Taste of Edmonton - July 19-28, 2012! (A preview)

The Taste of Edmonton (ToE) is a huge event for businesses and restaurants that occurs every year in Edmonton in July. This year, I along with other food bloggers from Edmonton (Michelle from The Tiffin Box, Diane from Argenplath, Sharon from Only Here for the Food and more) were invited to the ToE 2012 media launch party! It was certainly an exciting opportunity to meet some of the chefs and owners from participating restaurants, and of course to get a sneak peak and taste of the food! 

Now, Edmonton is known for being Canada's festival city! With Race Week Edmonton and  Edmonton's Capital Ex all coinciding together, July will be packed with festivities for Edmontonians to participate in. 

This year's ToE 2012 will include new participating restaurants including TZin, Guru, Share (at the Westin), Caffe Sorrentino, Irie Foods on Whyte and more! Now, for those of you that have been to this event over the years and found that menu items are repetitive, have no fear! 65% of the menu being offered at ToE 2012 will be new! So with that being said, here are some of the dishes that we sampled during the lunch hour at the Schoctor Lobby of the Citadel Theater. 

Caprese Salad from Lit Italian Wine Bar (new item)

Maple Bacon Poutine from Hudson's Canadian Tap House

Chickpea Salad from Caffe Sorrentino 

Panzanella Salad from TZiN Wine & Tapas

Prawns on skewers from Zinc 

Prawn Pita from Zinc

Food Truck Fare from Smokehouse BBQ (@smokehousebb)

Prime Rib Stuffed Mini Yorkshire Puddings from On the Rocks

             

Whiskey and Dark Chocolate Ribs

from the Share Restaurant (Westin Edmonton)

MAC Scone Sundae from Fairmount Hotel Macdonald

The Hat Signature cupcake (red velvet filled w/ chocolate ganache)
only available at The Hat made by Delish Custom Cakes and Sweets

Mocha Cannoli (there will be assorted available)
from the Italian Bakery Edmonton.

yummy desserts from the media launch including
Nutella Cornetto from Caffe Sorrentino

GF cookies from Molly's Eats Food Truck (@MollysEats)

There were a couple more items that we sampled that day, which I unfortunately was not able to capture. However, you can certainly catch a glimpse of other dishes on Michelle's, Diane's, or Sharon's post of ToE 2012! The real standouts for me were the whiskey and dark chocolate ribs, the prawn pita and each dessert available that day (I'm a lover of all things sweet!). Echoing Sharon's thoughts, I'm hoping that dishes such as the maple bacon poutine or the yorkshire pudding would be more fresh on the days of the event given that these dishes, as well as others that needed to be served hot, had been prepped for some time before we had a chance to taste them. 

In my haste to finish this post (as it has been sitting in my drafts for some time), I almost forgot to mention the two food competitions occurring on July 22 and July 23. On July 22, three local food bloggers (Michelle, Phil and Teresa)  will be creating an original food truck entree to be judged by 3 chefs. On July 23, three different food bloggers will be paired off with a chef in a "Cooking with the Stars" BBQ cook-off event. It will likely be a black box competition, mirroring that of Chopped. Cupboards will be stocked with common necessities and it will be an exciting event! So, remember to check it out on July 22 and July 23 starting at 11:30am at Churchill Square. Taste of Edmonton (@TasteofEdm) will also be hosting a draw to win front row seats to either of these cook off events! Follow them on twitter and answer those 3 questions correctly for a chance to win! Drawing occurs this Friday @ 1pm.  

Tickets for food items can be purchased from Tix on the Square in advance or in the square on the days of the event. If you purchase them before the event begins than you can enjoy a 10% discount. One sheet is $30 at original price. 

Taste of Edmonton starts this Thursday July 19! Hope to see you all there!