Thursday, August 25, 2011

Eaton Centre gets a Food Court Makeover

TheStar The Eaton Centre’s $48-million food court makeover

Just in time for TIFF and the back to school crowd the new Food Court opens at the Eaton Centre on September 1st. Will it deliver on the vast and ever increasing Foodie population that exists in Toronto with diverse and discerning tastes. I know that I am really tired of the same old bad food court fare and am looking forward to seeing what they can deliver with this new makeover.

If it succeeds it will set the trend for other malls to follow their lead and try and out do and one up each time out.

All I know is that after my visit to the Food Truck Festival and the T& T night market last year I know that Torontonians are starved for something new, good and fresh. The food court food that sits around under heat lamps for hours may be a thing of the past.

Bring on new Urban Food or whatever the new trend is.... as long as it's better than what we have seen in the past it will be a welcome change.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Mobile Foodie Heaven

A Foodie's dream of an Event happened at the Distillery this past weekend. What was it? Food Truck Eats. What's that? It's the best kind of fast food or Mobile food you can find. Food trucks are a new trend that seems to be sweeping America. There is a new show called Eat St. and another show hosted by Bobby Flay that has different food trucks competing against each other for a big prize. One of the hottest trucks in the US is a Grilled Cheese truck. Well actually 2 trucks and who knows when they will add more. Not just grilled cheese but gourmet versions of grilled cheese and even desert grilled sandwiches like marshmallow and chocolate and who knows what else they add to them. There was a Food Truck called Gorilla Cheese at the Distillery that was easily the longest lineup of all the food trucks in attendance. It was so long that I didn't even attempt to get into that line because I knew the food would be gone before the end of the line was. I saw a lot of happy faces eating their assortment of grilled cheese items.

What did I try? Well lets see.... a Ceviche from CAVA.

It was the first thing i had and it was really refreshing on a hot summer day.

I also had a Po Boy mini fish sandwich which also had some very crunchy tasty fried fish balls.

It was so hot that I got some tasty Peppermint Ice tea twice.. It hit the spot.

Hmmm what else did I have? I tried a pot sticker that was pretty good.


What I didn't try that my foodie friend that I met up with and her friend did try was the very popular Maple Bacon doughnut.

They loved it but about 10 minutes later they started to fade and they were done. They both wanted to have a nap after that donut. So they were pretty much done.

But back to the beginning of the day.... I met up with my friend at the entrance and we were waiting for her friend to show up when she glances over at a parked taxi in front of us and asks "who's that in the cab"? so I glance over and see that it's Bob Blumer who I had just seen the day before at the CNE. Now he is gonna think I am stalking him but no I was there first so obviously I didn't know he was going to show up right in front of where I was standing. But I guess us Foodie people like these cool foodie events.

I have to say that all my friends bailed on showing up at this event even the one guy that lives in the Distillery but my foodie friend Joanne was there right along with me. Last year we went to the T & T night market where we ended up standing in line for over an hour for some skewered beef...was it worth it...well I would have to say sort of. It was good but the line was way too long. The same thing applied to some of the food trucks. The lines were so long and one truck even ran out of food an hour before the event was supposed to end. Officially the event was from 11-3pm but I heard that there were people that paid extra to be the first ones to get food before it opened. Wow.. now that should tell people that this is an event that is in demand. It was part 2 and apparently the first one was well attended as well. There will be a part 3 in October that I plan to arrive earlier for so I can get in that Grilled Cheese Truck lineup this time. I hope this becomes a regular event because there seemed to be a huge crowd of foodies and food bloggers in attendance so I am not the only one posting a blog about this event.

I enjoyed the day and hope to see more food trucks roaming our city on a regular basis real soon.






Gluttony at the CNE

Going to the CNE in Toronto is a yearly exercise in Gluttony. With all the smells of all kinds of food everywhere you go you can't help but eat things you know you shouldn't.

This year was no exception. Some of it was good. Some of it wasn't so good. Case in point... Chicken and Waffles.

This was from the same people that made this year's calorie bursting Krispy Kreme Burger.. No I didn't have one but this is what it looked like.


To redeem the bad waffle I had to get a good waffle with my annual tradition of getting an ice cream waffle sandwich. Now that was a good waffle done right.

Another thing I tried was some pulled pork tacos. Not widely promoted I guess because it's not one of the insane deep fried items but it was very tasty and the taco shell had a great crunch and taste.

But the best thing I ate at the EX was a chicken nugget cooked by the Surreal Gourmet & Glutton for Punishment celebrity chef Bob Blumer. Bob was on hand at Opening day for 2 cooking demos. One at 2 and one at 5pm. I got there late for the first one thanks to the TTC so we decided to check back again on the second one to see what we missed. Glad we did that because we were lucky enough to be sitting in the front row and got to taste the yummy chicken nuggets that Bob cooked as one of his quick and easy food demos. I got a chance to meet and chat with Bob the last time he was here to promote a Second Harvest event at Yonge and Dundas Square where I was able to chat with him for a bit. After his second show I decided to pick up his Glutton for Pleasure cookbook and get it signed since I had the opportunity to do it. I was surprised that he actually remembered meeting me months ago. I took a photo of him with my friend but this photo is of him signing my book. Thanks Bob for a fun show.... oh...and check my next blog post.. saw him the next day too.. No I am not stalking him... I am a foodie and go where the food is... so does he. you have to read the next one to find out where.


Bob also brought his toaster mobile to the show.. well not exactly.

It was a fun day at the CNE.. except for the TTC ride there and back but that's another story.

My advice to you if you visit the EX... either eat before you go so you won't be tempted or go hungry and eat everything that you can't resist and detox the next day. I did part of that.... didn't exactly detox the next day but trying to take it easy on the food now.

There are a lot more celebrity chefs at the EX everyday until the end so go see some food demos in the Direct Energy Building. and don't forget to visit the FOOD Building with your appetite and lots of cash.

Enjoy.