Last Saturday, We attended The Gourmet Food and Wine Expo, although it may have been more accurately named: The Wine, Beer, Liquor, Cocktails, and Gourmet Food Expo. It was a telling (and more than a little ironic) that upon entering we were greeted by a representative for a M.A.D.D. associated non-alcoholic beverage company. That appeal to moderate drinking was soon lost as liquor took center stage. Granted, you didn’t need to get loaded wandering around the convention center, but we witnessed many who chose to. And even while trying to take a conservative approach to the drinking, there were so many tempting beverages to try, it soon became a marathon for our livers.

The show

This was the third major food festival of the year which we've attended and although we enjoyed ourselves and had a good time, it was the least memorable of the trio. Why? Well as stated above, the focus wasn’t really on the food. There were food vendors and some really good ones, but they seemed vastly outnumbered by the wine, craft beer, and other alcohol purveyors.  Kiosk that offered food were so few and far between in some stretches, we found ourselves wondering when we’d get to the next one. This was unexpected for an event with "gourmet food" at the head of its title.

Another reason we were disappointed was that the cost. Instead of small bites for a few dollars, thee were larger portions with prices to match. Most items went for a minimum of four dollars and it wasn’t hard to spend six to eight per plate. This made it harder to try a lot and sure made you run through the tickets quickly. 

Which brings me to my final complaint: the tickets. Organizers really need to modernize and move to an electronic payment method like Taste of Toronto or Toronto Food & Wine were using this year. The plasticized tickets were cumbersome and a challenge to tear off, especially once you were holding a purchase in one hand and a wine glass in the other.

The drink

There was no lack of choice in this department. If there is a style of wine, beer, or liquor you enjoy, you were bound to find it. David was overwhelmed with the craft beer selection and we tried many fantastic wines that we will be looking out for the next time we’re at the LCBO. But unlike a wine tasting, these pours were rather substantial and more often than not we turning up things we would have loved to try because our glasses were still nearly full. We mostly kept clear of the hard alcohol but we did have to end the day with some fine cocktails made with gourmet mixers from Fever-Tree. 

I feel that since this was such a big part of the show, I am being neglectful with describing the choices that were available and the great things we sampled. And the truth is we did neglect the beverages. We took almost no pictures and we kept few notes. We were there for the food and perhaps we stuck to that notion too rigidly during our tour.

The demonstrations

Throughout the day there were many different presentations and tastings.We attended The Wine Sisters' holiday tasting. Erin and Courtney Henderson are both sommeliers, who run an event planning business here in Toronto. A small fee was required but this was offset be the four wine tastings that the sisters walked us through. The show covered proper tasting techniques and many holiday entertainment tips. The sisters gave a lively and entertaining change of pace to the day and after a few hours of walking around the convention center, a welcomed chance to sit down. The four wines we tried were under $25 crowd pleasers perfect for the holidays. And one of their top tips was to always hold the glass by the stem, not just to keep your hand from warming the wine (the reason we knew) but to keep oily deposits from building up and grossing out the people you're mingling with.

The Food

There were a few items that we had read about before coming, like the sushi burrito and the "Pig Mac" (on a side note, this was actually the third sandwich in our travels we’ve had called a “Pig Mac.”), but we found both lacking as the concept proved better than the execution. As far as high concept street foods go, we’d have top award the spam sushi the winner. Although not all that original (it’s been a staple in Hawaii for years), it wasn’t something you often in the T.O. and it was our first chance to try it.

But the hands down winner of "the best thing we ate" prize was the Filipino poutine from Casa Manila. We’re huge fans of this North York gem and were eager to see what they brought to GFWE. We had a couple of their extremely tasty skewers but the decedent chicken sauce doused with aioli and sriracha covering our fries wowed us with it’s tart sour notes and generous but not overpowering heat. It was something we could have eaten a few plates of. But then we would have needed a long nap.

Runners up would be: Little Fin’s shrimp and bacon mac & cheese. It was a small portion but packed big flavors; and Bake Three Fifty’s build your own ice cream sandwich. Selecting from different cookies, ice creams, and toppings, it was easy to construct some truly wild and heart clogging combinations.

The verdict

Although we were disappointed that the focus of the event wasn’t on gourmet food, we would recommend it. And in fact, we did recommend it later that night when it came up in conversation. Perhaps next year our expectations will be more in line with the spirit of the show and we’ll go in thinking more about the wine and beer we’ll be trying rather than the food.

U-Feast, We Feasted

Monday night, we were lucky enough to take part in a unique foodie experience: the "Wet" Your Appetite  dinner by Matt Basile. The night was organized by U-Feast, a young company with big dreams.

U-Feast is the brainchild of a few local entrepreneurs, including Terry Mocherniak and Kenn Koid, who I spoke with at different points during the night. The concept is to create an online community of food lovers and create fun and unique experiences for them. Toronto is staged as the testing ground for the enterprise, which began offering "pop-up" foodie events in May of this year, but their goal is to go international with it.

We first heard about U-Feast at Toronto Food & Wine, and we were intrigued, first by the novel idea and then by the amazing looking dinners they were advertising on their website. With the events usually taking place on week nights and not being entirely sure what we were getting ourselves into we hesitated a bit, but finally decided to take the plunge with this one.

A big draw was chef Matt Basile, the hot, young chef storming Toronto's culinary scene with Fidel Gastro and his restaurant Lisa Marie on Queen West. Lisa Marie has been on our radar for months and we had just been waiting for an opportunity to dine there. But this dinner offered something remarkably unique: we wouldn't just get to try Basile's food, we'd get to see his interpretation of Filipino street food. Matt Basile has recently returned from a trip to the Philippines and every dish was inspired by his experiences in their wet markets. As he said afterward: the food wasn't exactly traditional but all of the flavors you would expect are there. It had his own twist on them and also Toronto had made an impression upon them. As people who have spent time around chefs and seen firsthand the injection of inspiration that comes from experiencing new cuisines, this really spoke to us something that could be amazing. 

Not your average dinner party

The night dinner was held in an area of town more famous for its meat packing industry than fine dinning. Walking up to the nondescript building next to a self-storage facility made us feel like we had taken a wrong turn somewhere. But once we stepped through the door of the loft space and smelt the heavenly aromas of food, it was clear we were in the right place. The location, a it turned out, is Matt Basile's studio kitchen used for photo shoots and the filming of cooking shows.

The night had a convivial atmosphere of a friend's dinner party, where no one knew each other. As one guest was overheard to say, "But it's a party where you don't feel guilty about not sticking around to clean up." A room full of strangers could have become a quiet and cold place but the common love for food broke down any barriers and as people eyed the preparation of the meal with a glass of wine in hand, the conversation was loud and friendly.

The Feast

At a cozy, communal table, the feast was served up family style, starting with sambal head on prawns and smoked lechon lettuce wraps. The prawns were gorgeous and meaty packing lots of sweet flavor offset by the spicy sambal sauce. The pickled cucumber that accompanied it wasn't just garnish, it was just as good as the seafood. The pork lettuce wraps was one of the stars of the night. By midway through the meal, it was winning the informal poll of people's favorite bite. The meat was succulent and smokey. The pickled mango, sweet, tart, and fresh. And the fried pork skin light, salty, and crispy

Wine was being poured by John Paul Adamo of the Adamo Estate Winery, a vineyard in one of Ontario's non-traditional wine making zones and one of the event's sponsors. John Paul accompanied this first round with a  crisp and refreshing Chardonney Musque

From there, we moved on to spicy curried mussels and adobo chicken wings. The mussels were perfectly cooked and the broth was lively with coconut, green curry, and kalamansi limes. To sop up all that wonderful broth, coconut cheddar  hominy grits were brought out. They were rich and creamy and worked some fantastic alchemy with the curry. As for the wings, the smoke taste wasn't overpowering and added to their addictiveness. It was hard to stop eating them with all their fall-of-the-bone goodness and the platter sitting temptingly close. These dishes were perfectly paired with an Adamo Riesling, which had the right amount of sweet to balance the spicy and the right amount of citrus to balance the richness.

By this point we were getting to know some of our dining companions well and restaurant recommendations were flying across the table quickly. It was a nice change from a restaurant atmosphere. Just about everyone here was a foodie and no one was here for some other reason than to revel in the food. It was also nice that you didn't get any odd looks for photographing the food, since everyone was doing it.

Offered not so much as a palate cleanser but more of a respite from the meat heavy plates that had been served so far, the black noodles were the next to land on the table. Traditionally these are cooked in copious amounts of lard but Basile went with duck fat and it's impossible to say that was a bad decision. This simple looking dish just may have been the best of the night. My only complaint was that only one poached quail egg topped each family style bowl and I wanted my own. It was incredibly rich and decadent making it a revelation—this is how you cook noodles, people! Along with the noodles out came the Pinot Noir, which provided a surprising compliment with it's subtle fruits and acidic backbone. 
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We were starting to feel more than full, but we weren't done yet. Our last course was whole sea bream and stewed eggplant and king oyster mushrooms. The fish was lovely, delicate and light and the eggplant was creamy and tart. We wished we could wind back time and save room to eat more of these late arrivals, because it was feeling like we were bursting at the seams.

The night ended the way it began with lots of conversations. The hosts and the chef were out among us diners, talking about this wonderful experience we all had just been a part of.

Future feasting

U-feast is a concept and a business I hope will thrive and grow. This celebration of food culture is something that any resident of Toronto who loves food should experience at least once. As for the two of us, we're already anxious for our next adventure with them.

Food and Wine... and Tequila

Coming into the grounds of The Evergreen Brick Works we felt like we were entering a relic lost to nature. The historic site of redbrick buildings and towers is nestled in the Lower Don Valley green space. Surrounded by lush foliage and with a bright sun overhead, we couldn't have asked for a better setting for the day's event. The event being, the much anticipated Toronto FOOD & Wine Festival.

Foodie Heaven

A major attraction of the show were the many demonstrations by celebrity chefs, some requiring a fee but mostly offered for free. Food Network has created a paradigm shift in our culture. We now know chefs by face and name and they create a draw that goes beyond their food. As we over heard a woman say at one of these event,s just before getting her photo taken with the chef, “He’s my kind of celebrity. This is foodie heaven: getting my picture taken with a chef.”

Arriving a little late to the Brickworks, we went straight in to see Rick Moonen’s demonstration, which was just getting underway. He cooked up a barbecued salmon dinner and spoke about the importance of sustainable fish. He was a dynamic speaker and smells coming from the stove were amazing. Sadly, there were no samples, but there were cards with the recipes, so we will be making this meal at home.

A little later in the day, we caught Marc Murphy making ricotta fritters and zucchini salad. Chef Murphy was a last minute addition to the schedule and to be honest, we didn’t know him beyond his role as a judge on Chopped Canada. He was at the festival to promote his new Cookbook, Season With Authority. We were really taken with his personality and his ability to relate to the audience, which made the demonstration a truly worthwhile experience. And best of all at the end of his show, he invited everyone up onstage for a taste and happily took photos with an excited audience

Overwhelmed

But as big a draw as the celebrity chefs were, the real star was the food. Set up in rows of stalls inside the Brickworks Pavilion, it was overwhelming at first. But after we had made our first leisurely circuit, it felt more manageable. I might even call it pleasantly cozy compared with some other food festivals we’ve been to that either had fewer vendors spread out over a wider space or had venues that felt cramped and crowded. One of the things we enjoyed most about FOOD & WINE was the feeling that it wasn’t crowded. Not being there on Saturday, we can’t compare, but on Sunday, despite the constant bustle, lines were short, it was easy to get around, and you could always find a place to put your plate and glass down if needed. The other benefit of these rows of booths was that they facilitated grazing and you were only a few steps from the next offering. 

Another thing we liked about this festival were the prices. The tastes were very reasonably priced, with the most expensive item we purchased being six dollars and some as low as two. This is a big contrast to Taste of Toronto where six dollars was the rare, rock-bottom price. It really allowed us to taste so much more than we have at other fests. But even with the prices and our enthusiasm, we couldn’t taste it all. That is definitely where coming for more than one day would have benefited us. 

We couldn’t possibly describe everything we ate, so we’ll keep to our best bites. 

Jen: My best bite was Uncle Smoke’s pulled pork ribs and potato buckshot. This was some succulent barbecue, smoky and sweet, decadently tender, but still with enough texture to get your teeth into. And the potatoes were a revelation. I can't wait until the open a restaurant.

Runner up: Carver's porchetta sandwich. This was the first thing I tasted and I still remembered it after the end of the show. That says something.

David: My best bite was Rasa Bar’s Shawarma slider. It wasn’t much to look at but the taste was phenomenal. It had everything you could want in good Middle Eastern food, all the spice and garlic, the reach creaminess from a trinity of feta, hummus, and tzatziki, and the fresh herbaceousness of the tabouli all packed into a sandwich.

Runner up: Lisa Marie's pork and sriracha grits. This only confirmed to me that we have to go to Lisa Marie for dinner one night soon.


With two dollar tasting for some of the drinks and free tasting at the David Rocco Wines table, we were getting tipsy fast and had to slow down, so we didn’t taste as much in that department as we would have liked. The wine tasting was very enjoyable and not just because it was free. Celebrity chef David Rocco has released three Italian wines under the banner Dolce Vita Wines. They’re available in the LCBO and are offered at an incredibly reasonable price point for their smooth, easy everyday drinking quality. Some other stand outs were Walter’s bloody Caesar, and Split Tree's Rhubarb and Elderflower margarita. And we also got to taste our first pumpkin ale of the season with Nightmare on Mill Street.

Tequila and Tacos

After eating our fill, naturally we left and went for dinner. Yes, in perhaps a misguided attempt to take full advantage of the event, we purchased tickets to the after party dinner at El Catrin, that vibrant, always packed, Mexican restaurant in the Distillery District. It was a beautiful night to be out on their patio by the fire pit, but by the third course of the five course tasting menus the food was beginning to come out of our ears. Although that didn’t stop us from seeing it all the way through to the Tres Leches dessert.

On our way out we had a treat with a tequila tasting that was set up by the entryway. Herradura, which was a sponsor of the dinner (not to mention David’s favorite tequila) had set up a tasting table alongside some extremely fine brands that have recently or will be arriving soon in the LCBO. It provided the perfect, if entirely unnecessary, nightcap. 

At the end of the day

Walking back to King Station on our way home, trying to work off a little of the days calories, we once again discussed how amazing it was to be living in Toronto and to be able to spend the day like this. There are other cities also with wonderful events, but here feels like something special is always happening and each weekend is chance to discover it. The day at Toronto FOOD  & WINE is only the most recent in the collection of magical memories we have built since coming here.