Terrific Tastes Across the Town

By Diana Stabel

JACK'S GRILL
This hard-to-define, contemporary American steakhouse specializes in fine dining with an edge. With no set dress code, the clientele's wardrobe consists of anything from suits to jeans. Although the décor has an upscale flair, the crayons that decorate each table, and sit on paper tablecloths, contrast the swank façade. The made-from-scratch menu utilizes the best of local game and produce, including the Mayerthorpe Wild Boar Mixed Grill (grilled maple cured loin, boar sausage and wild boar bacon, served with house-made nettle fettuccini and Evans cherry game sauce), and the Alberta Grain Fed Veal Chop (grilled and served with truffle salted pommes frites and Morel mushroom sauce). Even the ever-changing and inventive ice cream flavours are made on the premises, including one with a kick, that features Bernard Callebaut chocolate and Jack Daniel's whiskey.

FREE PRESS BISTRO
With "food that's fit to press," the Free Press Bistro specializes in simple, yet creative sandwiches made from gourmet ingredients. In order to maintain their high standard of taste and quality, along with consistency, the owner, Natasha Shekhter is also the main chef, and does all of the cooking herself. They have a full house almost every lunch hour, but don't worry; they can always make room for one or two more. Popular items include the Oven Roasted Chicken Salad, The Cuban, and The Free Press Club. To further enhance the bistro's publication theme, the walls are decorated with framed newspapers ranging in date and place, from The Boston Globe to The Edmonton Journal.

ORGANIC ROOTS FOOD MARKET
Edmonton's first organic restaurant, grocery, bakery and supplements store all in one, Organic Roots Food Market's goal is to make people more conscious about what they eat, and how what they eat affects their health and the planet. Located on the University of Alberta campus, patrons vary from your average granola hippy to university professors. As the name suggests, everything they sell is organic (which means better taste) and they almost always utilize local products, depending on what's in season. On top of their cuisine, Organic Roots features an extensive drink menu, including, of course, organic coffee and something that is a craze in Australia but unique to Edmonton, the Dandi-Latté, which is made from dandelion root and is surprisingly tasty and good for you.

SANKYU MODERN JAPANESE CUISINE
A cross-cultural Japanese restaurant, Sankyu Modern Japanese Cuisine incorporates European and various Asian influences into its traditional Japanese dishes to further augment its originality. Featuring a trend-setting menu of fresh and vivacious dishes prepared with only the finest and freshest ingredients, popular menu items include the Tuna Dice (half a dozen of torch seared marinated tuna on top of grilled rice cake, drizzled with Sankyu's spicy green tea sauce) and the Alberta Wild Rose (Salmon sashimi wrapped with sushi rice, topped with mayo and tobiko). While dining, make sure to take in the many striking floral artworks painted by the manager Ray Fung and his wife's nine-year old daughter, Gabriel.

WHERE Listings Editor Diana Stabel regularly dines out in Edmonton, her frequent and varied culinary travels throughout the city, as well as Europe and North America, having turned her into somewhat of a food, wine (and coffee!) connoisseur.