Taste of Toronto 2015

Another year has come and gone which means another Taste of Toronto has graced this city once again. In its second year in Toronto (as well as my second year in attending), it has proven to be one of the best and most popular food festivals in this city. If you’re interested in checking out my experience last year and for a more in depth look at what Taste of Toronto is all about, you can read my blog post about it here.

Taste Festivals have been happening in cities all around the world for years and is considered to be the world’s greatest restaurant festival. The festival concept began 10 years ago in London, England, and has rapidly grown into an international event with festivals in 20 cities around the world including Dubai, Amsterdam, Milan, Moscow, Melbourne, Dublin, Mumbai, Sydney, and Johannesburg just to name a few. Everywhere it goes, Taste represents a foodie’s dream come true: delicious food created by the city’s greatest restaurants, world famous chefs, superb drinks and outstanding entertainment, set in stunning outdoor surroundings.

Taste of Toronto had nothing short of any of that this year with many of the top Toronto restaurants participating in this year’s event. Many of the restaurants from last year have all come back such as Richmond Station, McEwan Group, The Harbord Room, Patria, and Guu. Among the new restaurants who participated in this year’s line up which also brought in some star power was R&D (owned by Eric Chong who is the winner of Masterchef Canada Season 1 and Alvin Leung, one of the Masterchef judges), and Morimoto Toronto (owned by Iron Chef and Michelin-starred mastermind Masaharu Morimoto who is set to debut signature dishes from his first highly anticipated restaurant venture in Canada). 

One difference I’ve noticed right off the bat from last year was you needed to purchase your crown card when you load up your money onto it, whereas last year it was free. It only costs an extra $1 so it’s not a huge deal, but something that caught me off guard a bit when I was charged that extra loonie. I also asked them whether you were able to bring in your old crown card from last year to use instead of buying a new one and the answer was you were not allowed. Hopefully with the extra cash raised from this, it can be put to good use when organizing Taste of Toronto next year. 

Here’s a look at all the delicious food I’ve tried at this year’s event. Note that the currency at this food event are called crowns and each crown is worth $1.

Los Colibris

Tostada de Pulpo Grilled Octopus - Basil, Jalapeno, Coriander Oil. Cost - 10 Crowns

The Drake

Grilled Lamb Ribs - Harissa Yogurt, Pea Tendrils. Cost - 8 Crowns

East Coast Fish Fry - Crispy Oysters, Jail Island Haddock, Tartar Sauce. Cost - 6 Crowns

Richmond Station

Station Burger - Beet Chutney, OKA Cheese. Cost - 10 Crowns

Funnel Cake - Vanilla Ice Cream, Stewed Fruit. Cost - 6 Crowns

Morimoto Toronto

Toro Tartare - Caviar, Sour Cream, Wasabi, Dashi Soy. Cost - 10 Crowns

Uni Carbonara - Quail Egg, Smoked Bacon, Parmesan. Cost - 8 Crowns

Weslodge

Fried Chicken - 5 Day Slaw, House Jalapeno Hot Sauce. Cost - 8 Crowns

Byblos

Charcoal Grilled Lamb Kofte - Lavosh, House Pickles, Toum, Green Schug. Cost - 6 Crowns

Little Sister

Babi Panggang Roasted Pork Belly - Fresh Chili Sauce, Bean Sprout, Red Onion Pickle. Cost - 8 Crowns

Winner of The Everyday Foodie’s Best Dish of Taste of Toronto 2015?

Morimoto Toronto’s Toro Tatare! 

Taste of Toronto has always impressed me with how well the festival is organized and the sheer talent it is able to attract with the vendors participating. Hopefully sometime in the not too distant future I may even be able to attend a Taste festival in another country across the world, but for now I am completely satisfied enjoying it in my own backyard. Looking forward to next year to see what Taste of Toronto 2016 may bring!

The Stop’s Night Market

With Taste of Toronto coming up this weekend I thought it would be fitting to write about another food festival in Toronto that is a little bit more under the radar which you may want to check out next year. The Stop’s Night Market is an annual fundraising event in Toronto where a mix of local restaurants, beverage vendors, and artists all come together to transform a public space into a tantalizing feast for your senses over the span of two glorious nights in June.

The unique thing about The Stop’s Night Market that sets it apart from all the rest is that it is all you can eat and drink! And when I say drink it’s not just water and pop. You can literally drink as much alcohol as you please throughout the entire night, beers, cocktails, and wines alike! However, most of the guests at this night market are not only here for the drinks, but for the delicious food that over 60 different restaurants have prepared. 

What’s the catch though that this is an all you can eat and drink affair? The ticket for admittance will cost you $100. However even with this price tag, the event sells out all the time and I for one am very glad that the organizers put out a limit on how many people are able to attend. To be perfectly honest, a lot of food festivals in Toronto has been an utter failure because of poor planning and execution. Do I have to remind you of recent examples such as the Mac and Cheese or the Grilled Cheese festival? If you do not pick the right venue and do not place a restriction on how many people can attend, what you will have is pure chaos where disgruntled guests will spend an hour waiting in line either just to get through the doors or partake in a small piece of food that was completely underwhelming and wasn’t worth the long wait.

What Taste of Toronto and The Stop’s Night Market does so well is the ratio of food and beverage vendors to the guests. With over 60 restaurant booths and 20 local beverage vendors spread over the two days, the wait in line for me to get some food or a drink was a maximum wait of 5 to 7 minutes. In fact, the wait time for me probably averaged around 3 minutes throughout the entire night. The food kept pumping out so the lines kept on moving!

As stated before, each ticket to get in will cost you $100 but it is all for a good cause as all proceeds raised in this event goes towards The Stop Community Centre’s critical food access and community-building programs. This year alone over $200 000 was raised for The Stop Community Centre which will go towards their programs such as their drop in meals, healthy food banks, perinatal programs, community advocacy, local food markets, community cooking programs, sustainable food systems education, community gardening programs, and their state-of-the-art greenhouse and compost demonstration centre.

To break it down even further, the $100 ticket purchase will provide our neighbours with either access to 20 meals in The Stop’s drop-in meal program, healthy food hampers for 4 families from their food bank, or increased access to their urban agriculture, community cooking, and education programming for children and adults in our community.

Beyond the philanthropic initiative, you will definitely get your moneys worth in terms of food and drinks. I have never been so full in my entire life after the night was over and for all the food and drinks I devoured, the bill at the end of it all would have easily been way over the $100 price tag. The pictures you are about to see below is every single dish and beverage I personally ate and drank at this event! By the end of this visual depiction, you will likely see why I got my money’s worth and then some.

Abokichi - Popcorn Chicken

Sea Witch Fish & Chips - Halibut Croquettes

Nana - Southern Fried Chicken

The 47 - Cevapi

Woodlot - Stuffed Grape Leaves

Mad Maple - Stawberry Rhubarb Rugelache

Broncos - Hot BBQ Chicken on a Bun

Rose & Sons - Ground Beef & Cow Heart Chilli Cheese Dog

Enoteca Sociale - Tuna Conserva

Hello Darling - Sweet and Spicy Tart

Barque - BBQ Pork with Chicharon

Cafe Bar Pasta - Chocolate Beef Ravioli, Ricotta Fritter

La Carnita - Chicken Escabeche Tacos

Babi & Co - Nasi Jinggo

R&D - General Sander’s Chicken

Richmond Station - Grilled Tomato Pita

El Caballito - Espuites (Street Style Corn Soup)

Sugar Mamma’s - Vegan, Gluten Free Chocolate Donuts with Sprinkles

Citizen Catering - Tongue on Toast

Table 17 - Crostini ala Toscana

Bar Fancy - Numbing Wings (by this time I was already so stuffed, but wanted to continue eating to get all my food pictures… it is hard work being a food blogger)

Mata - Coxincha (Brazilian Chicken Croquettes)

Carmen - Octopus Pinxtos (they ran out of Octopus)

Oyster Boy - Oysters (duh!)

Dundas Park Kitchen - (Chilli Chicken Papri Chaat)

Hey Meatball - Eastcoaster

Midfield - Smoked Eggplant Flatbread

The Stop CFC - Tempura Trout and Zucchini Slaw Slider

The Emerson - Ba La Lot

Dolin Vermouth - Dolin’s ‘n’ Such

Lake of Woods Brewing Company - Sultana Gold

Alchemy Pickle Company - Kombucha

Hidden Bench - 2012 Chardonnay

My favourites of the night go to the dishes from Sea Witch Fish & Chips, Mad Maple, Enoteca Sociale, Cafe Bar Pasta, and Rose & Sons. As you can imagine after seeing everything that was consumed, there is definitely no food or drink shortage here at The Stop’s Night Market. I also loved the fact that many of the vendors used local designers to create their one of a kind food carts which really showed off the chef/restaurant’s personality.

Now that The Stop’s Night Market is on your radar, mark this food festival in your calendar for next year and help support a worthy cause all the while eating and drinking till you physically can’t do it anymore. To end, I’ll leave you all with some words of wisdom for this event. Eat an extremely light lunch before coming to The Stop’s Night Market. Do come with a hungry stomach to capitalize on the monstrosity of the sheer amount of food and beverage choices you will have. You’ll thank me later.

LG G4 Unviel At Trump Tower

As a self proclaimed Foodie I would also like to think myself as a self proclaimed Techie as well. Even before I started taking pictures of food and journeyed into the realm of blogging, I was always at the forefront of the latest technology and gadgets I could get my hands on. I am what people call, the “Early Adopter.”

An early adopter is described as a person who starts using a product or technology as soon as it becomes available. It’s often times a role I don’t like to find myself in as other early adopters will know, it can be quite frustrating buying a brand new product that just hit the market only to find out that it has kinks and glitches galore.

Let’s see, some of the products I’ve “early adopted” in the recent past where I either pre-ordered it or purchased it the first day or week it was released were the Blackberry Torch, Samsung S4, the Blackberry Playbook, and the Pebble Steel. Some of the above products were great and gave me nothing but satisfaction and affirmation that I made the right choice in purchasing it right off the bat. Others **cough I’m looking at you Playbook cough** became painfully obvious that my role as an early adopter meant that my hard earned cash went straight down the drain. I was so excited about the first tablet that Blackberry offered that I was ready to shell out over $600 on its pre-order and the belief that everything that was promised about it worked the day I got it. Nope, after delays upon delays of false promises and pretenses, I quickly realized that I should have at least waited before I jumped in head first. As a matter of fact, I probably should have waited 6 months after the release date to find out that what I bought for $600 was now being sold for $200. Yeah, bad decision there.

Fast forward to May 2015 where my food blog is in full swing and my reliance on my smartphone is at an all time high. From keeping up to date with social media to taking food pictures at any opportunity I can find, my current smart phone (Samsung S4) is truly a tool I cannot live without.

Enter LG Corporation, a South Korean multinational conglomerate known to millions of people worldwide through their electronic, chemical, and telecom products. You probably even have one or two LG products that you own right now at home. Like any of the major international technology companies out there like Apple, Samsung, HTC, Sony, and Microsoft, LG has also made its mark in one of the most competitive industries out there right now for the battle of smart phone supremacy.

LG’s flagship smart phone line up is their G Series. The “G” was first introduced in 2012 as a branch of their old flagship LG Optimus series. The first purely “G-branded” phone, the LG G2 was unveiled in 2013 and two years later, LG is putting forth their most revolutionary smart phone yet, the LG G4. 

I was beyond thrilled when LG reached out to me (me… seriously?), and invited me to “test drive” their new flagship phone, the LG G4 before it even got released in North America! I follow many technology websites in my spare time such as Engadget and I have always wanted to be one of those people who had the opportunity to get first dibs on a new product before anyone else.

LG was holding an exclusive Toronto briefing at America Restaurant located at the highest floor of Trump International Hotel. Attendees had a chance to learn about the product directly from LG executives and were given our very own LG G4 to take home and test for a month.

When I first arrived I was immediately given my LG G4 and sat down to set everything up. The unboxing and first few moments of turning on a brand new gadget is always my favourite part. One of the LG tech experts came over to set up all of the more complicated aspects of it such as hooking up my phone to the Bell network. I have a working phone number and data to use as well! The phones we all received are unlocked phones flown from Korea since the LG G4 is still not yet released here in Canada, but I was told that the unlocked phone I have will be the exact same once it gets released in just a few short weeks here.

Once I got settled I soon realized that I was not at my usual food blogging event as I didn’t see any other food bloggers here. LG picked the select attendees from different industries where the LG G4 can be showcased in various venues and environments. I noticed there was a TV host present, businessmen, a concert goer, professional photographers, and then there’s me, the food blogger. I really felt honoured that LG chose me to represent the food blogging community! We even got ourselves some customized LG cards that were personalized to what we were each known for. For me, my LG cards were all personalized about food and restaurants! 

Throughout the night we were served some seriously delicious food from America Restaurant and we then sat through the power point briefing from the LG executives to give us a breakdown of all the new features we would find in our new LG G4 phones. The night ended with some cute little LG G4 cupcakes and chocolates that we were able to eat and take back home with us. 

I am still in the middle of testing out the LG G4 and have incorporated it with my daily life. It’s actually great to be carrying two smart phones with me all the time (one smart phone runs out of batteries, no worries I have another one!). So far the LG G4 has been nothing but positive and as a food blogger who relies on my camera, the camera on this phone is phenomenal and definitely one of the best out in the market right now.

Stay tuned for a more comprehensive review of the LG G4 after my testing is done! The LG G4 will officially be launched in Canada on June 19th, 2015. I have a few other LG events to attend this month so keep an eye out on that as well. Life’s Good. :)

Turn Up the Heat: Lunch and Learn Fiesta at Los Colibris

Most of my experience and knowledge with Mexican food is through Taco Bell. Wait, is that really Mexican food? Probably not. I’ve never been to Mexico before, nor have I taken part in a fiesta with a live Mariachi band so when the opportunity came up to do most of that (I say most because unfortunately I was not flown to Mexico for this…hahh) I knew I had to be a part of this! 

This private event was being hosted by the The Mexican Beef Exporters Association at Toronto’s first fine dining Mexican restaurant, Los Colibris in downtown Toronto. Executive Chef Elia Herrera provided some live cooking demonstrations of her signature dishes using the star ingredient, all natural Mexican beef, and shortly after the “learning” part of the event, lunch soon followed. 

The Mexican Exporter’s Association literally flown here from Mexico to take part in this event and I had the privilege of sitting with two representatives from Mexico City at my table throughout the lunch. The learning part of this fiesta was not just about the cooking though. A quick power point presentation was done by a few individuals from the Association that shared a lot of insight of the beef industry in Mexico. 

A lot of people don’t know that Mexico is actually one of the leading exporters of the highest quality beef in the world. Mexican beef utilizes a feedlot system, based on diets monitored by nutritionists that specialize in animal feeding. The Mexican Beef Exporters Association uses grains that provide special flavour to the beef guaranteeing that great Mexican beef flavour.

The production process is guaranteed by the highest standards of quality in operation and hygiene. Veterinarians from each country they export to endorse the Mexican meat quality. According to the World Organization for Animal Health and Mexican Authority: Mexico has never had any cases of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) or “Mad Cow Disease” and also has never had any cases of Foot and Mouth Disease. 

Spotted: Anthony Farnell - Weatherman of Global News at the table beside me

With the knowledge that came with this event, a 3 course meal was prepared, and as stated before a live Mariachi band was serenading all the guests while we ate. It was such a pleasant atmosphere to be in and the live music really created an incredible ambiance that transported your mind and taste buds to Mexico. 

No food event is complete without some alcohol. Am i right? To compliment the 3 course meal, we were all given the Los Colibri’s cocktail, “Rosa de Maria.” 

Cazadores blanco tequila, benedictine, pineapple juice, lime juice, lagavulin mist, rosemary sprig

First Course

House Guacamole with Beef Strip-loin and House Made Chips

Second Course

Carne Apache de Tenderloin con Ciruela pass y Chipotle (Thin Slices of Beef Tenderloin with Prunes and Chipotle)

Third Course

Ribeye with Basil and Jalepeno Oil and Papas Bravas

Food events where you eat is great. Food events where you eat and learn is even better. Whether it is for a summer BBQ or a traditional family dinner, Mexican beef is always now going to be on my radar at my local supermarket. I’ve had it first hand and now I’m a convert. #ilovemexicanbeef

Special Thanks

The Mexican Beef Exporters Association

Los Colibris

Chef Elia Herrera

Weber Grill Academy Blogger’s Party

I’ve been lucky enough to go to a fair share of food events over the past year as The Everyday Foodie, but never have I been to an event where it would be a complete hands on learning experience. In the past, the events I have been to had the meal already prepped for me to eat. All I had to do was show up, take pictures, and chow down. This time around I actually had to cook the food myself first and let me tell you, it was a blast doing it!

I was fortunate to be invited to the premiere Blogger’s Party of Weber Canada. If you are not familiar with the brand Weber, you just may have to look outside your patio right now to see that the grill you may already own is actually a Weber grill. Weber-Stephen Products LLC is one of the biggest and most popular grilling manufactures of charcoal, gas and electric outdoor grills originating from Chicago,Illinois. With an international presence now in more than 72 countries, Weber-Stephen Canada Co has built and opened its doors to Canada’s first Grilling Academy in Vaughan, Ontario. 

Weber’s Grill Academy is a custom-designed learning facility dedicated to the art and skill of grilling. It offers regularly scheduled public grilling classes as well as private parties and corporate events. In each grilling class, you will get 3 hours of instruction from the Grill Specialist and celebrity Chef Michael P. Clive. The classes range from beginner to intermediate and advanced where you will get a chance to eat your very own grilling creations! 

Here is my very own experience at the Weber’s Grill Academy. 

As mentioned earlier, the Grill Academy is located in Vaughan, Ontario (about a 25 minute drive from Toronto), so knowing that I was not close to its vicinity, Weber Canada offered to provide me car service and picked me up directly after I got off work in North York. I was expecting maybe a volunteer of the company to come drive their own car and pick me and all the others in maybe a mini van of sorts. Was I ever mistaken. I was provided full car concierge service! A long black Lincoln was actually waiting for me outside of my building with a sign that had my name on its window to let me know that yes, that decked out Lincoln was in fact for me. That man staring me down through the tinted windows? Yes, he was my very own personal chauffeur! The driver, in his fancy suit, stepped out to let me in the car and transported me down to the Grill Academy in Vaughan. Did I arrive in style or what! 

As soon as I entered the Grill Academy, I was immediately greeted by Theresa Stahl (Public Relations Director of Weber - Stephen Canada Co.), who was the one who was kind enough to extend me this invitation and handed me my very own custom apron with my name sewn into it. After chatting up with some of the other bloggers in attendance (which included a contestant from Master Chef Canada Season 2), the night was officially about to start and the 17 of us bloggers were split up into 4 groups each manning one of the designated grilling stations. 

With Chef Michael P. Clive now at the helm, we were going to start to grill our 5 course dinner for the night. With step by step instructions from the instructor himself and also a very handy iPad at every grilling station, the first course was on deck. 

1) Smoked Chicken Drumettes with Orange - Honey Glaze

2) Cedar - Planked Salmon with Honey - Lime Dressing

3) Asparagus and Potato Napoleons with Tarragon Vinaigrette

4) Beef Satay with Peanut Sauce

5) Grilled Pineapple Upside - Down Cake

Once all the food was cooked and plated, we all went to the dining area and ate our delicious grilled food we worked so ever hard to make. It was extremely impressive to know that we could actually bake a cake using a grill. When you come to think of it, it does make complete sense as you are essentially using the grill as your substitute for the oven, so yes even cupcakes are possible to be made in a Weber! My favourite dish of the night was hands down the Cedar Planked Salmon. The cedar plank does wonders for the seasoning, not to mention making the salmon incredibly moist, flaky, and tender infused with a delicate sweet and smoky aroma from the grill. 

Before the night ended, there was just one more big surprise for all of us. Not only did we walk away with a free grilling lesson from Chef Clive worth $125, under a large blanket near the entrance of the building it was unveiled that every single one of us were going to go home with a loot bag including a brand new Weber Q1200 grill in our favourite colours worth over $300! You can just imagine how excited and happy everyone was at that point and we were thrilled to know that we could actually practice our grilling techniques and recipes now at the comfort of our own home, or practically anywhere on the go as this Weber Q1200 is so portable to bring around. 

Just like how the night started with my own personal driver, Weber Canada’s hospitality knows no bounds and another black Lincoln and chauffeur was waiting outside of the Grill Academy to drive me all the way back home. I cannot thank enough to the wonderful people at Weber-Stephen Canada Co. who organized this event and their over whelming generosity they showed to myself and the other participants. This event has now become the new bench mark for future blogging events so I would strongly suggest anyone here who is even a little bit interested to learn more about grilling to take up on one of the classes offered at Weber’s Grill Academy. You can visit this link here for more information on the availability of the different classes. Three hours spent at the Grill Academy could mean knowledge and a skill that will last you a life time. That’s a pretty good deal, wouldn’t you agree?

I’ll leave everyone here with Weber’s 4 Grilling Tips:

1) Preheat the Grill

2) Keep the Grill Clean

3) Oil the Food, Not the Grate

4) Keep the Lid Down

If anyone is interested in learning any of the 5 recipes discussed in this post, shoot me an email and I will be happy to send it your way! 

Below are also some shots of the new Weber Q1200 that is available in 7 different colours and is also in stores now. Can’t wait until the weather gets warmer to get a chance to use this! Get your sizzle on! 

Special Thanks

Weber-Stephen Canada Co.

Theresa Stahl 

Chef Michael P. Clive

My 2 Chauffeurs :)