffle was rich and decadent. This was hands down one of the best meals I have had in a long time, and I'm already so excited for the next dinner.

There are plans in the near future to turn The Salt Room into a full-fledged restaurant, but for now you can visit Chef Tony at the Mother's Market on weekends to sample his menu items and eye up his housemade charcuterie. The next underground dinners are planned for March 31/April 1, but unfortunately they are already sold out. Keep an eye out and follow on Twitter for an announcement for the next dinner - be sure to be quick to submit your reservation request!

This past Thursday I had the pleasure of attending the 7th annual Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) Hokanson Chef in Residence Luncheon. Each year NAIT's School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts treats students with the rare opportunity to learn from some of the best chefs in North America.

The past years have featured Susur Lee, Lynn Crawford, Rob Feenie, Massimo Capra, David Adjey, and Chris Cosentino. This year the program welcomed Chef Michael Statdländer into the kitchen. I'll admit that I didn't know too much about Statdländer, but after some research I was pretty excited to have the opportunity to eat one of his meals.

Michael Stadtländer grew up on a farm in Germany among his family of bakers, chefs and farmers. After immigrating to Canada from Germany in 1980, Stadtländer and colleague Jamie Kennedy made their mark on the Toronto restaurant scene at Scaramouche. In 1993, Stadtländer and his family moved to a 100-acre farm near Collingwood, at the top of Ontario’s Niagara Escarpment, where they could live on the land. Eigensinn Farm has become an internationally celebrated destination for gourmets. Always an advocate for locally sourced food, Stadtländer recreates the farmyard classroom of his childhood at Eigensinn. In 2009, Stadtländer and his wife Nobuyo opened Haisai restaurant and bakery in Singhampton, Ontario. Haisai is an extension of Eigensinn Farm’s philosophies and practices using locally raised and foraged ingredients. - Excerpt courtesy of NAIT

Prior to the start of the meal the room was abuzz with guests waiting to see what lunch had in store. The kitchen was busy with culinary arts students putting the final touches on plates, with Stadtländer's encouragement. Our meal started off with assorted breads, some of which I never thought I would ever try. The basket was filled with beet bread, mushroom bread, and sourdough. I loved the pink colouring of the loaf with chunks of soft, sweet beets. Having some root vegetables in there makes you a little less guilty about all the carbs you're consuming!

Our first course was a Panfried Alberta Whitefish cooked with in house smoked pork back fat, served with creamed lentils and red beet horseradish sauce. Chef Statdländer based this dish off one of his at Haisai, where fish is wrapped in speck then smoked. The lentils were cooked and flavoured using thyme, bay leaves, and dijon, making them tender and flavourful. In what would otherwise be a pretty dull dish, I loved the beet sauce giving the plate both colour and vibrancy.


Next up was a Rare Rosemary Roasted Beef Tenderloin with a root vegetable cake and wild Canadian mushroom jus. Although the beef wasn't cooked to a perfect rare, it was so tender and juicy. The beef was seared quickly in sunflower oil and was honestly perfect in and of itself. The root vegetable cake was layered with a creamy onion thyme sauce and finished with a three year old cheddar. Although there were additional flavourful components, I could still taste the natural sweetness of the vegetables. The dish was delicious!

To round off the meal, Chef Statdländer served us one of his favourite desserts: Vienna Apple Strudel with Chantilly Cream. He had joked that he wasn't so sure about how this dish would turn out since the dough can be incredibly difficult to stretch out as thin as it should be, but he was quite impressed with the students attention to detail and the finished product. The dessert was made with apples grown locally in North Edmonton and cinnamon sugar almonds. The naturally sweet apples made for a lightly sweet dessert and a perfect end to our three course luncheon.

Although most people do not get the opportunity to attend the Hokanson Chef in Residence luncheon, knowing that the culinary arts students take the knowledge from these renowned chefs and go on to cook amazing food in some of the best kitchens here in the city is awesome. Edmonton's food scene is growing and I can't wait to see how it develops over the next few years. A huge thank you to NAIT for inviting me to the luncheon this year - I can't wait to see who the chef in residence will be in 2016!