Food Notes

• It looks like they are just putting the finishing touches on the Sobeys Urban Fresh (10404 Jasper Avenue), which opens this Thursday. I am excited to hear about the local products they will be offering (Greens, Eggs and Ham, among them), and the partnership they have with the City Centre Market.
• A new Wok Box is under construction in the old bakery space on Jasper Avenue next to Who Cares?
• Judy Schultz mentioned a new deli in Edmonton in her Bistro column last week - Careit Urban Deli (5236 199 Street) apparently specializing in healthy takeout meals.
• Check out 630 CHED's website for gift certificates priced at half their value every Wednesday at 10am. This week, they were offering $100 vouchers at Von's Steakhouse for $50.
• Kerstin's Chocolates will be offering their first ever chocolate making course next week.
• Mack sent me a link about a new service where dialing "#PIZZA" on your cell phone will not only connect you with viable delivery options, but also recommend new places to try, based on customer ratings and research and the cheapest eats.
• The Olympus Stylus 1010 camera has a "cuisine" function! Too cool.
• The FN Dish, a web show on the Food Network, focused on food blogging last week. Ed Levine, one of my favorite NY-based bloggers, is featured in the interview.
• The New York Times sent nine writers to review chains in the suburbs, and the consensus was one of pleasant surprise. A few write-ups in particular are deliciously condescending, including one on The Cheesecake Factory: "On a recent Saturday night, there were at least 150 people in their best jeans and T-shirts, beepers in hand, happily waiting 30 or 40 minutes for tables." Worth a read.