Street Food & Street People

I have lived in Toronto all of my life but I have been noticing a drastic change over the past 5 years in so many ways. I started working a temporary contract in April and in July the office moved to Yonge and Dundas.  Right smack in the Yonge and Crazy area or centre of the Universe in Toronto if you don't know. This area is such a contrast of humanity and life.  There are huge retailers and brands all around and not just in the Eaton Centre but up and down Yonge Street and there are always cultural events and brand activations and entertainment happening at Yonge and Dundas Square.  At the same time there are street people dotted every 10 feet or so just sitting on the ground asking for money from people passing by.  

The thing that I have noticed is that there is an increase of these "Street People" I call them street people because I can't assume that they are homeless because who knows what their story is.  But there are a lot more with varying degrees of impairment.  I would say that the majority are able bodied but there are some with visible signs of mental illness and a few with physical disabilities but I would say a lot of them seem to be physically ok.  They all have a story but some seem to me in my cynical brain to be fake stories.  Why do I say that?  Well because I know a guy who is on disability who is physically able but has as he calls it "undiagnosed" disability.  When pressed he said he had dizzy spells.  He is socially challenged or what I think may be a mild case of Asbergers but he spends his time volunteering but his brother is also on disability but doesn't really have a disability other than the fact that he is a substance abuser.  I was told that he collects his disability cheques and then spends it on drugs and alcohol and when the money runs out his band of buddies heads downtown to pan handle.  The guy I know lives with this guy and his pan handling buddies crash at their Etobicoke apartment regularly. I always wonder who are legitimately in need and who is just pulling a scam.  I have gotten to the point that there are so many people around town that you just walk by and don't pay attention anymore.

Last week there was an altercation on Dundas just west of Yonge with a guy in a suit with a knife or something and another guy who appeared to be a homeless person and the guy in the suit lunged at Police when they tried to resolve the problem.  I don't really know the whole story but the end result was that the guy in the suit was shot by Police and the street was closed off for investigation for half the day.


 A couple of weeks ago there was a fight in a known area where homeless people gather in the St. Lawrence Market area and one guy fell and hit his head and died.

In the past couple of weeks I have seen people in wheelchairs, a young girl, pregnant girls, guys with dogs, older people and a whole bunch of young people.

I don't understand why people would choose to sit on a scorching hot sidewalk in the middle of a heatwave and beg for money.  People have been camping out next to garbage cans on Dundas and on Yonge Street.  We have had 30 days over 30 degrees this month too, so it's been extremely HOT.  I have been precariously employed for the past 5 years but I would never consider doing this so I am not sure why so many think this is a solution.  I know that government assistance doesn't really work but there must be a better way to solve this problem.

At the same time as some of these guys are sleeping on the sidewalks I was given some of these treats for FREE while walking around the area.  I got Hummus, chip and the Gummies while walking by Ryerson.  I got Brookside bars at a brand activation at Yonge Dundas Square and a Matilda fan while walking down Yonge Street.  I also got a sample of ice cream from a New Ice cream place because they were late opening.  I got all of these free things within a couple of weeks.

     

 There really is no shortage of free food in Toronto if you are out and about.  Lot's of brands hand out samples around the city and at food events.  While I was getting these things all of the "street people" were sitting or sleeping on the sidewalks just a block away.

So what exactly is the problem?  They hold up signs that say they are Hungry.  Is that the problem?  Like I said there is plenty of "Street Food" in the city.  Mostly in the summer but there are lot's of times that brands do activations in high traffic areas year round.  I have told the story before where I tried to help a guy saying he needed money for food and tried to give him a $10 cafe gift card and he just blew me off and only kept it after another passerby told him to.

I really thing the problem is JOBS and HOUSING.  If you aren't a professional most jobs don't pay enough to support living in decent housing in the city.  If rent starts at $1000 a month for a bachelor apartment and you are working a minimum wage job you just have no money for anything else.

You are supposed to spend 25% of your wage on housing but I can tell you that 75% of my current wage is going to my housing and I am not living in a fancy house.  I live in a one bedroom apartment in an old building and not even in the central downtown area.  I have had to give up my car and haven't been able to do a lot of the things I used to be able to do.

It's getting tougher and tougher to get by living in a big city.  The second part is the Job situation.  In Toronto more full time jobs have been lost over the past year than it has in the past 30 years.  I haven't had a permanent job in years and most jobs that used to be permanent are now contract jobs so that employers don't have the extra cost of benefits.  You have no guarantees on steady employment anymore so it's really tough to be able to plan a budget or to be able to pay your bills consistently.

I saw these 2 guys in this tree covered laneway behind the Eaton Centre.  They were at least in a shaded area but this is no way to live.  It's bad for these people and it's bad for the City of Toronto.  In a city as developed as ours this problem seems to be getting bigger and bigger.  I do not want to see our city like the cities in the U.S. where there are huge homeless areas where there are high crime rates.

What can we do to solve this problem?  Some of these people just need to learn that they are in control of their life and this street living isn't the solution, while others need help with drug and alcohol addiction and others need help with affordable housing and others need a decent job.

If you see someone that clearly needs help you can call *311 and they can send someone out to assist them but for how long?   I called last winter when a guy was consistently sleeping on Richmond Street during sub zero temperatures.   He was gone for a few days but back again a week later.  For some this is their choice.  They prefer to be on the streets than in shelters.  I don't think shelters are the answer but I think a new version of affordable housing is.

I also don't think giving a guy a loonie on the street is going to solve his problems.
Actor Colin Farrell tried to help a guy and gave him money and it didn't stick but when he took him to an outdoor store and got him hooked up and then paid his rent for a year I think it finally helped the guy get back on his feet.  Short term is not the answer a long term solution is but how do we collectively make it happen?  Do our votes for politicians make the difference?  or is there another solution?

Some of the things other countries have done:

1. Small houses where homeless people can sleep, shower and eat for a small fee.
2. Fridges outside of restaurants where homeless people can get the unsold food from the restaurants.
3. Mobile trucks with showers that homeless people can use to take a shower
4. Dress for Success and other charities provide clothing for people that need the proper attire for interviews.
5.  There are a number of organizations that hand out backpacks with basic toiletries and things like socks.
6.  Second Harvest collects leftover foods from restaurants and has events to raise money for programs year round.
7.  The Stop/Food Share has kitchen training programs for people in need.
8.  Habitat for Humanity provides housing to people that put in volunteer sweat equity hours.
9.  If you are hungry you can volunteer at a food festival.  They will most likely feed you for your time.
10.  A library card will give you a place that is air conditioned and the use of a computer and you can get Linda.com online training for free.  There are also other job finding events at the library.

There are a lot of agencies around cities that provide some help but I think there needs to be a way for these people to find out about and get to these programs.

Everyone is a "SITUATION" away from being homeless these days so we need to find a way to make a change.

Kultura brings the Philipines to TO

For the second year in a row I attended the Kultura Filipino Arts Festival on Sunday August 7, 2016 at Nathan Phillips Square in downtown Toronto.  

It is in it's 11th year though and has grown from a small BBQ in Kensington Market.


This year it moved from Yonge and Dundas Square to more space at Nathan Phillips Square.  It’s a festival of Filipino foods, arts, crafts and music with a marketplace of local vendors.

There are a lot of stereotypes about Filipino food and the Filipino community, I know because I have heard them from a few people.  I have been to a couple of Filipino restaurants for Blogger dinners and both were very different experiences.  One was traditional and one was modern. Both were incredibly hospitable and the food was very distinct.

Although there was a lot more room I think there were a few less food vendors.  It was a very hot day with a high UV sun rate and I was wearing black so I only sampled the 4 dishes that were up for an award in the Chef Challenge because I was too hot to stay longer.  They are all $3 dishes that each vendor creates to make an affordable bite of food for the attendees.  With a passport you receive when you purchase food tickets you are then able to choose which Chefs dish you preferred.

The list of participating vendors and their dishes were:

KANTO by Tita Flips (Reigning Champ): Cabcab (Cassava Wafers) (bottom left)
LAMESA Filipino Kitchen: Pork Neck Inasal (top left)
MERIENDA: Pandesal with Ube Cream Glaze and Coconut Jam (bottom right)
TITO RON’S: Filipino Spaghetti Hotdog (top right)

I had to wait a really long time for the Cabcab because they couldn’t get their fryer to work but in the end that was my favourite bite.  The flavours were great and worked very well together.

There are a lot more Filipino restaurants in the city but the participants were some of the most popular and well known around the Filipino community and experienced in the street festival world too.  One of the longest lines was at Kanto for the popular rice, egg and meat dish.  I guess the only full meal available but they had a hard time keeping up with orders.  They also make the tasty Turon which is plantain wrapped in wonton wrappers and fried and coated in a caramel sauce. I have had these before and they are really yummy.

 It's over for this year but I hope it returns with more vendors next year and you have a chance to try the food but you don't have to wait a whole year because Lamesa has a restaurant on Queen Street West, Tito Ron's has a spot in Kensington Market, Marienda is located in the quickly growing Filipino community at Bathurst and Wilson and Kanto is located on Dundas St. West.

I'm sorry I can't write about the rest of the vendors and the entertainment at the festival.  I was pretty focused on the thing I know best....the Food.

If you haven't tried Filipino food then take the opportunity to go out to one of these restaurants and sample a few things and decide for yourself what Filipino food is.

UPDATE:   LAMESA wins the Street Food Chef Challenge with their Pork Neck Inasal and they also win a trip to the Phillipines.  Congratulations Lamesa team.

New Restaurant Opening - The Kathi Roll Express

I had the pleasure of attending a blogger tasting event at the newly opened teeny tiny little space called The Kathi Roll Express on Avenue Road just north of Lawrence Avenue.   This is the second location for the busy but enterprising Delhi, India native,  owner Sumit Kohli.   

After years of working in all sorts of desk jobs and travelling around the U.S. and the World always searching for food that he had when he lived in India and never finding the popular Kathi rolls that are common in Delhi, India so he decided to open his own restaurant in downtown Toronto and gave up his desk jobs for good.  His first location is located on Yonge Street in the middle of downtown Toronto.  It is a 32 seat restaurant that is licensed.  I visited his second and newest location a teeny tiny little take out spot located on Avenue Road in North York.  He said he chose the location because he would come from Milton and get off at Avenue road and drive downtown by taking Avenue Road and he always liked the area.  Although there is one Indian restaurant on Avenue Road it isn't a take out restaurant and isn't in the same style as this one.


When you walk into this location you are met with a lot of creativity on what seems to be a small budget.  The shop is painted a bright orange and there is a Bollywood poster on the wall and the tables are all painted in fun graphic illustrations.   The chandelier is made from colored milk crates.  It's so creative and fun.  

Now to the food we sampled the following:

Appetizers
Chat Papri & Pani Puri
Main Course
Kathi Rolls - Shami Kabab, Butter Chicken Tikka, Paneer Shaslik
Curry's - Paneer Lababdar, Dal Makhani and Lamb Rogan Josh
Sides - Naan
Dessert -  Milk Cake

My favourites among the tastes that we tried were the Butter Chicken Tikka Kathi Rolls, the Panneer Lababdar with the fresh Naan Bread that was so light and delicious.


The appetizers were very interesting and tasty too.   A crispy shell filled appetizer with tamarind and cilantro sauces over chick peas and a Indian Style nacho type of street food dish with potatoes, round crackers, the cilantro sauce and a bunch of other things added to it that I can't remember.

I also tried Goat for the first time and it was amazing.  It was very tender with a milder than expected flavour.


 We are all very full and shared a spoonful of the Milk Cake dessert just to try it.  It's a butterscotch flavoured dense cakey consistency.  Very nice flavour, sweet but not overpowering.

He also imports India soda that is a copy of North American sodas with different names.









And as a cute little added gift he sent us home with some very Indian inspired T-shirts. This is the one I got.

You can get Kathi Rolls, think of it as an Indian Burrito or wrap and an assortment of curries and appetizers but you can also get the raw skewered meat to take home and cook it up on your own BBQ or in your own kitchen and impress your friends with the scent of Delhi in your kitchen.
Now I need to go and check out the larger downtown location and see what that one is like, but I am happy that I am only one highway exit away from the Avenue Road location so when I feel like some Indian street food I can dash in at any time.

For more info you can follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @tkretoronto or check or
check out their website for their menu and addresses at www.thekathirollexpress.com

Event - Taste of Manila

I think the Taste of Manila may be the last Street Festival that I am probably going to visit this summer and unfortunately it didn't end on a high note for me.

This was the first year for the Taste of Manila festival which was located on Bathurst street at Wilson Ave in North York.  This area has turned into little Manila over the past couple of years.  In the past it was mostly Jewish or Canadian born residents.  I don't know what causes areas to shift so dramatically in a few years but this area certainly has.  I used to hang out at the Country Style Donuts Coffee Shop at the corner of Wilson and Bathurst when I was in high school because a few of my friends worked there.  There was a whole different culture in that area back then.   Times have changed.

Ok enough history, back to the present day and this inaugural festival.  I really love street festivals for the fact that you can walk around and try different things and talk to people you may never meet otherwise.   But not all street festivals are created alike.   Some are run by people that understand logistics and crowds and some just wing it.    This one felt like a just wing it type of thing.

I usually like to give a festival in the first year the benefit of not knowing what to expect but there were a bunch of things that were set up really dumb for this festival.  

And here's my list of what not to do when setting up a street festival.

1.  Don't have a bunch of useless booths taking up space close to a stage where people could actually sit or stand and watch the entertainers performing on stage.

2. Useless booths that hand out useless pieces of paper that just end up on the street or in overflowing garbages.

3. Politicians setting up useless booths that are manned by representatives handing out useless Vote for ........ pieces of paper or trying to get you to come to their side.  I don't go to street festivals to talk to politicians representatives.  You have a million debates for that.  Don't waste limited festival space for nothing and waste money on stupid paper materials that just end up in the garbage.

4.  Garbages.  It seems to me that there are never enough garbages for these things...  Maybe a solution would be to set up a booth at the entrance and give people re-usable containers for wet and dry foods and special logo cups and cutlery that people might actually keep and re use another time.  It would certainly help lessen the landfill burden after one of these festivals.   Eg. the wine and cheese shows give out wine glasses that people take with them or they can leave them and they get recycled.   I am not suggesting glass at a street festival but think interesting tupperware style containers.

5.   Music,  back to the entertainers... please move the stage far away from vendors so that people can actually hear what the vendors are saying and people that want to hear the entertainers can hear the entertainers.

6.  Closing of streets.... sometimes I agree with Rob Ford on this issue.  I don't think this new festival was publicized enough to prepare a lot of people in the area for the partial street closures in what is normally a festival free area.   What I found dumb was that they closed off the south bound lanes only and used the north bound lanes to go north only...   here's an idea... why not move the whole festival to Earl Bales Park where there's nobody around to cause Gridlock.  Better money might be spent in building an area just off of Bathurst for special event parking and an area for vendors to set up for special events... people can get off buses and walk in and room for people to drive and park and not tie up the streets.

7.  Size and Logistics. The size of the street festival and the spacing of the vendors.  This festival as I said was set up using 2 southbound lanes of street on Bathurst Street that ran through the length of about 3 blocks.   Why not move it away from an intersection instead.   There is open grassland on the other side of Wilson where vendors could have also been set up.  It's unused park space.
Having back to back vendors in one long row creates overlapping, confusing and long lineups for food.

8.  Seating.  There were some tables set up way at the north end of the festival row but it seems that people just sat on the curb and wherever they could find a spot.  Thus causing more congestion and the trail they leave behind.

9.  Vendors -  There should be guidelines for vendors.  The vendor I waited in line for had a buffet line that took up 2 booths but it was hard to tell that it was the same vendor.  There are a few things when it comes to the vendors that came up with this experience.   Combos... clearly state what you get in those combos please.  One item, 2 items, only certain things... what?  Menus..  It would be really nice if some of these vendors would learn from some of the smarter food truck vendors who have large chalkboard signs outside of their food trucks.   The smart ones place them away from the lineup so that people can read the menu before stepping up to order their food and be prepared for what they want and how much it will be.   Here's the sign that was placed at this particular booth with the buffet style set up.   You need to be standing in front of it or have binoculars to see what's on it from the lineup.   And it might be nice if you put a description on things that are ethnic dishes that people might not be familiar with.   One dish I saw was a banana leaf wrapped something.  It might be nice to actually write on a menu what's inside instead of having to keep asking while tying up the lineup.   I stood in this line for probably about a half an hour.  I think I ordered and was done in less than 5 minutes but I am sure just trying to ask what stuff was made the line longer.  I get that you might not have the money to make fancy signs... Go to Dollarama and buy some bristol board that is mounted on foamcore and find someone with nice writing to draw your menu.  It might cost you less than $5 including markers.

10.  Containers, utensils and other things.   After lining up for a half an hour I was given a black styrofoam container with 3 items in it which was then placed in a plastic bag.  I was told there was a fork in the bag.  I walked away to where the tables were and took it out and no cutlery or napkins inside the bag.  I would have preferred to skip the bag and gotten the utensils to be able to actually eat it.  The take out box contained some noodles, a beef stew and a bbq meat stick.  The stick doesn't need a fork but noodles and rice need a little help.  This takes me back to maybe providing reusable things.   How about charging $5 for the re-usable things and then donating some proceeds to an environmental group.  hmmm there's an idea.

Ok that's probably enough for now.  I am sure if I think about it I could come up with a bunch of ideas that might help some of these street festivals.  Hey, how about a dedicated area in each municipality for a street festival that let's people still get to and from them.  We want people to still run their businesses don't we?  Let's find a way to keep people able to get to them.

This festival was certainly not catering to me and my culture as it pretty much leaned to a Filipino crowd with some of the signs not even being in English and the vendors seemed to cater to newly immigrated Filipinos.   But I do live in North York and I would have liked to try some of the food from a few of the Filipino vendors but I just couldn't do anymore than the one vendor.  I don't know enough about Filipino food to know where to go get some in Toronto where it's authentic and good quality so these street festivals should be a way for people like me to try new foods from new vendors that we might be able to frequent at another time.

Ok so one last thing... How was the food?   Well having only had food from one vendor it's hard to give a good picture of all of the food, but I can tell you what was common and how the food I purchased tasted.   What was common was a lot of meat on a stick.  Loads of smoke all over the place with ladies spraying water on the meat and creating smoke stacks around their booths.   You could smell the BBQ for miles.  Great if you like meat on a stick.  Luckily I do.  I had one skewer of meat that was really tasty.  I also had some noodles that were ok but not amazing, and a beef stew kind of dish that was a little sauce of a can tasting, but the beef was pretty tender.


I didn't see very many original things and a lot of vendors were just selling flea market junky things.

While this post is mostly negative it is not only directed to the Taste of Manila but a lot of other street festivals that have been clogging up all of the Toronto streets this summer.

Recommendation:  If you are Filipino and miss your family and food from back home you will probably love to go to this street event.   If you travelled to the Phillipines and loved your experience you might like this festival to see some entertainers and have some of the food.

But... be prepared for lineups for food and trying to figure out how to get there and navigate your way through the crowds.

Tip:  Don't bring strollers if you can help it...  that is my tip for almost All street festivals where there are large crowds.   Taste of the Danforth is a good example of that tip.

I hope that some festival organizers read this post and see what it's like from an attendees perspective and from my point of view of someone that has been to many of them this summer.

T&T Waterfront Night Market - Event

It seems like there are more and more Street Food Festivals popping up in Toronto these days that it's hard to keep up with them all.  I literally had to squeeze in checking out the T&T Waterfront Night Market after a meeting and before a dinner party on a Saturday night a couple of weeks ago. There were back to back food festivals competing all weekend.

This was my second time going to the T&T Night Market so I knew what to expect this time around. The first thing you get hit with when you enter the gates to the parking lot of the T&T store is the smell of smelly feet or something.  It's a bit off putting if you don't know what it is.  Luckily the first year that I went I saw a news report about it and knew to expect the Smelly Tofu scent that wafts around different stalls at the market.  This year it was the first stall you walk by on the way in so you really couldn't miss it.  There were also a couple of other vendors making it as well so you were bound to smell it a lot.   I ran into my friend at the market and she kept saying "What's that smell", she didn't know about the Smelly Tofu I guess.  I had tried it the last time I went to the night market so I knew exactly what it was.  It doesn't taste the way it smells luckily.  It's just fried Tofu and they add different sauces on top depending on the vendor.

 What I like about this festival is that it's not like any of the other street festivals in the city and the only other street festival like it happens in Markham where there is a large Asian population.  This event was brought to Toronto by the T&T market to duplicate Night Markets that happen in Asia where small street vendors have pop up stands selling all kinds of meats on skewers and all kinds of seafood and other small bites and a lot of hand held food.  Seeing it in Toronto is a little shocking for the first time.  The smells, the smoke, the food you see that you don't see anywhere else around town.  You do feel a bit like you are transported to an Asian Street Night Market.

What it is also great for is for people that have immigrated from Asia and miss foods they might have had there and the feel of where they came from.   For people from Toronto it's a chance to experience something different.  Try some interesting foods they might never have tried before like the Smelly Tofu or Taro spirals or even the Pancake I tried that was delicious.


I really love these festivals because they are free to get in and you can sample as much or as little as you like.  It's meant for the adventurous eaters. If you are looking for hot dogs and hamburgers you are in the wrong place. Because I was on my way to a dinner party I couldn't eat as much as I would have liked to try.

I had a chicken skewer, the Okanomiyaki pancake and I shared the Taro spiral with my friend.

These few things filled me up quite a bit but I was really enjoying taking these photos of all the food and the vendors.  It's the kind of place that hits all of the senses.

The only thing that changed was the parking.  Once again the getting there and parking was the difficult part.  They had a parking lot right across and they charged $5 the last time I was there but for some reason I  paid $10 for a different lot on the other side of the T&T lot but I could redeem the ticket for a fan at T&T but I didn't bother to do that.  I guess there way of getting you to shop in the Store.

I am not sure why the other lot was closed but it created a jam up of cars looking for parking.  I got there when it opened on the Saturday about 5pm and stayed for a couple of hours.  By the time I left there were throngs of people getting off buses and huge family groups and friends walking towards the event.  The last time I went I waited in long lineups for some of the foods so I knew to go early this time and get there before it gets crammed with people.

If you love seafood and things on sticks, this is the perfect event for you.  The prices of most of the foods are fairly reasonable as well.
For people like me that can't venture over to Asian to experience the authentic Night Market this is the next best thing and saves on the pocket book and the packing.   Look out for the Markham Night it Up or the T&T Waterfront Market next summer if you are a food adventurer.

T and T Night Market - street food in a parking lot

There are a whole lot of food events happening in Toronto this summer and one of the ones I check out on Friday night was the T and T night market.  This is the 3rd year of the market.  I missed last years but went to the first one.  It's pretty amazing what they have accomplished in 3 years.

If you are young and Asian or even a family there are things for you to do there.   Do you like Asian Street foods?  They got that.   Do you like Chinese Dragons and Lions?  They got that.   Do you like Asian movies?  They got that.   They even have live music and a kids play area and other vendors too.   All this takes place in the T and T Supermarket parking lot.

Be prepared to line up for some food if you don't get there early.  In the first year I think I waited an hour and a half to get some beef skewers.  They were tasty but it was a long wait.

The first thing I had when I arrived, and I got there just after it opened, was the STINKY TOFU,  No I am not exaggerating.  That's that they call it and that's what it smells like.  That's the smell you will smell all through the parking lot so be prepared if you are sensitive to smells.

I had this last time and I think there are differences in the vendors because some seemed to serve it with different sauces.  I had a chili sauce and some kind of sweet sauce.  I think there were better ones but I had enough of the one I had so I didn't try any others.

One of my favourite things that I try and get when I am in Chinatown is the Chinese Waffles.  They are little round waffles instead of the usual square ones.  They are so good when they are hot out of the waffle iron.

Another popular thing at the market was Tempura shrimp wrapped in potato strings on a stick.   Things on a stick were the trend of the market.

There were BBQ's set up all over the place grilling all kinds of meats, lamb, beef and even squid and some other things.

It's a great community building event and something to experience if you aren't familiar with Asian Night Markets.  This seems to be catching on in Toronto because it was jam packed and there seems to be a few night markets popping up in the city now.  Anytime you can have a diverse food experience without leaving town it's a good thing.