Jamie Oliver gets Comfortable in Toronto

Jamie Oliver just blew through Toronto for a quick 2 day visit to talk about all things food and good things and Comfort Food.  He recently released his new Cookbook Comfort Food but that wasn't the reason he flew into Toronto.

He was here to launch a new charity initiative with Sobeys his Brand Partner and with the Free the Children organization to start a project that will teach kids cooking skills for the future.  It's Jamie's mission to get kids learning how to cook for themselves giving them "skills for life".   I dropped by the Sobey's on Laird to see what the Charity event was all about.  He is teaming up with the Keilburger brothers to have Sobeys donate money from grocery sales that will go to Free the Children programs and Jamie help to facilitate this project for kids.

While Jamie was in Toronto he had an exhaustive schedule.  I had to get up at 4:30 in the morning to catch one of his visits to the Marilyn Denis Show where he co hosted the hour with Marilyn and other guests were Charles the Butler and fellow Brit Debbie Travis.  They talked about all things British including food, decor, drinks and etiquette.  Jamie cooked up a Ricotta Gnudi.. from the former Naked Chef a plate of Gnudi balls... Jamie likes to make balls and buns as was evident in some of his Toronto appearances.   Because of Jamie's schedule Marilyn had to do a special taping at 6:30am so I had to get up very early to attend the show taping.

The previous day I also was lucky to attend the taping of the Steven and Chris Show where Jamie cooked up a batch of Mince buns.   I was lucky to get to try a bite of one of the buns and it was delicious.  Jamie was the master of inuendo on this show and had Steven and Chris in stitches and even got Chris blushing with the use of a lemon.  You have to watch the show to see what I mean.

Other events that Jamie attended in the whirlwind 2 days were a dinner for Indigo members at Buca Restaurant where Jamie's friend Chef Rob Gentile cooked up a special dinner.  Chef Gentile will be Jamie's Business partner when they open Jamie's new Jamie's Italian Food at the Yorkdale Mall.  It will open in the Spring of 2015.

One of my fellow Food Revolution Day Ambassadors was also a very lucky girl to be able to attend a special Sobeys Better Food For All winners Cooking Class where she got to meet Jamie face to face.  She has been waiting to meet him for the past three years that we have been Food Revolution Ambassadors.  Even though I have been a Food Revolution Ambassador for the past 3 years I haven't had a chance to actually meet him yet even though I have seen him at the Marilyn Show a couple of times and a couple of speaking engagements.  I have been in the same room a few times but haven't had the pleasure of actually meeting him.  There are about 90 Ambassadors in Canada so he can't get to everyone.

And I believe he also squeezed in another event after the Free the Children Charity launch at Sobey's but I don't know the details about that visit.

I got to see him at 3 of his stops and I can tell you that his schedule is crazy and he seems to have an endless supply of energy.   He looks good,  he has gotten a lot fitter and his hair is finally in control.  He has spent the past year working on his Comfort Food Cookbook and web series, tv show etc. but he has been mostly at home and able to catch up on some much needed rest and family time but I am sure that won't last long with all the multiple projects Jamie has on his plate.

He will be back in the Spring for the restaurant launch so I hope to be able to see him again then and maybe actually meet him face to face at some point.