Elite Event: Carnevale di Carne at Saccomanno’s

Another out-​of-​the-​park hit by Jennie!
Between the meats from Darcy’s and pasta from Saccomanno’s, this was an INCREDIBLE event!
We’ll definitely be back to check out both of those businesses — we enjoyed their offerings greatly!

The highlight of this Elite Event for me was the Italian family-​style meal. I was feeling a bit under the weather on this evening, so I didn’t partake in the rum and only had a small glass of the Hog’s Head beer — I tried the special brew for The Bear and certainly enjoyed it. I also had a sip of the pumpkin beer and found it yummy as well. The erotic balloons were definitely a fascinating spectacle to watch being made! The Balloon Fairy is one talented and imaginative lady!
The meal was impressive, dish after dish getting presented to us for us to leisurely enjoy. Cold cuts and cheese, pizza, two pastas, salad, and the meat! The servers were really nice guys who did a good job of describing what they were presenting. The arrancini balls were probably my favourite. The idea to have a meat carving presentation during a meal was interesting… I admit I got a bit yucked out by it, but my chair was also right in front of where it was taking place so I couldn’t really avoid it! Kyle from D’Arcy’s Meats was cute and charming and clearly very good at his job, so that made it a bit easier to take ;) Mini cupcakes and cake pops were a nice little desert to finish off the evening.
Thanks Jennie!

Another home run Elite Event! Walked in and was greeted with some great drinks. The pumpkin beer and the 12-​year rum were my favourites. After some mingling, we were treated with some pretty good pasta and the highlight of the night for me — the Korean short ribs and beef ribs. I’m still thinking about them! The cupcakes and cake-​pops at the end were the perfect finishing touch to a great evening.
I also learned something, with the two informative butcher demonstrations!

So many things to mention about yet another knock out event by Miss Jennie! To start the 3 beers showcased by Hog’s Head Brewery out of St Albert, I started sampling the IPA, which as promised was quite hoppy, then i tried the death by pumpkin? ale, it was nice, but my favourite was the one created for 100.3 The Bear. Also there was Diplomatio’s 3 rum’s out of Venezuela, the 8 yr, 12 yr and the liqueur, I hadn’t ever tried sipping rum’s like these, quite lovely! There were some carnival games to keep us busy while waiting for the meal. I did win at the fishing game, but the cork tossing game was nearly impossible! Then there was the Balloon fairy with her «mature-​themed» balloon sculptures. so funny and imaginative!
Next up of course was the food provided by Saccomanno’s in conjunction with @dacysmeats, we had a charcuterie board of Italian meats and cheeses, these awesome little fried rice? balls to start. We were also able to sample 3 wines throughout the course of the meal which paired perfectly to support and not compete with the food. We were also served a prosciutto pizza before 2 courses of fresh pasta, both sauces were amazing! Then a course of nothing but meat! Beef ribs as well as Korean short ribs, to compliment this great course we had Kyle from D’Arcy’s meats doing 2 different demonstrations to teach us prowness in the kitchen! 1^st he showed us how to french cut? wild boar ribs then how to debone an entire chicken. he is a wizard with a knife!
Last but not least there were some great little cupcakes to have for dessert, I also had tried a great little non-​alcoholic coffee-​pop? I wish I would of took a picture or wrote the name down. oh well I will just have to head back to Saccomano’s to pick some up in their grocery department! And of course I can’t wait to find time to book in on a Friday or Saturday to come back for a 6 course Italian meal at only $ 35/​person! Thanks again Jennie and it was great meeting and sharing our table with @YelpEastBay Nique, I hope you had fun in #yeg.

Long time Elite, first time going to an Elite event! Guess I choose wisely as this one had a bit of everything. I brought a friend along and when we arrived, the place was already packed with Unilocalers. Small world, I knew the cameraman.
We started out with a game and got some cool Unilocal swag (sunglasses for her, mini gloves for me). Then moved on to the Diplomatico rum sampling booth where we chatted with the supplier and sampled the 8 year, 12 year and a dessert style rum. 12 year one was very smooth and tasty. Next up was the Hog’s Head beer booth where we sampled all three of their offerings: Death By Pumpkin (spiced ale), 100.3 FM The Bear and Baby Back Hops (IPA). Before we knew it, we were being whisked away to be seated for food and more drinks (wines!).
We were seated at a table of 8 and everyone was super friendly/​easy to talk to. We started the meal with an appetizer of prosciutto pizza along with a cheese/​meat platter. In between meals, we were treated to two butcher demonstrations by D’Arcy’s Meats which were impressive to see in person. The man has knife skills! Our second course was penne in a rose sauce. All the pasta was fresh and hand made! Third course was another pasta dish but this time it was a tagliatelle in a Bolognese sauce (I believe). Nothing beats fresh pasta. Last and final course was two types of beef: Korean BBQ short ribs and beef ribs (fall off the bone, cooked for 6 hours!). Excellent especially the arugula salad with thinly sliced pears that accompanied the dish. Each course came with a different wine but the only name I remember was one was a shiraz. I definitely will have to buy some fresh pizza dough from them the next time I am at Saccomanno’s! Looked so good ($ 3-​$ 5 depending on what size you want) — it was beckoning my name from the display case.
Awesome event with great people, good food and local beer/​wine/​rum. All I know is I will be there for the next event! Thanks Jennie for the organizing such an entertaining and lovely evening.

I had the pleasure of attending my first Elite event last week, and I was delighted by our evening at Saccomanno’s. I was so impressed by both the variety of activities, and by the food. We were able to sample both Hog’s Head beer and Diplimatico rum (which we will be buying after tasting) while playing carnival games and playing in the photobooth prior to dinner. The addition of the adult-​themed balloon artist was really fun — who knew people could be so creative with balloons? No one-​balloon animals here.
The food from Saccomanno’s was stellar, each course got better than the last. We started with deli meats and cheeses with pizza, sampled two pasta dishes and finished with divinely falling-​off-​the-​bone short ribs. All the servers were attentive and friendly, and my husband and I spent a good portion of time talking to the D’Arcy’s meat owner, learning as much as we could about how to cut our own meat. During dinner he de-​boned an entire chicken, very impressive.
I’m so glad we got the chance to enjoy a local business we probably wouldn’t have ventured to on our own, and to sample some fantastic food. Great job Jennie!

This was our first Unilocal event since moving to Edmonton and I am extremely glad we made it out. It was completely worth it. The entertainment was great. We especially enjoyed the butcher presentations. There was a fun games station for some mandatory Unilocal swag and who doesn’t love a fun photo booth with masks?!!
The food was incredible! The appetizers were plentiful. A selection of meats, cheese, and prosciutto pizza. As a main (but still said to be appi sized), the pasta was fresh made, in house and I’m impressed by how much we could stuff our selves with. As a finishing touch, you can’t go wrong with perfectly BBQ grilled Alberta Beef! Wow! I am confident I could have found as much room as they could provide beef, based on how amazing it was!
The wine was perfectly paired. I am still acquiring the taste for wine and progressively moving further away from my initial appreciation for Rieslings. The options this evening were such an excellent choice. Not to acidic, not overly sweet, and not to high in their alcohol content. I am not into red wine, but the Warrant was very nice and I would seek out a bottle.
The cupcakes as the finishing touch at the end were perfect! The cake-​pops were a great take away item.
I am definitely looking forward to the next fun event!

Diplomatico’s 8 year rum is very good, and the 12 year is totally awesome; the best ever. Though for me it’s all about it being a sit down event with good company which it most certainly was, and that can’t be beat, not even with all the meat! The Balloon Fairy is so talented, it’s mind boggling. Jennie, your Unilocalers, er, Helpers aka brand ambassadors are stunningly beautiful ladies, and I haven’t enough stars for those stars!

Last night I came to my first Unilocal event as a plus one. I was blown away by the generosity and excitement of Saccomanno’s, Darcy’s meats and the Unilocal organizers.
I walked in and was immediately introduced to some delicious beer from Hog’s Head and a station with three different types of rum. I was basically in awe from that moment forward. Everyone was more than happy to explain different choices to me and give me as much as I could hold. I was in heaven.
Then dinner begins. I sit down with some appetizers. A slice of pizza, a plate of meat and cheese and rice balls paired with a white wine.
After this comes two fresh pastas served with a delicious red wine. At this point I am more than full but the food keeps coming. Lastly we are served a wonderful meat and arugula salad with another red wine. I don’t know how I got this lucky.
All I can say is that this event was amazing. The service at Saccomanno’s was great, the food was great, Jennie was great, everything was great. Not to mention they left us with take home cake lollipops, yummy yummy mini cupcakes, and a lip chap .
Thanks to Karlie M for bringing me! Loved my night.

Another amazing Unilocal event has come and gone and I consider myself lucky to have been so spoiled by the good people at Saccomanno’s and Darcy’s meats! The food was absolutely to die for and the wait staff were so friendly and attentive that me and my boyfriend have already made plans to return. We still haven’t eaten our cake pops from Cakes by Candace yet… they look almost to good to consume :-) Thank you Jennie for all your hard work and planning!

Another stellar event, Jennie! This one had carnival games, Diplomatico rum and Hog’s Head beer tasting, inappropriate balloon people made by the awesome Balloon Fairy (I SO want to post a pic but I’m pretty sure it would instantly get me kicked off of Unilocal), and super awesome people like photographer Romy and Oakland’s CM Nique (holla!). I didn’t know a lot about Saccomanno’s before, but I am pretty sure I will be back to pick up some homemade dough or fresh pasta from the store side, or have another amazing sit-​down meal on the restaurant side. Kudos to them (thanks for the attention to detail Daniel!) as well as to my favourite butcher, Darcy’s Meat Market (sorry for talking through your deboning session, Kyle… I met a fellow native Montrealer and we got really excited), for providing the most amazing short ribs two ways — one melt-​in-​your-​mouth, the other grilled Korean style. So delicious. Great wine pairings by. I’m soooo sorry but I can’t remember their names. Incredibly knowledgeable staff though.
Had a great time — you’re setting the bar pretty high for future events Jennie!

As usual awesome event, had ton of fun, We started the night by rum (Diplomatico) and bear (Hog’s Head) tasting which was amazing. My favorite was the blood orange hefeweizen beer. Then we moved in to a 5 course Italian dinner.
Saccomanno’s dinner started with antipasto and pizza. The home made cured meet was truly unique, highly recommended. Afterwards, we had two different type of pasta freshly made for us and then the highlight of the night was the short rib duo. Korean style BBQ and slow braised. Both fantastic. I am salivating just thinking about it. All the courses were paired with amazing California wine.
Finally we had amazing cake pops from Cakes by Candace for the road. I am defiantly going back to their shop for my next birthday.
During the dinner we received demos from master butcher from D’Arcy’s Meat. He showed us hot to french a rack of wild boar and also how to make boneless chicken. The technique was very interesting. It took him just 5 minutes to make the whole chicken boneless and still everything intact even the skin. very impressive.
Thanks a lot Jennie for the awesome event and also giving me a chance to introduce Unilocal to my friends. They were truly impressed by the quality of event.

Didn’t really know what to expect coming in, but I was totally blown away by the event. We were seated with great company, new friends — and together we ate some of the best food I’ve had period. Fantastic beers, amazing dishes from saccomanos, and beautiful meats from darcy’s in st Albert.

Best Elite event to date!
Saccomanno’s & D’Arcy’s Meat was beyond amazing! Kyle (owner of D’s Meat) blew me away with his wild boar butchering and deboning of an entire chicken ready for a turducken!
Saccomanno’s spoiled us with their family style Italian dinner offered every Friday and Saturday described on their website as:
Friday/​Saturday (One Seating at 7pm: Reservation only — 40 person max):
A little surprise:
6 course meal made of the freshest ingedients of the season
35.00 $ per person
We enjoyed a meat and cheese tray, fried Arancini rice ball (think risotto but with extra goodness inside), handmade pizza, 2 homemade pastas (vodka infused cream sauce as well as a more traditional tomato sauce), and braised beef and Korean shortribs served on a bed of arugala with thinly sliced pear! Seriously UNBELIEVABLY good and I cannot wait to return for another round of the family dining night!
The Balloon Fairy made me blush with her naughty rendition of Yoda using Force! You’ll have to see the pictures to understand ;-)
St. Albert brewery, Hog’s Head spoiled us with not one but three delightful ales: Death By Pumpkin; 100.3 FM The Bear; and Baby Back Hops! With growlers for $ 15 & refills for $ 10, you can’t go wrong with local!
Diplomatico allowed us to savour their 8 year, 12 year, and Rum liquor! So smooth… There are no words. The 12 year may be the best I’ve had!
Cakes by Candace spoiled us with a beautiful array of mini cupcakes & cake pops to take home!
Thank you Jennie for an Elite event that made not only my day, but allowed me to spoil my guests and introduce one to Unilocal for the first time! The carnival games were fun with the brand ambassadors with the mostest :-)

Yet again Jennie created another wonderful Unilocal event!
Saccomanno’s is a place I will be back to in the very near future!
I highly recommend make recreations for the Friday/​Saturday night family style Italian six course dinner at only $ 35 a person — Hooray!
Fran will spoil you as he did us with antipasto, pizza, 2 pastas, a main such as braised beef, and a fabulous homemade dessert to tip it off!
I thoroughly enjoyed the local Hog’s Head Ale from St. Albert and the Diplomatico Rum tastings.
One thing I found fascinating was the evening’s entertainment of deboning a fresh chicken whole. Thank you D’Arcy’s Meats!
Once again, another Unilocal event that will not soon be forgotten.