Chefs from 10 great local restaurants donate their time and create a dish in line with the theme of this year's theme "Noodles and Doodles". Awards are given for the People's Choice, Judge's Choice and Kid's Choice. 200 servings of each dish were created and when they run out, they run out and they did! This year there were guest chefs from Craft Beer Market, El Cortez Tequilla Bar & Kitchen, LUX Steakhouse, NoodleBox: Southeast Asian Noodle Bar, Northlands Catering, Pazzo Pazzo Italian Cuisine, The Red Piano Bistro & Dueling Bar, Von's Steakhouse & Oyster Bar, Smokehouse BBQ and Zinc. Well, nine actually, the Red Piano never showed up - at least not while I was there.
So let me start off by saying this is a fundraiser for the Mount Royal School Arts Program and good for them! It was extremely well attended by school families, neighbours and I also saw my Edmonton Foodie group there. It's a great fundraiser for the school. It was packed! And some of servings of food were almost done by just after noon even though the event was scheduled to go from 11 am to 2 pm. They also had a live and a silent auction with some great items.
But this event really was not for me. Food for me is a culinary extravaganza. I like to enjoy my food in pleasant and peaceful surroundings. This was not that. It was packed and stressful with lots of kids running around, strollers, etc. Now don't get me wrong - it's a school fundraiser - that's how it should be - just not for me.
When we arrived we stood in line to buy our "bowls" which were $2 each. You go around to each station and they fill up your bowl. This can be a little problematic because you only have two hands. And if you're carrying a full bowl with one hand and eating with the other - who's carrying your other bowls? Luckily my husband had a big pocket and was carrying the bowls (and the forks, spoons, napkins and my notebook so I could take notes of the dishes offered).
First up we went to Craft. They offered their "Signature Mac and Cheese with Scoobydoo Pasta". This was terrible! Totally dry. No sauce at all but with a bit of a kick.
Next we went to Lux and had their Rueben Pasta with rye penne, a gruyere cheese sauce, house smoked brisket, pickled mustard seed, pickled cabbage and micro caraway. It was okay, better than Craft's, but still not outstanding.
Next up was Northland's Catering that had a chicken ramen noodle soup with nouri, egg, chicken, crispy chicken skin, corn in an excellent broth. This was delicious! We used five of our twenty bowls to try this dish again and again.
The Noodle Box offered a Bombay Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese which was good - got our friend's vote for best dish.
Then we were off to Von's. They had a HUGE line and it was worth it. They offered a Three Cheese Mac and Cheese in a parmesan boat. It was delicious! The Chef was so great and so humbled by the fact that he had the longest line. He said "I never have the longest line"! We went back twice but by the second time there were no more parmesan boats left. Still great.
And Zinc had a Tiramisu with sheet pasta. This was good and creative but I didn't really care for the pasta in it. I thought if they would have done white chocolate noodles it would have met the challenge and been delicious as well - albeit maybe not as creative.
We didn't try the Pazzo Pazzo booth or the Smokehouse BBQ and The Red Piano didn't show up - what's that about?
Anyways, we ordered our last four bowls, made a bee line for the gym door and headed to our vehicle to eat our last dishes without getting pushed around and bumped into. All in all, I'm glad we at least tried it but we won't return. I'm not really a crowd person but if I'm going to be in a crowd I want it to be at the Rocky Mountain Food and Wine Festival! I think it is a great and creative fundraiser for the school though and kudos to the organizers!
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