Toronto Cider Festival

Festival:     Toronto Cider Festival
Date:          August 26, 2017
Location:   Sherbourne Commons at Sugar Beach
Price:         $30 per session

My friend won tickets for the Toronto Cider Festival and asked me to join her and normally Cider Festivals are not my thing but it was a really beautiful day and it was being held by the Lake at Sherbourne Commons at Sugar Beach so I thought at least it might be nice to hang out for a bit in the sun by the lake.

This compact little festival hosted 28 Cider Vendors and about 6 food vendors.  Although light on the food vendors for my liking it was in a relatively small area and it was all about the different Ciders.  I am not a Cider lover but I did sample a few of them.  The one that stood out to me was a Blood Orange Cider as you can see I am holding it in the picture on the right.

What I was surprised to find was how well it was set up and how fun it was.   With this silly little photo area set up for a contest my friend Natalie (Cooking Quidnunc)  and I had a bit of goofy fun and entered their contest,  she is disguised as an Owl that I am shooing away or you can look at it another way depending on how much alcohol you have consumed.

We didn't try much of the food except for the Oetker pizza samples, the apple crisp pairing and some snacks but they had a few food trucks serving up some tasty looking food like this taco that the person sitting on the benches next to us were eating.  They said it was delicious and it looked pretty nice from what I could see.

It was a more mature and chill crowd than I have seen at other beverage focused festivals and it really had a fun community feel.  Although we wished there was a bit more food vendors we ended up having a really great time.

https://www.torontociderfestival.com/

Royal Tea Party Events

Who:      Royal Tea Party Events

What:     Royal Tea Party Launch

Where:   Marche Restaurant - Toronto 

Why:      Launch of the New Tea Party Events Company

Date:      Sunday, March 26, 2017

A new company called Royal Tea Party Events launched their new company with a Free event held at the Marche on Front Street in Toronto recently.  I love Tea Party events because they are simple and inclusive.  Tea is something that people all over the world can have because it can be a simple cup of tea or a custom blended organic loose leaf tea that can be a lot more expensive.  All sorts of flavours for all sorts of occasions.  It's a very relaxing way to get together with people and talk about anything in a relaxing way.

I am no stranger to afternoon teas and Tea Parties so I was interested in this event.  There were 3 seatings which were an hour each.  A bit short but it was just a promotional launch so it was meant to showcase their Fine China and the concept of the company.  Royal Tea Party Events will bring their fine China to any location to set up a Tea Party for a group of 10-16 people.

You can have your own catering or they can arrange catering from their preferred caterer Marche.

With so many people living in small condos and not investing in fancy fine China sets it's a great way to have the experience without having to invest in the China or storage of it.

I attended with a group of my foodie friends and we used it as an excuse just to get together at a fancy quick event.  It was a lot of fun and oh so pretty.  It's a great idea for a little girl's Birthday Party or a Bridal or Baby Shower or a milestone Birthday even.  It would even be great for a corporate event to launch something important.

Fore more info and to book a consultation: www.royalteapartyevents.com

Email: info@royalteapartyevents.com

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/royalteapartyevents

Instagram @royalteapartyevents

Pinterest:  pinterest.com/royalteaevents

#royalteaevents

#myteapartyisbetterthanyours

*Disclaimer:  The event was complimentary but the opinions and photos are my own.

Toronto's Sustainable Dim Sum Festival

Sustainable Food has become a top of mind thing lately because at the rate we are consuming our food sources we will run out of food to serve the World by 2020.  We must find other ways to sustain our food industry.

I was happy to attend the 1st Sustainable Dim Sum Festival at Toronto's City Hall on March 8th.  It took place in the Rotunda of City Hall it was kind of fun walking around the large column in the centre of City Hall with a passport in hand trying all of the various foods with a sustainable aspect to them.  Whether it was a dumpling that mixed cricket powder with pork to meat and eggs provided by Organic local farms, to ingredients not used extensively.  

It wasn't all Dim Sum though, there were fantastic soups, an Asian meatball soup and a great chowder,  and from my Pork Ninja friends a meatball wrapped in bacon.  My other favourite restaurant Hawthorne Food & Drink had tea smoked devilled eggs and there was Tuna poke from Daniel et Daniel catering, they had a huge line up for their poke.

My favourite Dim Sum bites of the night included new restaurant Lake Inez's fantastic dumpling, I loved the flavour of it.  I also loved the legendary PIG MAC from Dailo.

Food Vendors:
Cafe Belong, DaiLo, Daniel et Daniel, Kana Snack Bar, Lake Inez, Hawthorne Food + Drink, Bruce Wine Bar, Saturday Dinette, Pork Ninjas, C-fu Foods, Centennial College
Meat, poultry and eggs are provided by Rowe Farms and Yorkshire Valley Farms

Beverage vendors:

401 Cidery

Beau’s All Natural Brewing Co.

Brickworks Ciderhouse

Mill St. Brewery

Muskoka Brewery

Walter Caesar

George Brown College (Mocktails)

There was also a Silent Auction and live painting.  The silent auction benefiting the Environmental Defence which all of the proceeds of the event were going to.

There was a lot of fantastic artworks on display at the event.

It was a fantastic event for the 1st Sustainable Dim Sum Festival and it was organized by experienced organizers Drink Inc. Events.   As you may know from reading many of my event posts I notice the attention to details at events and at this event I really liked that there was a free self serve coat check.  No waiting and no tickets.  They also gave you a wine glass, passport and wooden chopsticks when you arrived.  The chopsticks were for you to keep and the glasses were returned to the rental company so there wasn't a lot wasted.  There were volunteers ready to keep things tidy at the stand up tables.  The only thing I would have like to see would have been an area to sit down.  We were all dying to sit on the stairs by the column but there was limited space so I can understand why and it was only a couple of hours but it was tough juggling the wine glass, passport, plates of food and of course trying to take photos with my phone.  I think I need more hands.  

Overall it was a fantastic event and it was great to see so many local restaurants participating in creating sustainable food.  This must be the trend of the future if we want to have enough food for everyone.

For more info about sustainability:

http://environmentaldefence.ca/

Toronto has a new Coffee & Tea Expo

What:   Toronto Coffee & Tea Expo

Where: The Glass Factory. 99 Sudbury St. #1, 

                 Toronto, Ontario M6J 3S7

When:   Saturday, April 8th - Sunday, April 9th, 2017 

Time:     11:00 am - 6:00 pm. 

Starting on Saturday April 8th, Toronto coffee and tea lovers will come together to experience Toronto's top brews at the first annual two-day Coffee & Tea Expo. 

Guests are invited to celebrate Toronto's best indie cafés with fresh brewed samples while discovering new beans and recipes. 

Coffee and tea lovers will immerse themselves into café culture by blending their own tea flavours and voting on Toronto's best coffee and tea of 2017. 

Tickets for the first Toronto Coffee & Tea Expo cost $15 and are available now at 

https://torontocoffeeandtea.com.

August Food Events in Toronto 2015

AUGUST is a really busy month full of Stuffing Your Face opportunities.  So many street festivals and events to choose from.  I compiled a list of some of the bigger public ones but I am sure I probably missed a few too.

Aug 1-2

Toronto Food Truck Festival

Woodbine Park

http://torontofoodtruckfestival.com/

Aug 1-3

Pan American Food Festival

Daniels Spectrum

http://panamfoodfest.com/

Aug 4, 11, 18, 25
Twilight Tuesdays
Parkette at Drake One Fifty
http://www.drakeonefifty.ca/

Aug 5-9

Kultura Filipino Arts Festival

Yonge-Dundas Square

http://www.kultura.ca/

Aug 7-9

Taste of the Danforth

Danforth Avenue

http://tasteofthedanforth.com/

Aug 8

Lovin’ Local Food Fest

Yonge-Dundas Square

http://www.ydsquare.ca/

 

Aug 8

Toronto Vegan Food and Drink Festival

Fort York Garrison Common

http://www.veganfestto.com

Aug 8-9

The Roundhouse Craft Beer Festival

Roundhouse Park, 255 Bremner Blvd

http://www.craftbeerfest.ca/

Aug 8-9

Jerk Fest (Jerk Food Festival)

256 Centennial Park Road

http://www.jerkfestival.ca/

Aug 14-16

Waterfront Night Market

T&T Supermarket, Downtown Store
222 Cherry Street 

http://www.waterfrontnightmarket.com

Aug 15-16
Sweetery  Sweets Food Festival
Front & Portland
http://www.sweeterytoronto.com/
Free Admission

Aug 15-16

Festival of South Asia

Gerrard Street East between Coxwell and Greenwood

http://www.festivalofsouthasia.com

 

Aug 23

MexFest

Yonge-Dundas Square

http://www.ydsquare.ca/

Aug 21-Sept 7

CNE

Canadian National Exhibition- Exhibition Place

http://theex.com/

Aug 22-23

15th Annual Toronto Chinatown Festival

Chinatown - West side of Spadina Avenue (between Sullivan Street & St Andrew Street).
Spadina Avenue and Dundas Street West

http://www.chinatownbia.com/chinatown-events-68-15th-Annual-Toronto-Chinatown-Festival

Aug 21-23

Taste of Iran

World Cafe

Harbourfront Centre

http://tirgan.ca/event/taste-iran-1

Aug 22-23

Big on Bloor Festival

Bloor Street (between Dufferin and Lansdowne)

http://www.bigonbloorfestival.com/

Aug 23
Pintxos Toronto
Royal Bank Plaza
www.pintxostoronto.com

Aug 23
Coconut Festival Canada
David Pecaut Square
http://coconutfestival.ca/
FREE

Aug 27

Diner en blanc

Secret location

http://toronto.dinerenblanc.info/

Aug 27-30

Toronto International BuskerFest for Epilepsy

Downtown Yonge Neighbourhood (from College Street to Queen Street)
Yonge Street and Dundas Street

http://www.torontobuskerfest.com

Aug 28-30

Taiwan Fest

Harbourfront Centre

http://www.taiwanfest.ca/

Food Revolution Day Plans

This past weekend some of the Food Revolution Day Ambassadors in Toronto got together for Brunch to chat about all of our individual Food Revolution Day plans.

Food Revolution Day -  15 MAY 2015 

We have lot's of events leading up to the day and afterward.

This year we have a lot of different things on the go.

1.  The first one coming up is Dorothy Pang's Vegetarian Culinary Competition at Nella Cucina  on Bathurst Street in Toronto on Sat. April 25th.  I will be one of the judges along with fellow ambassador Carol Harrison.  

2.  Susan Ng will be getting my Grade 13 school Northview Heights involved on May 15th with some cooking classes.

3.  Mardi Michels and Mary Catherine Anderson will be hosting a parent and child hands on class at Royal St. George College on Food Revolution Day.

4.  Chef Mary Hulbert will do a cooking class for an after school program at St. Alban's Boys and Girls Club on Food Revolution Day.

5. Christine Barisheff will have events at Jean Augustine Centre for Youth Empowerment and also and adult event at Cirillos Culinary Academy.

6.  Jen Farr will be hosting a Food Revolution Day party at her home on May 16th.

7.  Carol Harrison is going to be doing a cooking demo with her kids on Rogers television and has plans to do some in school cooking classes.

8.  I will be doing my Wonky Veg cooking demo at Hendrix equipment on May 16th.

We all volunteer our time and couldn't do these events without the assistance of great partner sponsors.

Thank you to our Host venues:

• Hendrix Restaurant Equipment
• Nella Cucina
• Cirillos Academy
• Northview Heights SS.
• Royal St. George's College
• St. Alban's Boys and Girls Club
• Jean Augustine Centre for Youth Empowerment

We also rely on assistance for our food, supplies and prizes to make these events successful.

My sponsors include:

Sobeys for food donations and prizes

Fresh City Farms with generous support of fresh vegetables for the photo above, cooking demo and gift certificates for a prize draw. 

Good Food For Good for fabulous products for recipe demo and prize draw

Aroma Espresso Bar for having a special Food Revolution Day Special on May 15th which includes a Chopped Salad, Mediterranean Sandwich and a free Mint Tea.  They are also providing gift cards.

Other sponsors contributing to other Ambassador Events include:

Chef Susur Lee

A.Vogel

The Detox Market

An easy way for you to participate without leaving your chair is to Sign Jamie Oliver's Petition for Food Education here:  www.change.org/jamieoliver  Sign it!. and Share it!

For more information about Food Revolution Day on how you can join us check the website at:

www.FoodRevolutonDay.com

Follow the global hashtag feed #foodrevolutionday

and the Toronto team at #foodrevTO

Follow me @lindamatarasso on Twitter and Instagram

or Join the Toronto Facebook Page. https://www.facebook.com/FoodRevolutionDayToronto