Saigon Jon’s

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Saigon Jon's Vietnamese Kitchen on Urbanspoon

Saigon Jon’s is a Vietnamese Fast Casual restaurant located on the south end of Pembina Highway near where the old Blockbuster video store used to be.  A little while I had the opportunity to go there as part of a Manitoba Food Bloggers event.  Johnny Kien, one of the partners and chef at the restaurant hosted us for the evening.

I live in the West End of Winnipeg, home to a good number of very fine Vietnamese restaurants.  So, I was curious to see how this fresh take on Vietnamese cuisine would work.  It works very well, with the “fresh” of fresh take being the foundation on which the restaurant is built.

One of the elements that enhances the freshness of the food is that Saigon Jon’s grows it’s own herbs for use in the restaurant.  They are able to do this by way of the Urban Cultivator.  A product out of Vancouver created by some guys who wanted to take “grow your own” in a more licit direction.

Fresh Herb Grower

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Book Review – The Meal Jesus Gave Us

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A few weeks ago I sent out a request, via Twitter and Facebook for books on the Eucharist.  In particular, I was hoping to find ones that dealt with the subject of the Eucharist in the terms of a meal.  Among the suggestions I received was Tom Wright’s The Meal Jesus Gave us:  Understanding Holy Communion.  The book was suggested to me by my friend and colleague Geoff Woodcroft, who was also kind enough to lend me his copy to read.

This is an excellent little book.  It only runs to just over 80 pages, but in it Wright is able to encapsulate much of the history and practice of Holy Communion, or as he repeatedly refers to it, “The Jesus Meal.”  Rather, than starting with the Biblical context, Wright begins by engaging the reader on the whole idea of significant meals, with an imaginative description of a birthday party, perhaps our most common time for celebratory time.

From there he moves into the Eucharist’s roots in the Passover, and how being part of that story was understood by the first followers of Jesus.  As he continues in his discussion of the practice, right up to the current day, he  is able to give the reader insight into the ways in which diverse groups of Christians have developed their own ways of celebrating this meal and does so with charity in most places.

The one exception, though even then, not overly strong, is on the idea of Open Communion and lay presiding at Communion.  I’m not very well read on the subject of laity presiding at Communion, but if you want to know more about Open Communion, I recommend Come to the Table, by Jamie Howison of St. Benedict’s Table.

The main reason for this is Wright’s desire that the Jesus Meal be one that draws all Christians closer together rather than giving us reasons to become even more fragmented than we already are.

This is the kind of book that churches should be getting newcomers to their communities to read.  Better yet, particularly if you are from a tradition similar to the one I’m in (Anglican), it would be a great book to give to those who are being baptized   At baptism we welcome the baptized into the family and a book about the family meal of Holy Communion, make a terrific, little, welcoming gift.

 

National Pasta Day

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If you Google the words, “National Pasta Day,”  you will find references to a wide variety of dates and events.  The one I’m referring to took place last Saturday at the Forks Market, here in Winnipeg.

Sponsored by the Canadian Culinary Federation, this is third year in a row that this event has been held at the Forks, and across Canada, 18 cities were holding similar events.  For $5.00 you were able to purchase a plate of pasta with either meat or vegetarian sauce, along with a bread stick and a topping of Parmesan cheese.  As you can see below, the meat sauce was thick and hearty and the portion was quite substantial.

A Thick and hearty meat sauce for the pasta.

A Thick and hearty meat sauce for the pasta.

A Full Lunch portion for only $5.00

A Full Lunch portion for only $5.00

What made this lunch even better though, is that the $5.00 cost was going to help two different organizations.  All of the food had been donated by a variety of businesses.  If I remember correctly, it was Pratt’s Wholesale, City Bread, To-Le-Do Meats and Sysco.  As a result the Culinary Federation’s student program and Winnipeg Harvest were able to benefit as the recipients of the proceeds. You may have missed the event this year, but keep your eyes and ears open for next years event.

The team of young chefs that prepared the meal.

The team of young chefs that prepared the meal.

 

Snakes on a Plate

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Cafe Ce Soir on Urbanspoon

A few months ago, while strolling down Portage Avenue, I saw on the corner of Portage and Lipton, a new little restaurant by the name of Café Ce Soir.  I made not of it, with the intention of visiting one day.  As is often the case with new restaurants, I looked to discover what their internet presence was, and started following their Facebook page.

While scrolling through my news feed last night, I noticed that they had posted that the special on the menu was Python stew.  Intrigued by this prospect I chatted back and forth with them and made a reservation to come try it.  The cafe recommended that you reserve your python portion before they were all gone. Continue reading →

Book Review – Eat With Joy

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In writing about food and theology, I’ve constantly been frustrated by how little emphasis is put on the role of eating together in our understanding of how we approach our relationship to food.  One of three things usually occurs.  Either the author gives idea of eating together a token acknowledgement, before the authors move on to their real point, whether that be localism, veganism, eating all bread, eating no bread, food justice, and so on.  If not that, eating together is referenced to recall supposed halcyon days of yore when the nuclear family gathered around the dinner table every night.  Last but not least there are the books that jump on the latest dieting gimmicks and then seek to put a “Biblical” or “Christian” gloss on them.

Slowly, this is beginning to change.  We can in part, thank the “New Monastic” writers such as Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove who included the significance of eating together as one of the chapter in his recent book, The Awakening of Hope.

Sarah Miles has also tackled this subject in her book, Take this Bread, which among other things, chronicles her adventures in learning to eat with others.   As well, people seem to be rediscovering the pleasure that eating and eating together affords, as put forward by Robert Farrar Capon in his book, The Supper of The Lamb.

Still, the pickings are slim, and the introduction of Eat With Joy:  Redeeming  God’s Gift of Food, by Rachel Marie Stone, is a more than welcome addition to the table, so to speak.  There are many reasons to like this book. Continue reading →

Dinner at Raw:Almond

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As you can see from the first sentence, I hoped to put this up earlier than I did.

I wrote yesterday.about my brunch at the Raw:Almond pop-up restaurant, situated on the river ice, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers.  This little venture, the brain child of Mandel Hitzer, owner of the Deer & Almond restaurant and Joe Kalturnyk of Raw Gallery, has Winnipeggers talking (with their mouths full of great food if they’ve had a chance to eat at this little restaurant),

Much has been written about Raw:Almond, particularly on the table.

Much has been written about Raw:Almond, particularly on the table.

They suspend some extra lights over the table for the evening sittings.

They suspend some extra lights over the table for the evening sittings.

Some of the conversation has been around things such as the architecture and stability of the place, (I’ve been there twice and it was perfectly stable).  Others have of course, talked about the $85.00 dollar ticket price.  Yes, you are paying in part for experience of dining in a novel setting.  Yet, the dinner was a full meal, and while it may have left you wanting more, that was a result of the quality of the food, rather than a shortage of it.

When I signed up I was asked if I wanted any particular night, but I said that I would take any night.  While I didn’t know who all the chefs were, I had tried food from several of the restaurants listed, so expected a good food experience no matter who was cooking.  As the scheduling turned out, Ben Kramer from Diversity Food Services was cooking alongside Chef Hitzer.  This was quite pleasing as I had thoroughly enjoyed the food Chef Kramer had prepared for a friend’s wedding reception. Continue reading →

Pop Up Brunch

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Much has been made over the Raw:Almond pop-up restaurant.  The Winnipeg Free Press has covered it a couple of times, the link is to the second of these articles.   You can also find out about it on the local CBC website.  I haven’t included article links, because they tend to come down quite quickly.

I’ve booked my ticket for tonight’s dinner service, but when the opportunity came to try out the restaurant during brunch service on the first weekend, I thought it was too good an opportunity to pass up.  This sense was enhanced because I knew that Talia Syrie of The Tallest Poppy, was the chef for the brunch, capably assisted by, among others, Shel Zolkewich.

I wasn’t sure if there was a protocol for making reservations or if I should simply take my chances.  As it was a pleasant day, I decided I would take my chances and walked over after I had finished church over at Holy Trinity.  I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived to find out that there was indeed room at the table and so I took my seat and awaited for the food to arrive. Continue reading →