Creole Envie, Edmonton Alberta

On November 12th, something happened, something so rare, so elusive that it almost resembles the appearance of a blue moon when you come right down to it.

Mike and I had the day together.

Without kids.

I know.

I bet you all just gasped at that, didn’t you? All you parents out there started having heart palpitations of excitement at the mere thought of going out with your spouse during the day while the kids were at school. I’d like to say that we were wild and shopped like crazy mad people for Christmas, or that we came home and napped all day long.

We actually cleaned, did some laundry and caught up on things that needed our attention.

Oh, but we did go out for lunch!

I knew right away that since we still had to pick up the kids – seriously? You two aren’t old enough to bus it home across the city yet??- we would go and visit Danielle, owner and chef of  Creole Envie in her new Highlands location.

We had attended her fun VIP opening event but I was far to busy having fun to take any pictures. It was the kind of night that I went and enjoyed the company of Emdonton’s food peeps without lugging my Canon along.

Which is as rare as those blue moons, as well, a food evening without my camera. So thank you Danielle for the fantastic opening evening where I just sat…ate…relaxed..had lots of wine… and generally had a great time!

However I always feel guilty slacking off and I desperately wanted to try out her lunch menu. I had heard through the grapevine that she had a muffalatta sandwich that was not to be missed.

For those of you who just scratched your head and said “muffa-whaaa?” the muffalatta is the po’boy’s stronger, meatier cousin. Oh, not that po’boys are skimpy but muffalatta’s are infamous for being belly-busting, loaded-to-the-max sandwiches. It’s also straight from N’awlins, the muffalatta sandwich has its origins at the Central Grocery in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

Now, what makes the muffalatta sandwich so unique is the olive salad that it’s topped with. Comprised of olives, pickled vegetables, garlic and more, it’s the perfect foil to top the tangy salami meat which is used along with ham and mortadella. Throw in some mozza and provolone and you have a monster of a good eatin’ time.

Without the olive salad this is merely a meat loaded sandwich. Danielle’s olive salad is simply amazing and is what will have you stopping in at Creole Envie time and time again to get your muffalatta fix.

This picture shows how the olive salad is seeping into the top of the sandwich, which is exactly what it should be doing. The muffalatta gets better as it sits, the olive salad infuses the top bun with flavor.

You can also see why I only ate half of the beast.

If you love olives and good deli meat, this is the sandwich for you!

Mike took the other half to work the next day and took extreme pleasure in tormenting his co-workers with the wonder of the muffalatta.

Mike had the pulled pork po’boy and it was killer. I snuck a bite and between the Creole mayo and pickles this was something I’ll have to try next time. He had half of one with a side of gumbo, a nice option to have instead of a whole sandwich.

Especially since he absconded with half of mine at the meal’s end.

Now I’m not sure if Danielle’s bourbon coke bundt cakes are on the menu all the time but they are a favorite of mine.

Not just me, I’m not going to name any names, but let’s just say at the VIP dinner a certain gentleman I might or might not be married to and another gentleman who’s name on Twitter sounds like Paconfound ate around 6.

Each.

That I managed to count.

At one point the tiered serving tray made its way to our table and sat there being devoured.

There’s was a lot of chocolate carnage going on. There are images from that night regarding that tray of bourbon bundt cakes I am trying to forget but are forever seared into my retinas.

The magic of these little delights is that they are crispy on the outside – I’m guessing a it’s a beautiful crackly bourbon glaze – and then melt in your mouth chocolate cake on the inside.

The presentation made for a picture that shot itself.

All in all, I’m thinking that I need to go back for fried chicken and waffles one night but the”Taste of Soul” Platter calls to me, consisting of filé gumbo, red beans and rice, jambalaya, collard greens, fried chicken, ribs, fried catfish and bread pudding.

It’s my new goal to try it one night. A girl’s gotta have goals.

The space inside is gorgeous, managing to somehow be small and intimate yet with much-needed breathing space, something that is hard to find. The music playing in the background won me over as soon as I heard the True Blood theme song. Something just felt right about chowing down on a muffalatta with that music playing. Especially in the middle of snowy Edmonton, I could close my eyes and pretend I was far, far away from this snow, chasing ‘gators somewhere.

Congrats to Danielle on opening her new place and the area of Highlands should be thanking their lucky stars having such a great Creole eats gem in their midst!

Love,

I Wish Danielle Would Deliver To Summerside Magpie