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 

Starving Foodie's Favourite Things List

I thought it might be fun to do an Oprah style list of my favourite things in Toronto and more.

You can use it as a guide to your Christmas shopping or something new to try or you can even use it if you want to get me a gift I will love.   I hope that some of these things become your favourite things too.

Top 10 List of Starving Foodie Favourite Things:


1.  Teas

• Kusmi Tea - Detox
• Numi Tea - Gunpowder Green
• Teavana - Oprah Chai

2.  Coffee Shops

• Starbucks - Love Peppermint Mochas and Cool Lime Refreshers
• Aroma Espresso Bar - Ice Lemon Mint Aromas and great Hot Chocolate

3.  Sweet Treats

• Squish Candy - Grapefruit and Blood Orange flavour and Strawberry Rhubarb
• Hong Kong Waffles - I love snapping off bubbles of waffles
• Portland Variety Chocolate Chip cookies.  They are they best cookies I have ever had in Toronto

4.  Housewares stores - I love looking for things at Homesense and stores like that where I can find interesting gadgets and tableware and things I can use to style my photos at home and for entertaining.

• Winners
• Homesense
• Kitchen Stuff Plus
• The Bay

5.  Restaurants

• Hawthorne Food and Drink - Because they use local vendors and train people that need help to get jobs in the industry while trying to produce as little waste as possible.

• Pearl Diver - Great seafood and awesome desserts too and they have a special private room for Chef special nights to help George Brown College chefs mentor with established chefs.

6.  Things - Movies
I love going to see movies so a Cineplex Gift Card or tickets for a TIFF film would be great.
I love documentaries so a pass to Hot Docs Film Festival even better.

7.  Gelato
I like the Gelato from Gelato in Yorkville and I like La Paloma but it's far for me now without wheels.

8.   Cheese

If I lived near the Cheese Boutique I would probably be there all the time.  I love cheese.  I like triple cream cheeses like this and smoked cheddar for mac and cheese and goat cheese for pastas and appetizers and Cheddar cheese for so many things.

9.    Poke
I love the classic Tuna Poke - Favourite places include:

• Big Tuna Poke on Bloor Street.
• Cali Love on King St. West.
• North Poke on Baldwin

10.   Places

The Drake Devonshire Inn - For it's amazing view and relaxing vibes and it's eclectic decor.

** This is not a sponsored post.  All of the choices are my own.

Aroma Espresso opens Kosher cafe

Aroma Espresso Bar is a Cafe that goes above and beyond what a lot of cafe's do.  They really listen to their patrons and provide a place and food that they are looking for.

Aroma was founded in Jerusalem in 1994 and in 2007 they opened in the Annex on Bloor St. in Toronto.

This month they listened to their customers in the Jewish community and opened a Kosher Aroma Espresso Bar on Bathurst Street just north of Wilson Ave in North York.  This area has a high density of people that follow Kosher practices so it is a really great thing that they are now able to meet up with friends and family in a space that serves their needs.

I dropped in this week on my way home to check out the space and pick up an Ice Aroma, one of my favourite things there to take it to go.  It's a good thing I planned to take it to go because every seat in the place was taken.  It was a monday night even, so obviously this is something people are happy about.

What I really like about Aroma is the Mediterranean menu of fresh made in house dishes.  They have fresh salads, the chopped salad is a great one in the summer.   They also bake fresh bread on site and serve up massive slices with their fresh sandwiches.  They also make fresh Mint using real mint tea and not the stuff in tea bags.  I doubt you will find that at any other chain coffee house.  Also their Ice Lemon Mint is also made with the fresh mint.  I love to have these in the summer when it is really hot outside.

They have also launched a new BOLD coffee recently. Although I haven't tried it yet I am sure it fills the need of coffee lovers who like choices.

Their Hot Chocolates are made using real chocolate.  You will find actual melted chocolate at the bottom of the cup.  No pre packaged powder mixes. They also have delicious pastries to go with your teas, coffees and hot chocolate or cold drinks.

There are about 20 locations in Toronto and ever growing.  They will be opening one very close to me soon on Yonge Street near Mel Lastman Square.  I am sure it will be a busy place and I am sure I will stop in with friends.

For locations near you check out their website: Aroma Espresso Bar with this link.

And for a bonus when you order your drinks they give you a tiny piece of chocolate.  Who doesn't love chocolate at the end of their meal.