It has been many, many years since I last visited the CNE. I’ve been meaning to go almost every summer for the past 15 years, but I just never made it. This year, however, I was determined to make the trip.

A number of other food writers, bloggers, and journalists had already covered the food beat on the Ex prior to my visit and a lot of what I’d read wasn’t particularly encouraging. But gee whiz, it’s the Ex. Nobody goes there with high expectations in the food department, do they? We all know the Food Building certainly isn’t what it once was, and hasn’t been what it once was for quite some time. But surely some of the carnival treats have managed to hold up over the years, right?

Continue reading Not So Exquisite Ex Cuisine »

Things heat up at Harbourfront this weekend with the 11th annual Hot and Spicy Food Festival.

This year the event expands beyond hot and spicy on the palate to include hot performances, films and dance.

A mainstay of the festival is the Red Hot Marketplace, featuring purveyors of hot and spicy products such as hot sauces and chutneys. Look for Chetty’s Hot Sauce, Himalaya Gourmet, Hot Mama’s Food Inc and Edna’s Pickles to name just a few.

The World Café is always a great place to check out local restaurants serving up food with a kick, and visitors can enjoy lunch or dinner from Thai Bangkok Restaurant, Jerk Vibe, La Fiesta Catering, Viv’s Catering Company or Simmos Original Smoke Grill among others.

Continue reading That’s Hot! »

It’s the weekend where Torontonians start to accept that the summer is almost over, as the Canadian National Exhibition kicks off today for the 129th time. Food is a big part of this annual event, from the tasty (and not-so-tasty) treats in the Food Building and midway concessions, including the ubiquitous Tiny Tom Donuts, to the 2nd annual CNE Ribfest. Plus - pizza on a stick!

Also this weekend, the Hot & Spicy Food Festival takes over Harbourfront (watch for our full preview later today), and if that’s not quite hot enough for you, there’s also Samba on Dundas, a Brazilian street festival on Dundas West this Sunday afternoon.

The full list of happenings for the next week follows below, and as always, our Events page has more information on these and many other upcoming events in Toronto and area.

Continue reading T.O. Events for August 15th-21st »

It’s another busy weekend of international festivals in Toronto, with options including Ecuadorian Day at Nathan Philips Square, Azores Day (Portuguese festival) at Ontario Place, the inaugural South Asia Calling festival at Harbourfront, Chinatown Festival on Spadina, Incredible India at Yonge-Dundas Square, Hindu Heritage Day at Black Creek Pioneer Village, and of course, the ubiquitous Taste of the Danforth (pictured).

The full list of happenings for the next week follows below, and as always, our Events page has more information on these and many other upcoming events in Toronto and area.

Continue reading T.O. Events for August 8th-14th »

This year’s edition of the ever-popular Toronto’s Festival of Beer takes place next weekend at Historic Fort York, and as with last year’s fest, the fun will be starting with the Bowman’s Ball on Thursday, August 7th from 4pm to 10pm. The evening will feature plenty of beer and food, a poker run with a grand prize of a trip for 2 to Oktoberfest in Germany, and a live performance by ska legends Dave Wakeling and The English Beat.

Thanks to the fine folks at the Ontario Craft Brewers, we’ve got a pair of VIP tickets - an $80 value - to give away for this opening night celebration. NOTE - The contest is now closed. Thanks and good luck to all who entered. The winner will be notified by email.

It’s the August long weekend, and in Toronto, that means it’s Caribana time! Between the official festival happenings (including the parade on Saturday and De Island Lime on Sunday) and all of the other Carribbean-themed events taking place this weekend (including Irie Fest and Island Soul), it’s gonna feel like de islands have come to the city all weekend long.

For those without a taste for roti and reggae, there are a few alternatives as well, including the Turkish Festival at Yonge-Dundas Square and the Scarborough Rotary Ribfest way out east. And next Thursday night is the kick-off for the ever popular Toronto’s Festival of Beer at Fort York.

The full list of happenings for the next week follows below, and as always, our Events page has more information on these and many other upcoming events in Toronto and area.

(Photo from official Caribana website)

Continue reading T.O. Events for August 1st-7th »

One of the hi-lights of last summer’s harvest season for anyone with a love of good food was undoubtedly the Picnic at the Brickworks. A partnership between Slow Food Toronto and Evergreen, the picnic paired producers and growers with 50 local chefs and offered an afternoon of culinary delights to all who attended.

The picnic was so popular, selling out well before the actual date, that Slow Food Toronto and Evergreen are back this year to do it again, this time with even more of a focus on the food producers taking part.

Currently, tickets are still available from the Evergreen website, at a cost of $90 per person.

TasteTO has one pair of tickets available to give away. We will draw a winner from the correct answers tomorrow at 9am. NOTE - The contest is now closed - thanks and good luck to all who entered. The winner will be notified by email.

Please note that the Picnic at the Brickworks is a 19+ event.

We all know that there are some fantastic wines being produced in Ontario, but often, the only way you can taste many of them is by taking a trip out to Niagara or Prince Edward County to visit the wineries. Parkdale’s cafe Taste will be changing that this Saturday with their first ever Ontario Wine Fair, featuring wines from 20 Ontario wineries along with cheese, meats and other nibbles from local farms.

A few blocks away at Exhibition Place, the annual Masala! Mehndi! Masti! festival will be presenting the best in South Asian culture all weekend, including music, dance, film, and of course, lots of tasty food from Udupi Palace, Mirch Masala, Chandni Chowk, White Gold and other vendors.

The full list of happenings for the next week follows below, and as always, our Events page has more information on these and many other upcoming events in Toronto and area.

Continue reading T.O. Events for July 25th-31st »

There’s something about an event at Hart House that just gives it an automatic air of sophistication. Nothing stuffy, mind, but the inspiring architecture based on Oxford University, and the gorgeous courtyard in the centre of the building make attendees at any event want to dress up a little bit, be on their best behaviour. Even if that event is a barbecue and beer festival.

The brainchild of Arlene Stein, Hart House’s director of Catering and Events, the Craft Beer Festival and Summer BBQ on July 31st is meant to be a celebration of local sustainable food and drink.

Continue reading This Little Piggy Went to Hart House, This Little Piggy Drank Beer »

Starting this Thursday, July 24th and running through to the autumn, specialty food shop Viva Tastings (409 College Street) will be hosting a weekly farmers’ market on their patio in conjunction with Harvestin’ The County, the local agricultural initiative of Prince Edward County. Taking place every Thursday afternoon from 4pm to 7pm, the event will be Toronto’s only market dedicated exclusively to produce and products from Prince Edward County, including goods from suppliers such as Fosterholm Farms, Hagerman Family Farms, and Vicki’s Veggies.

To celebrate the new market, Viva will be hosting a special “pre-dinner tasting” event this Thursday from 5pm to 7pm, featuring bite-sized nibbles made using ingredients from the vendors at the market. Tickets are $12, with wine from Prince Edward County available for an additional cost. Tickets for the tasting can be reserved by calling 416-506-0054.

It took a while in coming, but you know summer has arrived when the urge to consume prettily coloured drinks in scarcely used glasses overtakes cravings for the staid go-to’s of less sunny months. But what to indulge in when the cupboard’s shelves only offer a bottle of Absolut? For inspiration, look to the Drinks Show, now its in fifth year of celebrating all things shaken and stirred, at the Exhibition Place’s Queen Elizabeth Building tonight and tomorrow. Put on by the Martini Club, Toronto’s cocktail institution, the Show is a lesson in drinking by the numbers—50 booths with 65 brands offering samples of 100 handcrafted cocktails at $2 a pop, plus $20 admission. From my experience the past two years, this results in a three-hour trip down alcohol memory lane, where the flavours and styles from my own personal drinking history mix with the next big thing, and introduce people to about 8,000 of their new best friends doing the exact same thing.

“Cocktails are all about sophistication, style, fashion and sex,” says Michelle Hunt, co-founder of the Martini Club. “On the entertainment side, cocktails step up to the plate. And it’s no longer about quantity versus quality—people really want to know what’s inside their drinks.”

Continue reading Drink Up at the Drinks Show »

Weekends in Toronto are always full of community and cultural festivals, but this weekend is especially jam-packed with events celebrating Iran, Africa, India, Philippines, Thailand, Brazil, and, uh, the whole world.

And after a busy day of globe-trotting, a relaxing cocktail or two would probably be a nice, so it’s a good thing that the Drinks Show is also this weekend, taking over the Queen Elizabeth Building at Exhibition Place tonight and tomorrow night. Watch for our full preview article coming later today.

The full list of happenings for the next week follows below, and as always, our Events page has more information on these and many other upcoming events in Toronto and area.

Continue reading T.O. Events for July 18th-24th »

It’s happening a week later than expected, but it will still be packed to the gills at the Toronto Night Market up in Markham this weekend. We downtown folks hope that all of you with cars have a good time, while we wait patiently for next year when organisers are promising to hold a downtown version in addition to the one up there in nosebleed country.

And what summer weekend in Toronto would be complete without a couple of cultural festivals? At Harbourfront, they’ll be celebrating all things Latino at Ritmo y Color, while Black Creek Pioneer Village plays host to the annual Métis Arts Festival.

The full list of happenings for the next week follows below, and as always, our Events page has more information on these and many other upcoming events in Toronto and area.

Continue reading T.O. Events for July 11th-17th »

Thanks to the heaping piles of bureaucratic bullcrap that seem to fill every nook and cranny at City Hall, Toronto won’t be getting any new street food vendors this summer as hoped, meaning that hot dog carts and chip trucks will still rule the sidewalks and roads for at least another year. There is, however, some consolation available in the form of a couple of weekly street food festivals that will be running through the next few weeks at two city-owned public squares.

Downtown at Nathan Philips Square, the popular Tasty Thursdays series returns this week and runs until August 28th, featuring lunchtime treats for 5 bucks or less served up by a number of the city’s restaurants from 11am to 2pm, plus a live band performing at 12 noon. Vendors for the month of July will include Dangerous Dan’s Diner, Green Mango, Kathmandu Restaurant, La Cocina de Dona Luz, La Fiesta Restaurant, Lone Star Texas Grill, Purple Pig Smokehouse and Tapas by Personal Touch. Next month, a couple of vendors will rotate out and be replaced by Big Daddy’s Crab Shack & Oyster Bar and Satay on the Road.

Meanwhile, last week saw the launch of the International Street Food Festival at Mel Lastman Square in North York. The brainchild of John Filion, the city councillor who got the whole street food debate rolling last year, the festival runs on Friday nights from 6pm to 9pm, and features a wide variety of food including “Korean BBQ, fresh fruit shakes, mango salad, jerk chicken, Persian chicken kabobs, beef kabobs, vegetable sushi, grilled vegetable wraps, chicken and rice, Manto dumplings, authentic tacos, fajitas, quesadillas, and burritos, as well as organic fusion”. Currently, the series is only scheduled to run until the end of July, but perhaps a strong turn-out will encourage an extension, so head on up there if you can and show the powers-that-be that Torontonians are still hungry for more food variety on our streets.

Pulling up the driveway into Chick-A-Biddy Acres, I almost want to break into a rendition of “Old MacDonald Had a Farm”, for Sherry Patterson has created something that seems almost too good to be true. I am tagging along (“embedded” in journalism-lingo) with some of the kitchen and catering staff from the Gladstone Hotel as they join Patterson and her three employees for a day of weeding and a tour of the 75 acre community supported agriculture (CSA) farm.

From the second we arrive, I am enchanted, opening the car door to find half a dozen of Patterson’s colourful laying hens rushing toward me with curiosity. We’re not here to play with chickens, however, and Patterson quickly directs us to a nearby field where we’re put to work weeding rows of peas.

Continue reading Back to the Farm with Harvest Wednesdays »