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| RoseBowl/Rouge Lounge 10111 117 Street Edmonton, AB T5K 2S7 (780) 482-5152 |
Our meeting place, and first stop that night was RoseBowl Pizza/Rouge Lounge. Though RoseBowl Pizza has been around for decades, the owners have more recently renovated and rebranded the establishment as Rouge Resto-Lounge (which continues to serve the familar Rosebowl Pizza) to increase their appeal as social destination rather than just a restaurant.
The salt 'n' rouge wings arrived at the table first. They were salty indeed, with very mild heat. When serving a group like ours, I suppose it's necessary to keep it mild, but I would have preferred a bit more flavour from these. I've heard great things about their pizzas from others, but The Orient pizza, a well-intentioned combination of grilled chicken, pineapple, carrots and onion drizzled with sweet chili sauce and topped with pea shoots, was surprisingly underwhelming. The grilled raddichio, on the other hand, capped our stop off on a high note and was the hit of the visit; anything filled with bocconcini and wrapped in proscuitto is sure to please.
I'd been curious about Rosebowl for sometime, so it was great to get a chance to sample its offerings. I wasn't blown away by most of the food, but the atmosphere they've created is conducive to a fun social outing, and I would return for drinks and the grilled raddichio again.
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| il Pasticcio 11520 100 Avenue NW Edmonton, AB T5K 057 (780) 488-9543 |
Our next stop was il Pasticcio Trattoria. Though I'd visited once before and enjoyed it, the dishes we were served on the Dishcrawl were new experiences. il Pasticcio was first opened by owner Nello Saporito (also behind Nello's in St. Albert) in 1994. He sold it 10 years later, but after it languished under the new owners, Nello bought it back, and re-focused the restaurant on its traditional old-world Italian foundations.
The first dish to arrive was the bruschetta with bocconcini cheese. It was an excellent way to kick of this stop. Somehow, even in the winter, they'd found colourful, flavourful fresh tomatoes which were very refreshing. I wasn't overly moved by the gamberi risotto, but this opinion seemed to be in contrast to the majority of the diners. The most simple dish of all, the penne with tomato sauce, was the favorite of the stop, and possibly of the entire crawl. The tomato sauce was a lovely balance of mild seasoning which enhanced the bright tomato flavour. Biting into the perfectly al dente penne was incredibly pleasing. The fundamental principle of il Pasticcio's menu is well-executed simplicity over unnecessary complexity, and the penne with tomato sauce is the perfect embodiment of this ideal.
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| Co Co Di 11454 Jasper Avenue Edmonton, AB T5K 0M8 (780) 425-1717 |
Unlike our previous stops where the food was served family style, at Co Co Di we received our own plates of hummus, salad, and a meat pie. The hummus packed a decent punch of garlic and was drizzled with a high quality oliver oil. Perhaps it had been prepared to far in advance, because, by the time it got to me, my fatoush salad was soggy and limp.
It's difficult not to compare restaurants; even more so when you're visiting them in quick succession. Perhaps I would have been more impressed with Co Co Di had we visited prior to il Pasticcio and the bar weren't set as high, but the experience was, unfortunately, anti-climactic.
Restaurant website
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| Niche 11011 Jasper Avenue Edmonton, AB T5K 2W4 (780) 761-1011 |
The fourth, final, and dessert(!) stop of the Dishcrawl was Niche. I've eaten at Niche several times previously but never had room for dessert. I've always found their execution of the meals I've had there creative and tasty, so I was keen to see what they had up their sleeves for us.
After sitting down, the chef emerged from the kitchen to give us an orientation to the desserts we'd be receiving. The white wine poached pears were lovely, and the pinch of thyme gave them an interesting edge. We were instructed to slip the gastro bubble, whole, on to our tongues. As we slowly pushed it to the roofs of our mouths, the bubble suddenly exploded with a burst of lemon. The flourless chocolate brownie was more straightforward, and was in nice, decadent contrast to its lighter fruity partners. I was pleased, but not surprised, with interesting and delicious desserts we received at Niche. I will have to save room for the course more often.
I enjoyed the time the chef spent talking to us at Niche, and I would have liked to have heard more about the food and restaurants from the owners at the various stops. It was also freezing that night, and the group dispersed at the end, so the walk back my car at Rosebowl from the last stop at Niche was miserably cold and a tad sketchy. It would have been nice to know receive a tip in our initial email about a good location to park at a midpoint between our first and final stops. Overall, however, I had a blast. With respect to the food, there were some big hits, a few misses, and some in-betweens, but that's to be expected. It was a great way to try restaurants (or at least dishes) I had not previously experienced, and it's always fun to be in the company of others who love food.
Dishcrawl Edmonton website
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