Applications are open for the 7th S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition for chefs under 30 to showcase their culinary talent and the chance to compete in the Regional Finals to represent Canada in the Grand Finale. Apply before June 9 at sanpellegrinoyoungchefacademy.com  
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Congratulations to Silver Dragon, whose Hong Kong-trained chefs have been feeding Calgarians with more than 200 authentic Cantonese and Szechuan dishes for 60 years!
And to Barb and Ernie's Old Country Inn, who have been serving Edmontonians with their bratwurst, schnitzel, hotcakes, and a choice of 200+ breakfast dishes for 50 years!
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And congrats to Sharon Yeo on 20 years of reporting on the dining scene in Edmonton with her food blog, onlyhereforthefood.ca – oh the changes she’s seen!
The former La Chaumière building on Calgary’s 17th Ave SW has a new lease of life - in the new Bungalow Club! It’s beautifully refurbished in green, gold, and white, with an abundance of flowers. They’ve put so much thought into every detail, and we like everything about it, but it’s the outstanding Franco-Italian dishes that you’re coming for: 36-hour ferment baguette with truffle bone marrow butter, 14-day dry-aged duck with Beluga lentils, ‘The Fry’ - one big super delicious, crispy outside, fluffy inside fry with Comté aioli and chives. Need we say more? Chef Phil Turner (ex-Eight, Luca, and Winebar Kensington) is using every part of every ingredient. Add to this a strong cocktail game, ‘Expense It’ happy hour, 2-6 pm and all day Sunday, great chill playlist, and soon the largest patio in the city - just don’t steal the personal mushroom lights! 139 17 Avenue SW, hours at bungalowclub.ca
There’s no stopping Namo’s chef/owner Ashish Damle, he’s opened Wok & Co Pacific Rim Kitchen at 808 Edmonton Trail, Calgary – his fun place that he’s been wanting to open for years. It’s a beautiful spot with huge white paper lanterns and animal wallpaper, and you’ll be spoiled for choice when you see what we think is a very exciting menu of mostly SE Asian, with Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hawaiian, and even Peruvian, creative dishes (Hoisin Duck Pizza, Banh Mi Tacos – he really is having fun!). Fortunately he’s cleverly marked his recommendations with a little chef’s hat to guide us, as we wanted to order everything!
Drowning (chicken) Dumplings in Massaman Curry, Unagi and Prawn Fried Rice, Singapore Hawker Mee Goreng, a mega fortune cookie hiding surprises (!) are just a few must-tries, along with really good cocktails and spritzes, lattes, and juices. From 3pm, closed Mondays. wokncompany.com
Enigma Bar & Kitchen has opened in Edmonton’s Old Strathcona, with a space that evolves through the evening from stylish dining with everything made from scratch, to a vibrant, yet cozy, music-driven, late-night social lounge. From 5:00 pm at 10308 81 Avenue NW, closed Sunday. enigmabarkitchen.com
Splitsville Bowl is now open in Edmonton in addition to their five locations in Calgary, with 21 10-pin bowling lanes and a large arcade. Choose from the extensive comfort food menu, and eat and drink at the lane or in the bar and lounges before or after your game! 13543 St. Albert Trail NW, seven days 10:00 am-late, splitsvillebowl.ca
It’s a dream come true for industrial engineer and lawyer, Ronan and Isabelle - they’ve opened Choux & C - since a little boy in Brittany, Ronan loved to be in the kitchen. Yes, they specialize in cream puffs, but you’ll find palets Bretons, kouign amann, sweet brioche, chouquettes, and quatre-quart (Breton poundcake) and savouries too (authentic croque monsieur and wonderful gougère sandwiches!). Isabelle worked with Monogram coffee so you can expect perfectly crafted coffee, signature drinks linking to the bakery, wine, cider (of course, from NW France!) and beer. They use flour from France (that’s why it tastes different!) and you can buy it here to take home. With just 10 seats and a patio, catering and summer dessert trolleys on offer, come in and say ‘salut’ to the small French team and practise your French! 2215 33 Avenue SW, from 7am, closed Mondays, choux-and-c.com
