Food Notes

• Mack pointed me to an article by Stephanie Vacher about how to take better food photos. Worth a read.
• Ching's Asian Kitchen & Dim Bar (yes, "dim bar") has taken over the storefront that used to be occupied by Nikita's (10162 100A Street).
• A restaurant in Dorset, England, has instituted an "anti-price", pay-what-you-want menu on Wednesday and Thursday evenings in an attempt to increase patron numbers. I wonder how it will work out in the long run, but the owner isn't worried. From the article, the owner is quoted as saying: "I believe that the majority of people are fair if you give them good food, a good time and a nice place. People are quite on the ball on prices and are within a couple of quid of the normal prices."
• Project CHEF, a program that uses cooking as a medium to teach children in elementary school about nutrition, among other things, is a model that should be emulated across the country.
• It's better in Calgary: Cowtown's Dine-Out event spans the entire city, with over three times the number of participants when compared with Edmonton's version. Moreover, it is unacceptable that the relatively few participating restaurants in our city either haven't bothered to submit their menus, or the website maintenance staff haven't bothered uploading them. I do think Edmonton's culinary scene does itself a disservice by essentially offering two competing tasting events (Original Fare's Forkfest and Downtown's Dine-Out).
• Via Serious Eats, an article from the Village Voice that reveals the true "reality" of Iron Chef America. Sure, the recipes might be rehearsed, but it still takes a heck of a lot of creativity and skill to execute the plan just so. In any case, I will still be watching.
• I can't say I know all of the food professionals cited in the first annual Clog Awards, but the concept surrounding some of them are pretty funny (e.g. The Cat Cora Award for most fame based on least actual culinary achievement).
• While I do think the drip coffee at Starbucks is consistently better than what is available at Second Cup, I have to give kudos to the Second Cup in Telus Centre, which always has incredibly *hot* brewed coffee.
• I feel like such a McDonald's fangirl reporting this, but their Cinnamon Melts are now available at branches outside of those in Wal-Marts. They are a whooping 460 calories, but are worth every icing-coated bite. Yum.