Jul
02
Correction
Posted in Festivals
In my previous post, I stated that The Works festival ended this past weekend. In fact, the festival ends on July 6, 2008 (this coming Friday). I apologize for the error.
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In my previous post, I stated that The Works festival ended this past weekend. In fact, the festival ends on July 6, 2008 (this coming Friday). I apologize for the error.
There are a lot of things going on in the city right now (as there will be all summer), so I figured the easiest way to share the information would be in a single round-up post.
Friends, Edmontonians, Countrymen…
I have been neglegent and left this blog to rot far longer than I should have. Likely, I have lost many readers and/or subscribers. Luckily, I never got around to setting up Google Analytics for this blog, so I am unaware of the stats.
Regardless, I am back, and I’m telling you about the Edmonton International Jazz Festival. Last night, June 20, was the first night of this year’s festival and I, the River City Writer, was present at one of the shows.
I checked out the Four Corners Quartet, who were part of the Club Series, at hulbert’s. They played a mix of originals and standards, with an emphasis on the standards. Though not a huge jazz cat, I recognized a good number of the standards.
There was a lot of Charlie Parker, and some Miles Davis, which is to be expected when the leader of the band is a sax player. Oddly, I think there were a few Thelonious Monk songs in the mix, which is odd, given that there was not a piano in sight. Of course, like I said, I’m not a jazz expert, so I could be wrong about the Monk bits.
I didn’t get a chance to speak to them, but I believe the Four Corners Quartet is from Edmonton, so if you see them around town, I recommend that you check them out. In the meantime, be sure to check out the rest of the Festival.
The Edmonton International Jazz Festival runs until June 29, 2008. For a full schedule of events check out the 2008 Jazz Festival Calendar.
There has been a sign on the sidewalk near my apartment for at least a couple of months that reads, simply, “Best Pizza 100% Halal.” While it’s true that nearly every business claims it’s the best at what it does, it’s rare that a company actually has the word “best” in the name.
I was intrigued. Did this tiny, hole-in-the-wall pizza and donair joint really make the best pizza? Today, I put them to the test.
While I wouldn’t say that Best Pizza honestly makes Edmonton’s best pizza, they do make a tasty pie.
While Best Pizza offers a dozen different toppings, I was in the mood for something simple, and opted for a 12″ pepperoni and mushroom pizza, which cost $15 plus GST. Because I had simply walked over and ordered, I sat around and waited in the small dine-in part of the restaurant.
Consisting of a pair of tables, and a couple of benches for those eating at the window ledge, the haphazardly constructed sit-down area isn’t exactly what you’d call “fine dining.” But, to be fair, it’s no worse than other dive pizza joints like Chicago Deep Dish, and a decent paint job could probably make it look about the same as the Whyte Avenue Funky Pickle location.
The kitchen is a closed kitchen, so I was unable to see the friendly cook at work, but I could hear him working through the thin walls. I heard a knife chopping something on a cutting block. This turned out to be the mushrooms, which were freshly chopped, not the canned mushroom bits that many corner pizzeria’s use.
While I waited for my pizza, I perused the menu. In addition to pizza, Best Pizza also offers burgers and fries, donairs, chicken shawarma, chicken wings and, oddly, coconut-coated fried shrimp.
Pizza and donairs seem to go together well, as do chicken wings. Burgers at a place that focuses on pizza are probably not going to be the best burgers, but I’ll reserve judgment until I try them. Shawarma is pretty similar to a donair, and this is a Muslim-run establishment, so I’m pretty sure that they know what they’re doing as far as shawarma is concerned.
The coconut shrimp, though, I didn’t notice that menu item until after I’d arrived at home, as it’s inexplicably tucked under the “Burgers” section of the menu. It seems like an odd choice for a pizza and donair shop, but I’m just curious enough to consider ordering some the next time I visit Best Pizza.
At $15 for 25 pieces, it’s not cheap. But, that’s not a bad price for shrimp, and I’m curious enough that I’m willing to pay it.
After about 20 minutes, the pizza was ready. It was brought out with a smile, and the box was almost hot to the touch. This was pizza at it’s freshest.
I made the short walk home, lifted the lid, and smiled when I saw the freshly chopped mushrooms. I poured myself some juice, grabbed a napkin, and tucked in. I knew from the first bite that I’d be back to Best Pizza.
There was plenty of cheese, but not so much that the pepperoni and mushroom flavours were overwhelmed, and the meat and mushrooms were both full of flavour. I suspect that the meat was probably quite fresh too, though I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it had never been frozen.
While it’s a bit more expensive than established players like Pizza 73, I do recommend Best Pizza, especially if you live in the area (they deliver, for those who aren’t in the area). The food is good, the staff is friendly, and everything is 100% halal, which is beneficial to the large Muslim population in the area surrounding Best Pizza (and Edmonton at large).
While Best Pizza doesn’t quite live up to it’s name, it’s still damn good pizza, and I’ll be back again soon.
Edmonton is not a very walkable city. One of the negative things about this city, especially in this age of buck and a quarter gasoline, is that driving is more or less inevitable.
While the Edmonton Transit System (ETS) does a pretty good job of servicing the city, they have had trouble keeping pace with the growth of the city, so there are some parts of town where taking the bus is, at best, incredibly inconvenient.
Essentially, even if you’re taking ETS, it is relatively difficult to get around Edmonton without using some form of automobile.
However, it is still possible to explore some parts of the city on foot. Perhaps predictably, the most walkable parts of the city are generally the most historic. The most walkable parts of the city are, generally, the parts most worth wandering around and exploring.
While I like to take walks in and around downtown, most of them are relatively boring jaunts around the inner core. A few of them take in the view from the top of the river valley, but even these pale in comparison to the walking tours that Sharon over at Optimistically Cautious has put together.
I’m planning on taking in all 3 of her tours—or some variation of each—as soon as possible, and I highly recommend that each of you do the same. Better still, use Sharon’s tours as inspiration to explore your own little corner of Edmonton. Put together a walking tour of some part of the city, and then share it on your blog, or in the comments section of this post.
I’ve got a couple of little mini-walks (though, nothing close to the half-day tours Sharon has put together) that I’ll share in a future blog post. But, for now, I leave you to explore Sharon’s Edmonton Rediscovered tours.
Thanks to Mack for pointing me toward Sharon’s post.
April, that sultry bitch, has decided to play the cocktease. Just as she was beginning to show a little leg, to flash a little cleavage, she’s pulled it all back and thrown on the over-sized nightgown. She’s blanketed us with a blinding white dressing gown, and we are none to pleased. But, that is her wish, and we can do nothing to change her mind. All we can do is wait, tell her we love her, and hope that she will bare all in the coming days.
Edmonton, like all cosmopolitan cities, has cigar shops. While there are a number of shops that sell cigars in River City—ranging from newsstands to convenience stores to hotel gift shops—there are only a few that can truly be called cigar shops. There are only a few stores that are operated by true tobacconists.
To my knowledge, there are only 3 such shops in Edmonton There are at least 5 such shops in Edmonton (thanks to Greg for reminding me about a few of them): La Tienda, Humo, Burlington, River City Cigar, and Hav-a-Cigar.
I am most familiar with Burlington. Burlington is my favourite cigar shop in the city. I go there often and always get good advice from Chris and Aaron (or is it Eric? I can never seem to get his name right). Whether you’re looking for cigars, cigarillos, pipes or pipe tobacco, or even “all natural” cigarettes, Burlington can provide.
They’re also stocked with all of the accessories you’ll ever need—cutters, humidors, ashtrays, and more. Though, to be honest, I find that I can get most accessories a lot cheaper online, and so I tend to buy these things through eBay or other sources.
La Tienda is a nice little shop, but I can’t really comment much on it. I’ve only been inside once or twice, and that was back before I really got into cigars. I went in not really knowing anything, but Curtis managed to help my friend K and I pick out a few decent cigars to celebrate becoming university graduates.
While I can’t say much about La Tienda, I can definitely say that Curtis is a helpful guy who knows his shit.
Humo is a place I’ve been hearing more and more about lately. It’s the one place I’ve never been inside. Ironically, it’s also the closest place to my apartment. I’ll definitely have to go in and check it out one day soon. Until then, I can’t really comment on the place.
But, I know that at least one of my readers is a cigar enthusiast. I’m sure there are others out there who might be reading this blog. So, tell me which of Edmonton’s cigar shops is your favourite, and why. And, if it’s La Tienda or Humo, please feel free to go into great detail, since I’m not familiar enough with either of these establishments to fairly recommend (or not recommend) them to my readers.
I haven’t really pimped the Raving Poets as much as I usually do this season, but attendance has been a bit slim compared to past seasons, so I figured I’d dedicate some words to my boys and girls down at the Kasbar.
First, the W5 on the Raving Poets:
Who: Anyone and everyone. If you want to read a poem, just show up and add your name to the list. 16 readers are drawn from the hat. If your name is pulled, you are now a Raving Poet for the night. There are, of course, regulars, but everyone is welcome.
What: An open mic poetry night with live improvised music.
Where: Kasbar Lounge, in the basement of Yianni’s Taverna (10444 Whyte Avenue).
When: Every Wednesday until the end of May. Sign-up is at 7:30pm, readings start at 8pm.
Why: Because words matter, and they’re worth sharing. And because Edmonton has an incredible poetry scene. Even if you aren’t interested in sharing your work, there is always something worth watching.
And, on top of that, the Raving Poets will be selling “heart beat” pins this Wednesday—$5 for a pack of 4—with the proceeds going to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Not only will you get to hear some great music, some great poetry, and drink a lot of good booze, you’ll also be able to donate money to a worthy charity and get some cool buttons in return.
As a dude with a heart condition, the Heart and Stroke Foundation is one of my favoured charities, so you can bet I’ll be shelling out my $5. Plus, I love buttons and pins, so it’s a win-win situation.
I haven’t been posting much here recently. Partly, this is because of my own laziness. I have no good excuse for this. I will do my best to start posting regularly again, soon. However, I am wondering if people would like to write guest posts for River City Writer.
This is a blog about Edmonton, but it’s really only about my experience of Edmonton. I’d like it to be a blog about how other people experience Edmonton, as well.
If you’re interested in writing a guest post here, either as a one-off thing, or as a regular column, let me know.
I am a bad, bad blogger. I have not been posting nearly as often as I should be. I will try to remedy this. In the meantime, check out some of the Alberta/Edmonton blogs on the list fellow Edmonton-based blogger, Aaron Braaten, has put together.