The Stop's Night Market returns for it's 5th year.

The Stop’s Night Market Returns In June to Celebrate Its 5th Anniversary!

I attended this event for the first time last year and it was a blast.  Some of the best restaurants in the city participate in this event and create amazing vendor carts where they serve their food.  

A little tip though, ditch the stillettos and fancy outfits.  It's held in a gravel parking lot, so wear comfy shoes.
You can read about last year's event on this post I wrote after the event.

The event will be held in the open lot at 158 Sterling Road. On Tuesday, June 14th and Wednesday, June 15th, The Stop Community Food Centre’s most popular fundraising event will transform this new vacant lot into a bustling and aromatic market, bringing together Toronto’s most talented creatives from the culinary, design, performance, and graphic arts sectors to celebrate diversity, community, and the power of food. 

Tickets, each valid for one night only, are on sale now through the event website at nightmarket.thestop.org.  

The Stop’s Night Market will feature more than 70 of Toronto’s best chefs and more than 35 unique food carts, each created by local design teams. This year, cart designs will be subject to evaluation by a four-person jury, including Alex Bozikovic, architecture critic at The Globe & Mail; David Liss, Curator Advisor at The Museum of Contemporary Art_Toronto_Canada; Casey Mecija, multi-disciplinary artist, musician, and host of “The Doc Project” on CBC Radio One; and Vivek Shraya, artist.

All proceeds from The Stop’s Night Market support The Stop’s critical food access and community-building programs.

For a complete list of food and beverage vendors to date (subject to change), as well as design teams, see the event details below, or visit our event website at nightmarket.thestop.org.

About The Stop Community Food Centre

Located in Toronto’s west end, The Stop works to increase access to food in a manner that maintains dignity, builds health and community, and challenges inequality. From its origins as one of Canada’s first food banks, The Stop has blossomed into a thriving community hub where neighbours participate in a broad range of programs that provide healthy food, foster social connections, build food skills, and promote civic engagement. Underlying all of The Stop’s efforts is the belief that food is a basic human right.

Visit the organization’s website at thestop.org. Follow The Stop on Twitter & Instagram (@TheStopCFC) and use The Stop’s Night Market hashtag, #TheStopNM. 

Updates are also available on the event Facebook Page at Facebook.com/TheStopNightMarket.  

Event Details

When: Tuesday, June 14 and Wednesday, June 15, 2016, from 7PM to 11PM

Where: Vacant Lot, 158 Sterling Road, Toronto (please note the new location!)

Tickets: $100 (includes all-you-can-eat-and-drink!), available at nightmarket.thestop.org.

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photo fun at the Stop Night Market

What's on the Table - The Stop knows

I went to an amazing event this week at the Daniels Spectrum On Dundas Street East in Toronto. It was the fundraising Gala WHAT"S ON THE TABLE an event that raises money for the Stop's Community Food Programs. I have been to a couple of the Stop's events and they are really great but the best part is that people have a great time and they raise a lot of money for people dealing with poverty and food insecurity and other local issues that their programs help with.  With the help of some great donations for silent and live auction and raffle prize The Stop was able to raise over $328,000 at this event.  This will literally serve a lot of people in community.  With over 30 food and wine stations providing some really tasty bites and sips prepared by some of the Top Chefs in Toronto it was a fantastic way to almost restaurant hop and try a bit at one restaurant and then to the next one.  A lot of the Chefs in Toronto are really supportive of each other and are great friends so they donate their time and food and get to see the people in the industry that are always working when they are.  It's pretty much a win win for everyone which is what makes it a great event.  The space at the Daniels Spectrum was beautifully decorated with big white hanging lit round balloon lights which added a lot of whimsy to the room

There was a lot of food and I ran out of room by the time it came to dessert so I only tried a truffle and a mocha choux pastry from Nadege but I wanted to try almost everything.  My friend Mary was able to try just about everything but I think I got about 3/4 of the way through the savoury dishes.  My favourites included Richmond Station's thanksgiving on a cracker and DaiLo's Big Mac Bao a really interesting Bao bun.  I also really liked the Oyster station from Hooked and Mildred's Temple Kitchen's Beet Lox. Aria's veal ragu gnocchi were light and great simple classic Italian.

PARTICIPATING RESTAURANTS DISHES:

• Aria/Noce - Homemade gnocchi 2 ways
• Beast - Rainbow trout and sunchokes
• Baretta - Caramelized onion and pulled beef stuffed sesame bun
• Cafe Belong - Buttermilk biscuits with scrambled eggs and micro greens
• Citizen Catering - Roasted duck, pumpkin pie, black walnuts and maple whisky
• Creemore Kitchen - Blue potato ice cream with beet caramel, pumpkin seed praline
• DaiLo - Big Mac Bao
• Frangiapane - Assorted patries
• George - Lemon thyme donuts
• The Good Son - Smoked sweetbreads, pistachio crust, parsnip puree
• Hooked - Selection of Oysters
• Luma - Octopus with pumpkin and pepitas
• Mamakas - Greek stew with beef cheeks, parsley root
• Mildred's Temple Kitchen - Beet lox on a pretzel crisp
• Monforte Dairy - Assorted cheeses
• Nadege - Assorted pastries
• Pluck Teas & The Rolling Pin - Chai hot chocolate, teas, brownies, donuts and tarts
• Providore Catering - Smoked duck, barley miso, kumquat marmelade
• Richmond Station - Turkey mortadella, stuffing cracker, cranberry chutney, celery salad
• Salt - Salt cod croquettes
• Skin + Bones - Cavatelli with lamb neck ragu
• Soma - Hazelnut hot chocolate and 2 types of truffles
• The Stop Community Food Centre - Sweet and sour trout
• The Tempered Room - Choux a la creme
• Tundra - Wild boar pastrami, ramp kimchi on a milk bun

WINES:

• Cave Spring
• Chateau des Charmes
• Coyote's Run
• Flat Rock Cellars
• Frogpond Farm
• Stratus

BEER:

• Steam Whistle

Luma, Beast, Richmond Station, The Good Son, Cafe Belong, Mamakas, The Citizen, DaiLo

There were so many desserts I wanted to try but just didn't have enough room in my stomach but here's a snapshot of all of the assortment of goodies that were there to sample.

It's not too late if you want to donate or give them some of your time.  

To contact them check their website for further information.  http://thestop.org/

*Disclaimer:  I was invited to attend this event but the opinions in this post are my own