Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon at Fortunum & Mason, Fit for the Queen, but not for Moo

Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon

Fortnum & Mason is very well known to tourists and locals alike, being the official grocer to the Royal Family. They recently revamped their tearoom and renamed it to the Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon, in honor of the Queen’s Jubilee this past year. We decided if they were good enough for the Royal Family, there must be something special about this place and had to go try their High Tea for ourselves.

Massimo's - Worth Crossing the River For

Airy, bright, modern space

Owned by Italian Centre matriarch, Teresa Spinelli, Massimo’s Cucina Italiana is situated right beside the Southside Italian Centre. Inside, you’ll find an open, airy, modern space, accented with a brick wall.

We are greeted by friendly staff, who make us feel instantly welcome and at home in a restaurant that neither @thepolishviking nor I have ever been to. A basket of thin, crispy, and extraordinarily light focaccia, lightly seasoned with fragrant rosemary hits the table. We resist the urge to polish it off before we receive our appetizer.

Rebranding Pains at Select

Pan fried gnocchi fondue

We bought a Groupon for the newly rebranded and reworked Select, formerly known as Café Select. Now owned by the same group that owns Packrat Louie, another long standing institution in Edmonton, we were eager to see the changes they had made to Select, which the humans had not been to in years. The former Café Select was well known for their fondue and Coquille St. Jacques.

Remarkably Good - Steam Whistle

Steam Whistle

For those of you who are regular readers of my blog, you’ll have discerned by now that when it comes to drinks, I tend to prefer wine. In particular, I lean towards white wine, Riesling to be exact, and that I’m also partial to champagne. On occasion I like to try red wine as long as it’s not too bold and oaky, but I rarely if ever drink beer. So when I was approached by Steam Whistle to sample their beer, I was definitely interested in giving it a whirl.

Hopes for a Happy Moo Year

Following in the footsteps of @thepolishviking, I’ve put together my own list of trends that I hope to see fade away in 2013. In addition, I’ve also put together a list of things I’d like to see become trends in the upcoming year.

Trends that I hope fade away in 2013:

Enough sauce for the dish

Pork Belly
Many of you who follow my blog know that I love pork belly, and I am addicted to the pork belly sandwich from Drift Food Truck. However, it’s become a trend, and not a good one. Everywhere I go there is pork belly, and in many cases, it is not the not as the main ingredient of the dish, but rather a superfluous element, simply chucked on the dish with some other protein as the main attraction. When pork belly is done right, and incorporated properly, it’s a wonderful ingredient. However, when used just for the sake of being used, it’s not given the attention it needs to be done properly. So not only does it not seem to meld with the other components, but often is not cooked right in these cases. Please give pork belly the respect it deserves.