My blog has had a bit of a hiatus due to Covid 19 restrictions and the fact that there really wasn't anything going on and I was just tired. Tired of working from home and being limited to what I could do compared to what I used to do. I was also growing tired of going to festivals before the pandemic because the TTC made it challenging to get around. So I took a longer than planned break. In May I finally went to a big Food Event with the Restaurant Canada Show at the Enercare centre. That was a big deal to see friends, meet new people and eat food at an event again.
On Saturday I returned to my heart of events. The Outdoor food festival. I have been following Smorgasburg in New York on social media for a while and drooling over all the amazing looking food. So when I found out that Toronto was going to get a Smorgasburg too I got really excited. What makes Smorgasburg amazing is the unique food you can get in one place. I then found out that Toronto Food writer Suresh Doss was going to be curating it and I thought it wasn't going to be like all the other Toronto food festivals that usually have the same vendors. I actually got really excited to go on saturday morning to the 2nd day of 8 consecutive Saturdays until September 10th. I was so determined to go that I was even going to go by myself and then my friend sent me info about it and I told her I was already planning on going and she said she was able to join me. Normally I don't ask because she has a young child but the stars aligned for a glorious saturday. The weather was perfect, a slightly breezy 27 degrees and the Festival is located at 7 Queens Quay East just by the lake in a parking lot just beside where you would get on a ferry boat and the Harbour Castle hotel. The reason I didn't go to week one was because most weekends the Line 1 of the Subway is closed because of the Eglinton crosstown but I noticed it never closes on long weekends so this was the perfect weekend to go. It was Caribana weekend so there were lots of people all around all ready to play Mas and the locals had headed to the cottages.
I haven't been excited about much in a long time but this made me feel like the old me. Excited to see what new foods I could try and hang out by the lake with my friend too.
I was not disappointed. The skies were blue with puffy clouds that said enjoy the day. The festival is located in a parking lot and it's only about a 5 minute walk from the Queens Quay streetcar stop. Really easy to find. First you see a line of food trucks, not part of the festival and I don't know if they are usually there but ok you got options. It was so great to see such diverse foods from all over Toronto and not the usually downtown restaurants that normally do a lot of festivals. I love them but I wanted to try a lot of things I haven't tried all in one place.
I am not sure how adventurous I was but I enjoyed everything I ate. My friend Joanne and I tried to share as many things as we could so we could try more. I can't eat as much as I used to.
First we landed on a booth that was showing a permanent planned space for this type of event. You had to toss a ball in a bucket and you got a freezie. Great way to start.
Then we had the Skewered beef and fish spring rolls with peanut sauce from Babi & Co an Indonesian vendor. I have been wanting Indonesian for a while. The Beef was amazing. They need to bottle the marinade. While the fish in the spring rolls was very plain the peanut dipping sauce was excellent.
Moving on. I wanted an iced coffee and there were a few different ones around but I stopped at Kiss My pans booth. I have been following them on Instagram. They are from Singapore and the iced coffee is called Koppi or something like that. The vendor explained it's a similar method as Vietnamese coffee and they use condensed milk and evaporated milk. It was so good I went back for another one. They sold out of their food a couple of hours into the festival.
When we first got there I said lets just walk around and see what there is and then decide. I first walked by a Sushi taco and at first I wasn't sure I wanted one but after walking around I really wanted one so we split the Salmon and Tuna Nori Sushi Taco. I had the Tuna and Joanne had the torched Salmon. The tuna one was excellent and the crunch on the Tempura batter dipped Nori was amazing. I had sushi tacos near me but this was how they were supposed to be. It was from Albi Sushi. they are at the 401 and Kennedy Rd in Scarborough.
So as you can see the vendors really did come from all over the city and not the usual downtown hot spots. That's what made it different. These little independent vendors showcased their own food that was so diverse and excellent.
The bonus of the day was running into 3 foodie friends. Yashy (pictured), Annie and Amanda. All Toronto bloggers too. I got a chance to chat with Suresh before we left who was with his family. He told me that they do a refresh with different vendors in week 5 so I am praying that the TTC lets me go another time to see a whole new group of vendors.
I told Suresh (Doss) (CBC food writer) that the festivals was the only thing I missed during the pandemic closures and I realized it really was the only thing. I thought it would be film festivals but streaming has made that easier but there is nothing like meeting the people who make your food and thanking them and smelling all the delicious food and trying all kinds of things you have never tried or can't make yourself.
Give some new vendors some love and attention. It's great for the city and for their businesses. I am hoping they are able to build a permanent spot for this like they have in some US cities and like the Smorgasburg in New York that this came from.
Don't forget to go early because food sells out fast.
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