Bake Code opens in North York

I woke up to Breakfast Television's Jennifer Valentyne saying that she was at the new Fusion Bakery Bake Code at Yonge and Sheppard this morning.  I knew it was opening this September as I have walked passed it and have seen the signs in the past couple of weeks.  It's taken over the former Second Cup space on the west side of Yonge Street.  I got up quickly and got ready to pop over for some fresh buns.  That's always a good thing.  They gave out $5 and $20 gift certificates to the first 100 people to get there during the BT live eye.

I got there just in time and used my $5 gift certificate to get a Brulee croissant and had that for breakfast and I got a Pork bun for my lunch.  I also picked up a passion fruit ice tea.

Bake Code is a European and Asian fusion bakery where you can find soft Asian buns with all kinds of flavours from sweet to savoury and also croissants and other baked goods.

They had samples of each of many of the different kinds of buns and the food was flying off the shelves.  They couldn't keep it stocked fast enough for all the BT viewers like me that dropped into the store.

I live in this area so I can tell you that there isn't anything like this in this area.  There are no bakeries so the only bread you can find is at grocery or convenience stores so there is never anything bakes fresh around this area.  This place is a great addition because you can grab a bun for breakfast, lunch or dessert and they are joined with Chatime so you can get a tea or coffee too.

It's similar to a Furama but a a touch of Dominique Ansel with French techniques and creativity.  I tasted a few really great things like the Brule croissant and a Pizza bread and a herb buns and a bunch more.

Their GRAND OPENING is September 17th at 10am.

I don't know if I will have a chance to be there for the ribbon cutting but if you can I think it would be worth checking it out.

Event - Buskerfest on Yonge Street

Toronto Buskerfest the annual street event benefiting Epilepsy just wrapped up this past weekend.  I dropped by the first day to check things out before the weekend crowds showed up.  It also started raining when I got there so I am sure that drove a few people away.  It rained, it stopped, it rained, it stopped and then it seemed ok for the rest of the night.

Buskerfest used to take place around St. Lawrence Market but it grew so large that they had to move it to a bigger spot so they moved it to Yonge Street.  It runs from about College down to Richmond Street on Yonge Street.   While it makes it a lot easier to get there by subway for people it's not so great for drivers trying to get around the area.  I do prefer it to the St. Lawrence Market area though as you can pop into other things like coffee shops or other along the way.

I strolled the full Yonge Street route looking for interesting things to see and food to eat naturally.

Some of the usual street eats were hot dogs, lemonade, fries, blooming onion, funnel cakes etc.

I have seen the Saucy Pierogi booth at a couple of events but didn't have a chance to try their food before.  I can only eat so much at one time.  I would never win a food eating contest that's for sure.   The rain just stopped for a minute so I got an order for pierogies with bacon, sour cream and onions with a gruyere sauce.  I just got my order when it started raining again... I ran for cover under a glass overhang at the Eaton Centre and chowed down on the pierogies.   Kind of a weird buskerfest eat but it was dinner for me.  It was very good.  I really liked the cheese sauce.

The only other thing I had other than 2 trips to Starbucks was a stop at the Funnel Cake Booth.  This was the first time I ever had a funnel cake believe it or not.  I never had enough room to squeeze one in after eating savoury foods.   This time since I only had pierogies I had the room.   I kept it simple though and only had the standard icing sugar and added caramel sauce and cinnamon.   I guess it's similar to a churro when you think about it.  I sat and ate that on the side of the street while watching one of the performers who called me and a few others out for not clapping because we were eating.  Uh huh... gotta eat.   It was really good but considering the calories it's something that I wouldn't have very often but it's probably less calories than the blooming onion I bet.   That was enough food for me..  time to walk around and take photos.   It was kind of a nice easy workout for me walking back and forth on Yonge street at my own pace.   I chose to go by myself this time so that I could see everything and walk around at my own speed and leave when I had enough.   I sometimes find it stressful to go to these things with a bunch of friends because everyone has a different attention span and interested in doing different things.  I have been to Buskerfest in the past with friends.  This was probably the least stressed way to do it.   Minimal crowds and room to walk around and loads of time.

Buskerfest is a great street festival to bring kids because it's like a roving circus with lot's of entertaining things to see.   For someone like me that likes to take photos of colorful and interesting things it's also a great destination.  Lot's of photographers out taking photos of all the colorful costumes and fire jugglers etc.

Buskerfest advice:   Wear comfortable shoes,  bring an umbrella, make sure you have lot's of change for buskers and donations and for the food eats too.

Ditch the strollers if you can on busy days.....   and don't forget the sunscreen on the sunny days.

If you are looking for healthy food this is the wrong place to go but everything in moderation as they say.

Have fun and enjoy the Buskers.