The Food Network pays us a visit for a new show

The Food Network is paying Saint John a visit for their new show, You Gotta Eat Here! And we’re way excited because we’re one of the restaurants they’ll be visiting for the show.

On Friday and Saturday they’re going to be taping at our friends, Saint John Ale House. On Sunday and Monday, they’re taping here at Urban Deli.

We’d love for you to join us for Monday’s taping (the 17th), during lunch 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. But please call us and make a reservation at 652-3354.

And what’s this Food Network show all about? Two words: comfort food. Here’s how they describe it:

You Gotta Eat Here! sends our charming, funny and food-obsessed host, comedian John Catucci, on a quest to find Canada’s most delicious, mouthwatering, over-the-top comfort food.  He’s visiting great joints, greasy spoons, and legendary restaurants to taste the food that made them famous, and to meet the colourful characters that make each one of them institutions.

It should be fun. John Catucci is a pretty funny guy and it sounds as if he knows his comfort food. We’re fired up with the idea of them coming to see us and we hope you’ll join us so we can give them a real Uptown Saint John welcome. Hope to see you Monday!

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The Eagles, the Deli and fine things

Were it not for the fact that Don Henley wrote “Desperado” while Urban Deli was still a dream in Liz’s head, we’d say he must have been thinking of the Deli when he wrote, “It seems to me some fine things have been laid upon your table …

That’s our cutesy way of reminding you that Hotel California: The Eagles Tribute is at the Imperial Theatre tonight. And if you are headed there, you might want to stop by the Deli for a bite before the show. We promise, there will be no heartbreak tonight. (Major groan!)

Liz loves everything by the Eagles, especially Hotel California. Bill, the web guy, is partial to Desperado, though he also has a great fondness for Lyin’ Eyes and dozens of other Eagles songs.

And if you plan to join us at the Deli before the show, please call us to reserve to ensure you have a seat. We don’t want to break that “no heartbreak” promise! You can reach us at 652-3354.

Have a great time at the show!

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Quinoa, Occasions and Rocky Horror theatre

With the additions to our new menu, we find we get a lot of comments about our quinoa salad. They are usually one of two. A lot of people love quinoa and tell us how much they love the salad. However, there are a lot of people who aren’t familiar with quinoa — or even how it’s pronounced (“keen – wah”).

Quinoa is a grain-like crop grown for its seeds, which are edible. It has a long history as a food source and it’s known for a number of valuable properties. We wrote a bit about in last April when we posted a recipe for quinoa wraps. If you haven’t tried quinoa yet, drop by and give our salad a try. We think you’ll love it too.

Tonight might be a good time, especially if you’re headed to The Rocky Horror Show at the Imperial. The Saint John Theatre company provided us tickets and we gave them away earlier this week to Dan Wheaton (@captainwheaton). We’re not sure how Dan dressed for the show, but if you plan to go tonight and intend to dress for the show (in Rocky Horror style), we would love to see you.

Finally, in the flurry of activity here at the Deli we completely neglected mentioning we are the Restaurant Spotlight in the fall issue of Occasions, the NB Liquor magazine that is available free in all their outlets. If you haven’t seen it already, pick it up the next time you pick up a bottle of wine. You can read about us and also get the usual great recipes Occasions always has.

And that’s our little bit of house-keeping so we can catch up! We’d love to see you today or tonight, over the weekend or any time at all. And let us know what you think of quinoa, Rocky Horror or the piece in Occasions.

 

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We have a new menu

Yes, we finally have our new menu, which is not so much new as updated. We’ve added a few new things and removed the odd item.

One of the items we’ve added that we’re pretty happy about is our Quiona Salad (keen-wah) – ancient grain salad with ginger, honey, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, cilantro and chili flakes. That is one of the salads we have available. We’ve also added a Charcuterie Board to our appetizers. And that would be genoa salami, sausage, chicken liver pate mousse, caper berries, Deli mustard and Montreal light rye bread.

Under our specialty sandwiches you’ll now see the Uptown Big Beef Bad Boy and in the Deli Delight Sandwiches you’ll see the Mediterranean, Italian Meatball and Italian Cold Cut.

Of course, you’ll still see the popular ones like the Original Montreal Style Smoked Meat, Triple Decker Grilled Cheese and Deli Meatloaf sandwiches.

Please let us know what you think of the new menu and if you have ideas about items we should have at the Deli, please share with us.

We hope you like the menu!

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Time of the season: events and catering

A small example of what Urban Deli can bring to your catered event.

We’re not eager to spoil the party but the fact is August is winding down and September will be rolling in shortly and that means … well, that means just about everything moves into a higher gear.

Kids get back to school. People return from holidays. Business gets busier.

That last one, business getting back to the business of business, is why we’re bringing up the subject of catering.

You’re likely to find yourself either scheduled into or scheduling more meetings than in the last few months.

A lot of those meetings will be scheduled over lunch. Or maybe they aren’t meetings at all but day long seminars. Whatever the case, a key element of making your event a success will be food. Your attendees will need something to eat.

That’s where Urban Deli can lend a helping hand. A key part of our business is catering and we often cater business events like meetings. We have experience in this (we’ve been catering since the day we opened). We’ve even put together some catering tips to help you plan your meeting or seminar.

We can help you make the most of your budget and time by simply getting a few details from you and taking care of the arrangements so you can concentrate on the important stuff – like the meeting itself.

We don’t want to be summer party-pooper’s but autumn looms ahead and it isn’t just an increase in business meetings that are in the offing. There are the social and family events like Thanksgiving, Halloween and, yes, Christmas with its parties.

We cater those too and now is the time to start planning so you can avoid the anxiety of last minute arrangements.

It has been a terrific summer for us and we hope it has been the same for you. With a wistful sigh, we’re now turning our eyes to the days ahead so we’ll be ready for them. If you’re doing the same and you see events on your horizon, let us help you with our catering.

You can simply give us a call to discuss it at 652-3354, or send an email from our  contact page.

As we say on our catering page, what we offer is based on our menu but we also go “off menu,” depending on what you are looking for. If you’re not certain what you might like, tell us what kind of an event or occasion you have in mind and we can make suggestions.

We’d love to lend a hand!

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New Brunswick weekend

Okay, so the weather is kind of wish washy this weekend and the U2 concert in Moncton may be a tad damp. But it’s a weekend for New Brunswick and rain or shine we’ll be enjoying it.

And we’ll be open, as we were today (Saturday). And will be on Sunday for a weekend breakfast. And on holiday Monday, New Brunswick Day, with our weekend breakfast menu. We’ll be on our shortened hours Monday, 10:00am to 3:00pm, so we can enjoy the day too. 🙂

Speaking of our weekend breakfast menu, we received some very nice words from Where in their post Breakfast, lunch, dinner: Saint John, New Brunswick. We were joined in the post by Billy’s Seafood and the Saint John Ale House. Where is a site devoted to finding the best in dining, entertainment, travel etc. across the country. We’re beaming to be included!

We’re hoping everyone has a great weekend! (The forecast is for a much sunnier day on Sunday. Here’s hoping!)

Have fun and be safe.

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The terrific two’s – our anniversary!

The Urban Deli Original Montreal Style Smoked Meat. (Photo - Urban Deli)

Up until the first week or so of July 2009, Urban Deli only existed in the head of our owner Liz. Then, on July 13, 2009, it was real.

Yes, today is our birthday! It’s Urban Deli’s second anniversary!

We’ve had another wonderful year with the restaurant and our catering. It’s been a year filled with intriguing people and superb events.

We absolutely love being a part of Uptown Saint John. As with last year, we have oodles of people to thank: our fabulous staff, the tremendous vendors and suppliers we get to work with and, of course, the people of Saint John. Our customers are fabulous.

As small thank you, today we have free samples of our desserts with your meal. So we hope you drop by and give us a chance to say, “Thanks!”

And just in case your interested, below is a list of what visitors to the Deli appear to liked best from our menu in our last year.

Our top stuff in our second year!

Top sandwiches:

  • Club Sandwich
  • Montreal style Smoked Meat
  • Rueben
  • Deli Meatloaf Sandwich
  • Ham & Swiss

Top burger:

  • UD Veggie Burger

Top soups:

  • UD Seafood Chowder

Top salads:

  • Spinach Salad
  • Romaine Chiffonade (seared tuna steak salad)

Top appetizer:

  • Roasted Garlic & Artichoke Dip

Tops from the smoked side of house:

  • Deli Ribs

Urban Deli Iced Tea.

Top Drinks:

  • Urban Deli Iced Tea
  • Coke products (in old fashioned Coke bottles)

Top Desserts:

  • Carrot Cake
  • Lemon Sour Cream Pie (came a close 2nd)

Top Breakfast:

  • The Deli Breakfast
  • Pulled Pork Eggs Benny

And that’s a wrap … Now we’re diving into year three.

Also see:

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