Hicks' Weekly Dish: The Cellar at Sofra a Turkish delight BY GRAHAM HICKS FIRST POSTED: TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 2015

The Cellar at Sofra 10345 106 St 780-423-3044 Facebook: Sofra Authentic Turkish Cuisine Tues. to Sun. 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Closed Mon Food: 4 of 5 Suns Ambience: 3.5 of 5 Suns Service: 4 of 5 Suns Dinner for two excluding drinks and tip: Basic, $40; loaded, $60 Graham Hicks 780 707 6379 graham.hicks@hicksbiz.com www.hicksbiz.com @hicksonsix Sofra is the downtown’s go-to Turkish restaurant, located on the ground floor of a walk-up condominium building on 106 Street just south of MacEwan University. It’s been around for some time, and has a tumultuous relationship with its customers. Many discerning diners love the place, go back often, and swear by its Mediterranean/Middle East mix of yogurt, cooking cheeses and fruits, meatballs (kofte) and lamb. Others, like myself in a Weekly Dish review from three years ago, have been disappointed with a sloppy kitchen and indifferent service. “There was no presentation, no garnishes, just meat on a pl ... Read the rest of entry »

Hicks' Weekly Dish: Padmanadi a vegetarian's delight BY GRAHAM HICKS, EDMONTON SUN FIRST POSTED: TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2015

Padmanadi Vegetarian Restaurant 10740 101 St. 780-428-8899 padmanadi.com Tues to Fri, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sat. and Sun. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (brunch), 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Closed Mon Food: 3.5 of 5 Suns Ambience: 4.5 of 5 Suns Service: 3.5 of 5 Suns Dinner for two excluding drinks and tip: Basic, $30; loaded, $60 Graham Hicks 780 707 6379 graham.hicks@hicksbiz.com www.hicksbiz.com @hicksonsix It’s inappropriate, I apologize in advance. But Padmanadi Vegetarian Restaurant makes me laugh and laugh. The second page of its menu is 100% dedicated to “vegetarian meat dishes.” Somewhere out there, some supplier makes a fake meat “base” out of grain and tofu and Lord knows what. It must be mixed like a dough, cut into meaty shapes and flavoured with non-meat, meaty flavours like lemon “chicken”, teriyaki “chicken’, spicy “shrimp”, Tom Yum “mutton” and even lemon “ribs ... Read the rest of entry »

Hicks' Weekly Dish: Healthy eating spots the new norm By GRAHAM HICKS, FIRST POSTED EDMONTON SUN: TUESDAY, JUNE 02, 2015

Healthy is the new norm Ninja Club 10324 82 Ave. 780-705-8008 Food: 3 Suns of five 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. closed Sundays Dinner for two: $30 Freshii 10322 Jasper Ave Food: 4 Suns of five freshii.com 780-757-4744 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Dinner for two: $25 MyEmpanadas (take-out) 10631 51 Ave. 780-756-1345 Food: 3.5 Suns 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. 7 days a week Two empanadas: $8 Graham Hicks 780-707-6379 graham.hicks@hicksbiz.com www.hicksbiz.com @hicksonsix Graham Hicks/Edmonton Sun My doctor called with the results of my annual check-up. Lower the bad cholesterol, exercise, lose a few pounds. It’s been the same basic message for the past 20 years, the good news being nothing’s terribly wrong. What is truly good news for all of us is the increasing numbers of healthy, casual eating spots at near hamburger/French fries prices. No excuses left! Freshii — fast, casual, fresh The Freshi ... Read the rest of entry »

Hicks' Weekly Dish: There's nothing like the British pub BY GRAHAM HICKS, EDMONTON SUN FIRST POSTED: TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2015

After 10 days hiking in England, 10 to 15 miles (16 to 24 kilometres for Canadians and Europeans) a day, I was back home. Hoping for even minimal weight loss, I sidled sideways up to She Who Always Disappoints, the bathroom scale. Nothing. Nada. Exactly the same poundage at which I’d left Canada, a slightly heavy 165 pounds. Blame it on three factors: The famous English breakfast, “authentic” English ale, and English pub food which, unfortunately, is much improved over the years but has never lost its love affair with the deep fryer. The walk itself followed the ancient Pilgrim’s Way/North Downs Way, winding its way from south of London due east to Canterbury and its towering cathedral via the white cliffs of Dover. This is Downton Abbey country — even if the famous TV show pretends that Lord Grantham and his family live up north in Yorkshire. The countryside is soft, lush and gently rolling. We took the easy way, shelling out multiple English pounds to a tour c ... Read the rest of entry »

Hicks' Weekly Dish: Madison's Grill a hidden gem BY GRAHAM HICKS, EDMONTON SUN FIRST POSTED: TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2015

Madison’s Grill Union Bank Inn, 10053 Jasper Avenue 780-401-2222 unionbankinn.com Weekdays: breakfast, lunch and dinner to 10 p.m. Weekends: brunch, dinner Food: 4 of 5 Suns Ambience: 4.5 of 5 Suns Service: 4.5 of 5 Suns Dinner for two (just food): basic, $75; loaded, $110 Madison’s Grill deserves more respect. Here’s this gem of a fine dining restaurant in the heart of the downtown, in the beautiful and historic Union Bank Inn boutique hotel on Jasper Avenue. The waiter pulls out your chair for you, the linen is crisp, the cutlery lined up Downton Abbey style. And yet when Edmontonians think of downtown fine-dining elegance, they default to the Hotel Macdonald’s Harvest Room, The Hardware Grill, Characters and La Ronde in the Chateau Lacombe. They just don’t think of Madison’s. This could be about marketing or the lack thereof. Madison’s seems quite content out of the limelight. Since chef Blair Lebsack left five years ago to ... Read the rest of entry »

Hicks' Weekly Dish: The Bothy's fare won't disappoint BY GRAHAM HICKS, EDMONTON SUN FIRST POSTED: TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015

The Bothy (Downtown) Wine & Whisky Bar 10124 124 St. 780 760 8060 thebothy.ca Open 3 p.m. Closings: Sun.-Mon 9 pm; Tues 10 pm; Wed 11 pm; Thurs 12 midnight; Fri-Sat 2 am Food: 4 of 5 Suns Ambience: 4 of 5 Suns Service: 3.5 of 5 Suns The Bothy Wine & Whisky Bars have been around too long to be seen as a new phenomenon. The original on the south side was one of first pubs in town to introduce seriously good food along with an extensive selection of wines and whiskys. Today, dozens of establishments do the same thing, among them The Glass Monkey, the Fionn MacCool chain, the venerable Rose & Crown and, for wine and light eats, the Wine Room on Jasper Avenue. Bothy proprietor Doug Townshend was happy enough with the original Bothy south side to expand into the The Bothy Downtown in the heart of Edmonton’s latest dining precinct, 124 Street from Jasper Avenue to 108 Avenue. No doubt Townshend fell in love with the space just around the corner where Jas ... Read the rest of entry »

Hicks' Weekly Dish: It's Downtown Dining Week BY GRAHAM HICKS, EDMONTON SUN FIRST POSTED: TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 2015

Welcome to Downtown Dining Week and you’d be crazy not to take advantage of the best dining deals in town through this coming Sunday, March 22 - $15 for top-notch lunches, $28 for “normal” three-course dinners, $48 for three-course “executive” dinners that would normally cost $65 or more at restaurants the Weekly Dish routinely awards four Suns or more out of five. Restaurateurs are usually as co-operative as wolverines, given the intense competition for the dining dollar. This is a town with some 2,500 restaurants. At the high end, not that many folks can afford to routinely dine out at the $200-per-couple level. Last time I looked, most of us were middle-class, struggling with mortgage and car payments, raising kids. By the time the house was paid off, we’re saving for retirement. Somehow the Edmonton Downtown Association’s executive director Jim Taylor persuaded 33 of the downtown’s better eateries to love each other, hold hands and sing Kumbaya. Taylor ... Read the rest of entry »

Hicks' Weekly Dish: Evil Dave's food heavenly BY GRAHAM HICKS, EDMONTON SUN FIRST POSTED: TUESDAY, MARCH 03, 2015

Evil Dave’s Grill 622 Patricia Avenue Jasper, Alberta 780-852-3323 evildavesgrill.com 5 p.m. weekdays, 4 p.m. weekends Food: 4 of 5 Suns Ambience: 3.5 of 5 Suns Service: 4 of 5 Suns The name and the theme are a bit wacko, but the food is really, really good. Good thing we’d made a reservation at Evil Dave’s Grill on a Saturday evening in Jasper. The cheerful restaurant was packed, the ambience having much to do with the glow that skiers give off after a beautiful day at the nearby Marmot Basin ski resort. Amusingly, given the mildly adult tongue-in-cheek ‘hellish’ theme, the eatery was full of kids. The ski hill had been alive with munchkins, thanks to the Jasper Junior Olympics. Good food for the parents, kid-friendly staff and a kids’ menu bodes well for a loyal family clientele. It’s Jasper. There’s magic in the air at the best of times and Evil Dave’s had a great buzz on. Jasper has more than its share of excellent c ... Read the rest of entry »

Hicks' Weekly Dish: It' Dog is doggone good BY GRAHAM HICKS, EDMONTON SUN FIRST POSTED: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2015

It’ Dog 8621 109 St. 780-438-4083 www.facebook.com/itdogsandchicken Food: 4 of 5 Suns Ambience: 2.5 of 5 Suns Service: 3 of 5 Suns Dinner for two, just food – $14, loaded $25 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., later on weekends. Wondrous though it may be for convenience, cost and simple preparation, the hot dog sits close to the bottom of the food chain. It’s also alarmingly predictable in its toppings — ketchup, mustard, relish, sometimes onions and sauerkraut. Even a Fat Franks upgrade — best quality sausage and roll, double the usual size — is conventional in the condiment department. Which is why, as you dig into an It’ Dog with a knife and fork because it’s too messy and too big to fit directly into your mouth, you wonder … why hasn’t anybody thought of this before? The It’ Dog Korean-fusion hot dog starts with a beautiful big top-quality sausage in a yummy, hot, soft pretzel bun. That’s just the start. On to ... Read the rest of entry »

Hicks' Weekly Dish: Fine dining at Fort Edmonton Park BY GRAHAM HICKS , EDMONTON SUN POSTED: TUESDAY, JULY 15, 2014

It still remains a culinary secret, even though Johnson’s Café has been open for over 10 years in the Hotel Selkirk at Fort Edmonton Park.

Why would this very good dining room, in the height of summer, only have a few tables occupied on a lovely Thursday evening?

Location, location, location.

It’s the café’s biggest strength and weakness. The historic Hotel Selkirk is in Fort Edmonton Park, accessible by a side road after the park closes. The site is so beautiful, it’s Jasper without the three-hour drive.

But destination diners don’t think of Johnson’s Café. And if they did, they’d be unsure how to get there and uncertain of its hours.

This will change. Fort Edmonton Park soon plans to be open year-round with upgraded services. Leading the changes is new food services supervisor and master chef Jasmin Kobajica, who’s already raised the bar on park food.
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