Covid 19 cancels events in Toronto until July

Today the Mayor of Toronto announced that all events and Parade permits are now cancelled until July 2020. 

Will the Food, Events and Entertainment and Travel Industries survive the effects of this COVID 19 pandemic?

The last large event that I attended was the Restaurant Canada Show  it is one of my favourite annual shows and I haven't gotten to my blog post yet because there were so many things that I want to write about and need to have the time to do it.   But I mention it now because I had no idea that it was to be the last big event that I would be able to go to at the time and how it would affect all the people that attended that show.  It was only a couple of weeks later that so many Restaurants in the city had to shut down because Toronto is now in a state of emergency and people are told to stay home.  Restaurants had to let their staff go and either convert to pick up or delivery or shut their doors.

With Bloggers Mary Tang (Marys Happy Belly) Jenny Roger (Ice cream and Knishes) and restauranteur Trevor Lui

I worked at Sunnybrook Hospital when Sars hit in 2003 and it affected the Restaurant industry and many restaurants lost money and some closed but not to the extent that it has hit the industry in such a short time frame.  Restaurants workers work long hours for minimum wage or less in some cases and don't have a lot of the benefits some people enjoy. 

I have gotten to know many people in the food, events and entertainment industry over the past 10 years while writing this blog and my heart breaks for them now.

If you have been reading my blog you know that I volunteer for the Toronto Film Festival who's building on King Street has now shuttered until an undetermined time and the next festival could be up in the air at this time.

I also have an events management background and know how hard it is to organize events in this city and how long it takes to organize a festival or even a small event.  It requires many people getting together to plan and execute which is not possible at this time.

For the first time in my life I am working from home.  I am lucky that I can do that at this time but I can't do all of the tasks of my job so I don't know what it will be like when everything is back on track.

The Mayor has cancelled the Pride Parade,  the Hot Docs Film Festival, Comicon, the Juno Awards, the Green Living Show, The Canadian Screen Awards and too many more to mention have been either cancelled for this year or have been pushed to a much later date.

This will affect my blog but it won't silence it because I have been writing about events for almost 10 years but it's not the only thing I write about luckily.   I had already reduced my attendance at events and had less restaurant invites.  I have been spending more time at home cooking my own food and trying to reduce my waste.

But here is the thing that I am concerned about.  What will happen when this Social distancing and State of Emergency has lifted?  Will people go back to life as normal?  Will we lose a lot of great things for good?

While I love the fact that people are now having to embrace cooking at home and you see loads of people making bread on Instagram I also miss meeting up with friends at restaurants or going to food events and meeting the chefs and vendors making the food.

Will they persevere or give up and be forced to do something else to survive?

After Sars lifted there was a huge Concert at Downsview Park.  What will we do this time?

I wish I had unlimited funds to be able to order food from all the places that have been able to adapt and stay open during this time to keep them going.  If you have the means I would urge you to order food every other day maybe.  Build your cooking skills and appreciate the people that cook the food for you.  They may not always be there to make your favourite foods.

10 things to do during the Covid 19 social distancing isolation

 Covid 19 has closed or cancelled in the city.  What do I do now? 🙋

After working at Sunnybrook Hospital in 2003 during the hight of the SARS situation I have learned a few things.

1.  Doctors don't know everything when these things show up.
2.  You need to get through your day with knowledge and strength.
3.  It's time to get creative and find new ways to do things.

I worked at Sunnybrook for 14 years and normally the Doctors have a whatever kind of attitude after they have been doing it for a long time but in 2003 even the Doctors were scared.
We didn't know what was going to happen or what to do.  We had to be there for the patients but they were still figuring it out.  The only businesses that suffered were restaurants and tourism.  Everything remained open but it just reduced a few things. 

This Covid 19 virus is a whole different thing.    I watched my social media feed over the past few days while every organization and business flooded it with either cancellations or reassurances that they are taking full precautions. The fact that all entertainment or large gatherings over 250 people are now closing and Community centres and other businesses and schools have left people scrambling to figure out what to do. 

I know work for the Goverment and everyone was scrambling on Friday when word started flying around that everyone had to now telework.  I am not set up to telework because I handle calls from the public so I will have to see if they can figure out how this will still get done.  People still expect front line services so everyone needs to figure out a new way to get the jobs done.

I have the same feeling as I did after 9-11 when the Whole World changed.  There was an over night shift from fear and trust and the increase of racism and frustration.

This time there wasn't destruction but there are many deaths and many lives have had a domino effect from the isolations and the loss of work and services.

What surprised me was the hoarding mentality where people are buying up things to hoard to sell at a higher price for profit while leaving the elderly and vulnerable population to figure out how they are going to survive.   If you are living from paycheck to paycheck you can't stock up for 2 to 3 weeks so when you have to wait for your pay to buy toilet paper and some guy trying to capitalize has bought up all the toilet paper in the store it leads to serious frustration.  Case in point someone actually got shot at a grocery store in downtown Toronto.   All the shelves are bare at the big chain grocery stores.

I was able to find fairly stocked shelves at Whole Foods but unfortunately it's the higher priced stores that have the fully stocked shelves and it's not an issue for the 1% of people who can shop anywhere or anytime.

I had to go to 3 stores to get some of the things I needed.  I bought toilet paper at the Longos and I don't even know what I paid for it because they took all the prices off and there was only one size and kind of toilet paper left.  The drugstore looked like it was ransacked.  The stuff were visibly frustrated.

I understand everyone is trying to be prepared to possibly have to be in isolation for a couple of weeks but how much toilet paper do you need for 2 to 3 weeks? 

Anyway this is a long post because the greed and self serving behaviour is disgusting and I started thinking about how I am dealing with this whole thing.

Here are some ideas of what you can do during this insane time over the last couple of weeks of March.

1.  Clean - Clean everything- Get your spring cleaning on.  Dust, wipe down all the surfaces, clean your kitchen and bathroom.  Clean all the things you never have time to clean.  Clean up your fridge and pantry.   Vacuum and mop the floors.  Do as much as you can now while you need to disinfect and have the time because you aren't going anywhere.

2.  Get creative in the kitchen- Use your pantry and freezer to make some ready to go meals.  Make a huge pot of chicken stock because it cleans up the fridge and can be used for other things or if you get sick.

3.  Cooking - If you can't cook take this downtime to learn how to cook something new.  Learn how to make bread.  If you can bake bread you are good.  You can survive.  Getting bored of always making the same things..  find a recipe online and cook something different.   Figure out what you have and challenge yourself to make it different than how you normally eat it.

3.  Rest-Chill- Never underestimate the power of good sleep or a good nap.  I love to have weekend naps because I don't sleep all that well so I try and get in nap time when I feel wiped out on the weekend.

4.  Self- care- Give yourself a manicure.  Soak your feet in some essential oils and epsom salts.  I do this a lot in the summer on my balcony when I need to de stress.   Break out that scary looking face mask and take a time out to refresh and give yourself permission to take care of yourself because you don't have to rush around everywhere now.

5.  Read a book that you have been wanting to read but haven't had the time.  Nobody is going to ask you to go to an event or party now so might as well get some uninterrupted time to focus on a book for escape or to learn something new or just peruse cookbooks and find some cooking ideas.

6.  Music - Listen to some great music, dance to music or learn how to play an instrument.

7.  Meditate or do Yoga- Do you always say you don't have time to meditate or do yoga?  No reason not to now.

8.  Exercise- My exercise comes from doing all the cooking and cleaning but if I can get all this stuff done and actually have some energy then yeah exercise is what I should be doing.   If you like to exercise you can spend more time doing it now.

9.  Movies or if you like virtual videos- this is my favourite way to be stuck at home.  Binge-watching Netflix or watching an on demand movie or a funny tv show but watch less of the News because it will give you anxiety.

10.  Do whatever you want to do. 

• Go for a walk.  
• Find a local restaurant that's open and meet up with a few friends.  
• Call your friends and family.  
• Make a youtube video.  
• Write a book.  
• Start a new hobby.  
• Play games.  
• Paint or craft.  
• Make a vision board. 
• Fix things. 
• Start a new business at home.  
• Do nothing.  
• Do what will feed your soul and make you feel well.

Bye Bye Sea Hi restaurant

What's changed in Toronto that it has caused so many long running institutions to start disappearing?


Today is the last day of the decades long running restaurant Sea-Hi Tavern on Bathurst Street just south of Wilson Ave in Toronto.

It seems odd now that this dated Chinese Food restaurant would sit in a predominantly Jewish area.  It's also hard to believe how long it's been in existence compared to the flash in the pan restaurants that have been popping up over the past 5 years.

There really wasn't anything special about this place other than the fact that it was in a dessert of nothing else like it and it was consistent.

Sea-Hi was opened by Edna Chan in 1955, just in time for the birth of my older brother.  Yes this place has been around longer than I have.

My parents probably went there when they needed a break from cooking and dealing with kids as parents do.  It was rare for my parents to go out for dinner so going to eat Chinese Food was a special occasion usually with their friends. 

It is a fact that a lot of non religious Jewish people would go to Chinese Food Restaurants over the holidays like Christmas because they were the only restaurants open and if you didn't want to cook for a big family that's just what you did.

I haven't really been there in years even though one of my friends lives down the street.  I think the last time I went was maybe 6 months before I sold my car and only to get some of their popular bacon wrapped chicken skewers.

But in the past couple of weeks I have gone there twice.  The first time to get take out with a friend that doesn't live too far from there.  Even though we ordered before 5 it was a bit of a wait and the poor counter guy was going crazy trying to keep up with orders.  One after another every Jewish person in the area came in to the tiny take out area to order or pick up food.  The wait kept getting longer as we were waiting for our pick up and some people just couldn't wait.

One guy waiting said he tried to get some people together to buy their recipes but I guess that didn't work out so well.

Someone else said that they think it's going to be either a Dollarama or a Synagogue.  I think the Synagogue may be more appropriate for that area but I guess we will have to see.

By the time we got to my friends place and started unwrapping the food some of it was already cold though.  You can't really be upset considering all the people now surging to get their last fix in like we did.  It's not exactly the same as I remembered it but I wasn't a food blogger when I used to eat there so I didn't have as much to compare it to.

The following week I went with different friends.  The one that lives nearby and another one who lives downtown and had never been there.  He wasn't too sure if he wanted to go but then after the meal he said he wanted to bring another friend there but too late because even after they extended the closing today is the last day.

The 3 of us sat in the very dated and in serious need of a makeover dining room this one last time.  The service was excellent but the restaurant wasn't totally full.  The tables were covered in Dollarama tablecloths, I know them well because we use them at work for our social events.

We didn't order that much.  We ordered the bacon wrapped chicken which has clearly been made way in advanced and lacked that fresh out of the fryer taste.  We also ordered shrimp fried rice, eggplant with black bean sauce and orange beef.  I might have chosen other things but we each picked something we wanted.

The food was ok, nothing spectacular but it was more important to show up and show support to a business that has been around for decades as a thank you for their service to the community.

Although it's not somewhere I think of going to eat I am still going to miss it being there.  It was kind of the same thing when Honest Ed's closed down.  It was part of my childhood and a place that my parents counted on.  I wish my parents had Instagram back then because I don't have any photos of them going there now.
Times change but sometimes it's nice to see things last for generations to share.

Sea-cuterie board workshop with MSC fish

How about a Seafood Sea-Cuterie Board for a Party?

I went to the Restaurant Canada Show last week and while I was wondering around trying to see as much as I could on my second day and drooling over the food I stopped to check my messages because I was waiting to see where a friend was at the show.  She sent me a message asking if I was going to the Sea-cuterie board workshop and I didn't know anything about it so I went to the sustainable area of the show and saw my friend Matt Dean Pettit and asked him if he knew where it was so he told me it was at the other end of the show so I bolted over there to see what it was all about.  But when I got there I saw my friend and found out it was an invite only event but lucky me and they had a spot available so I got to sit in on the creative workshop with Chef Charlotte Langley who owns Scout Canning.  She is a well known Chef in the Toronto Restaurant Scene and has had her line of canned seafood products for a little while now.

She told us about Sustainable Seafood that was MSC certified and why that was important.

MSC stands for MARINE STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL.  Did you know that?

Did you also know that Seafood is the world's most traded food commodity - 10 times more than coffee.  Wow.

You want to look for the MSC logo on your seafood products. 

To be MSC certified the fisheries have to comply to 28 performance indicators.

They must follow:

1. Sustainable fish stocks
2. Minimizing environmental impacts
3. Effective management

The MSC blue fish label only applies to wild catch fisheries, no farmed fish or seafood.

Food fraud is a serious issue in the new economy where people will do whatever they can for market share.  MSC is traceable from ocean to plate.

• Approx. 30% of Seafood Sold Globally is Mislabelled

Why it's worth the effort to get MSC seafood and eat more fish.

• Seafood includes protein, omega-3's, B vitamins and minerals like iron and selenium. The healthy fats help lower the risk of heart disease.
• People who regularly eat fish are 20% less likely than their peers to have depression

Back to the fun part of the workshop.  We were provided this MSC stamped cutting board with a wooden bowl and an array of fish and seafood to style on our boards.  There was some delicious lobster salad, smoked salmon, baby shrimp, mackerel and garnishes like 2 sauces and pickled veggies, lettuce and crackers.  This was the end result of my sea-cuterie styled board.  We got to bring these boards home.  I ate the lobster salad in a sandwich when I got home.  It was delicious.

You can get MSC blue fish label products at Loblaws, Whole Foods, Seafront Fish Market, Costco, Walmart, Sobeys, Ikea and Fast food chains that carry are McDonalds and A&W locations across Canada.  Try the Cod burger at A&W it's fantastic and is only around for a short time.

For more information about MSC Blue Label Products visit their website at www.msc.org
and for more nutrition info check out www.seafoodnutrition.org

Follow on Social Media
#FeelGoodSeafood
@MSCbluefish

Coffee and Tea Expo at Harbourfront Centre

If beer and wine aren't your thing maybe you are more of a Tea and Coffee person. If you are then there is an event for you on May 2 to 3rd , 2020 at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto. The Toronto Coffee & Tea Expo returns again this year to a new venue. I went to the first one a couple of years ago and it's grown out of it's previous locations and moved to a more public accessible space at Harbourfront Centre.

Sip to your hearts content at this festival and know that you won't wake up with a hangover the next day. A little hyped up maybe and think of all the stuff you will be able to get done.

Tickets officially go on sale March 19th so feel free to tease the ticket launch in your post and/or stories anywhere from one week to one day in advance!

Tickets are $18 each and come with a reusable TCTE cup! 

Ticket link: https://torontocoffeeandtea.com/#tickets

Instagram: @torontocoffeeandtea

Facebook: @TorontoCoffeeandTeaExpo