Flavourful Saskatoon, April 16, 2012

Foodie news and events in and around Saskatoon – sweet successes, mad city chickens, sommeliers and entrepreneurs 

sweetsugarbean
Congratulations to Renee Kohlman, aka sweetsugarbean, on being recognized by The National Post as one of Canada’s best food bloggers!

City Perks
City Perks Coffee Shop on 7th Avenue just keeps getting better and better.

Coffee lovers will be happy to hear that they have a new espresso machine – a Rancilio Classe 8. They are serving organic, free trade coffee and hope to soon set aside one day a week when they will feature small roasteries with coffee that isn’t available anywhere else in Saskatoon.

They are currently selling packages of Mountain View coffee from Alberta, which is not only TransFair Canada licensed and Rainforest Alliance Certified but bullfrog powered with 100% green electricity. Leven’s Coffee is currently working on an exclusive City Perks blend.

City Perks has hired a baker, Lyssa, to help them keep up with the demand for fresh-baked goodies and hope to soon be making their own bread products. They’ve switched from oil to apple sauce in most of their muffins, and the low-fat muffin is a huge favourite and deserves a better name – so there’s a contest starting this week on Facebook.

All the ToGo supplies are made of biodegradable tater ware and so are the garbage bags. There’s music every Sunday afternoon and a knitting group on Friday evenings.

I’m heading over there for lunch today. I may have to try the “crazy pizza bread” along with a bowl of soup. But then again, maybe I’ll have a quiche or sandwich – so many choices!

City Perks is open from 7 am to 10 pm Monday to Friday, from 8 am to 6 pm on Saturdays and from 9 am to 6 pm on Sundays.

Environmental Film Festival, April 20-22
The SEN Environmental Film Festival will be playing at the Roxy Theatre from April 20-22. Of particular interest to foodies are: To Make a Farm (5 young SK people decide to become small-scale farmers), Food Security Shorts and Mad City Chickens.

Sommelier Course
Cava Wines & Spirits will be presenting a Level 1 International Sommeliers Guild course. The six-week course is tentatively scheduled to begin on May 22. Email Cava for additional information.

Community Supported Agriculture
CSAs in Europe: France's small-scale organic farmers celebrate 10 years of boxing clever 

There's still time to buy a share in Wally's Urban Market Garden. Provide support up front when they're purchasing seeds and reap the benefits with a year-round credit. Contact Wally at wally@marketinggardening.com for more information.

Young Entrepreneurs
Do you know someone who is under 30 and owns their own business? FuEL Awards, sponsored by KPMG Enterprise and PROFIT Magazine, celebrate the successes of young Canadian entrepreneurs.

Nomination and application details are available on the FuEL website. The application deadline is June 30, 2012. (via BJ - thanks!)

EcoFriendly Action Grants
EcoFriendly Sask is offering small monthly grants to support concrete, tangible environmental projects in Saskatchewan (this would include food security and some gardening projects).  

Queen City Supper Club 
A supper club is just getting off the ground in Regina. The initial idea is for 6-12 people to take turns hosting a dinner for the group.

The initiator is suggesting that they function as a non-profit with donations going to a charity chosen by the host each month.

Facebook Wanderlust
I’ve set up a Facebook page for Wanderlust and Words. Like it and join the conversation.

Photos are of City Perks.

Flavourful Saskatoon is a weekly Monday feature. I also post regular profiles of culinary entrepreneurs, new restaurants and new food products.

Follow me on Twitter, like the Wanderlust Facebook page, or subscribe to Wanderlust and Words by email (top right-hand corner) to stay on top of Saskatoon’s evolving food culture.

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