What a week! The Chop Chop “Feast”-ival is a wrap and it sounds like a lot of people enjoyed a lot of good food from a lot of Uptown’s diverse restaurants. Including the Urban Deli! We received some really nice compliments about our Montreal Smoked Meat pizza.

And wow! Did we ever have fun Saturday night with Terry Whalen and his performance. Our music man Wes Jagoe joined him later, as did a few others, and they were jamming for quite some time. Here’s what our man Wes had to say:

Terry Whalen’s performance Saturday night was a roller coaster mix of good old rockin’ country and grass roots blues right from the delta itself; a one man army not afraid to chance the trenches for the sake of the song.

His own songs were well delivered pieces of love and woe tapestries, all introduced by a story. Terry performed a great range of music. Yes, from AC/DC’s “It’s a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll,” all the way to John Cougar’s “Pink Houses.”  And it was all glued together with an oozing baritone tinge.

Hats off to a great performance.

Saturday coming up, we’ll have Andrew Clark and we expect we’ll have just as much fun. Hope you can join us!

The Chop Chop “Feast”-ival is underway in Saint John’s uptown and it promises to be a tasty week. Last week we mentioned what the Urban Deli would be featuring. If an eyebrow or two was raised when we mentioned our Montreal Smoked Meat Pizza (vegetarian also available), let’s provide a bit of information …

This is may not be be “pizza” in quite the way you may imagine. It’s a bit like an open-face sandwich and it is served on toasted pita. We did a number of tastings to get it just the way we wanted, so you may want to give it a try. Keep in mind, as well, we do offer a vegetarian version for those inclined that way.

Music

We had a great Halloween with Wes Jagoe providing the music. Now we’re looking forward to this Saturday, the 7th, when Terry Whelan will be here, 8 to 10 pm, doing his musicial thing. It looks like it will be another great night!

We’re geared up for next week’s Chop Chop “Feast”-ival. What’s that? Have a look at Dig in at the Chop Chop Feastival! As the article says, “The concept was to celebrate local businesses, local food, and show how far the city (Saint John) has come.”

It starts Sunday (November 1) and runs through Saturday (November 7) and it’s a fine opportunity to get a taste of Uptown Saint John. Of course, we’re not open on Sundays so the Urban Deli will be getting underway on Monday (November 2). And what does all this mean?

It means all of the participating restaurants (including the Urban Deli) will feature something as we show the world what Uptown Saint John has to offer by way of food. Here’s what we at the Deli have planned:

Urban Deli 2 course lunch or dinner for $12:
- Soup or Salad and a Montreal Smoked Meat Pizza (Vegetarian Pizza also available)

Our Chop Chop Plate for $10:
- The Trio:  Hummus, Roasted Garlic & Artichoke Dip & Chicken Liver Pate served with Seasoned Pita Chips

If you’re a foodie, you may want to keep your calendar open next week so you can try all the features at our Uptown restaurants. And even if you aren’t a foodie, it’s a good bet you’ll discover something or someplace new.

How many places can you visit in a week?

In case you missed it, the Telegraph-Journal had a story this week about an upcoming food festival we’ll be taking part in: Chop, chop food fans, fun festival is coming. To quote from the article:

“The idea behind the week is to put us on the food map,” said Margret Begner, co-owner of Opera Bistro and a member of the festival organizing committee.

“It should showcase how proud we can be of the different restaurants and businesses that we do have in this area.”

During the Chop-Chop festival, foodies will have the chance to sample from 22 participating restaurants in the uptown with a set pricing menu.

So from November 1 through 7, Uptown Saint John is where you’re going to want to be to give your taste buds the time of their life. We’re very excited to be part of this! Let’s help make Saint John’s uptown one of Canada’s great food destinations!