Gourmet Food and Wine Expo 2016-Pride Night Social VIP Night

The 22nd Annual Gourmet Food and Wine Expo 2016 took place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre bringing together restauranteurs, wine, beer and spirits makers, food producers, culinary experts and food lovers for four days. FE attended the Thursday opening Pride Night Social, sponsored by TD which celebrated the LGBTQ community.

gourmet food & wine show 2016

Amazing performanceswere provided by drag queens and pop/dance singer Simone Denny. The were a lot of activities on the show floor and so much to drink and eat. There were tutored wine tastings hosted by wine experts like Zoltan Szabo. Trend Central tasting stage had seminars on wine, beer and spirits. Some of them were on culinary mixology, wines of South Africa and Germany, InterVin Awards( the top 3winners were Wolf Blass, NK’MIP Cellars, and Trius Winery ).Samplings from Victoria Distillers and EastDell wines also took place. .The Gourmet Urban Market featured Ontario food producers who sampled turkey, veal, and sheep dairy products. Gastropost Chef Stage had lots to watch including hourly cooking demonstrations on oyster shucking ( presented by Oyster Boy), Filipino cuisine seminars, veal sandwich competition judged by celebrity judges like John Catucci of the foodie tv show ” You Gotta Eat Here”, and the NOW Magazine Top Chef competition ( which featured Chefs Ivana Raca, Sonia Mondino, Trevor Lui, Michael Hunter , Rob Bragagnolo, and Doug McNish). Grand Tasting Bar had premium wines ( such as Jasper Hill Georgia’s Paddock Shiraz 2010, Veedha Douro red wine, Charles Tory AOC 2013 and Pitars Merlot Doc Friuli Grave) available for serious wine enthusiasts. Canadian cheese counter had seminars on cooking with cheese and samples of the best cheeses made in this country. The Chef and the Dish had instructors from Italy, Japan, New Orleans and Charlotte sharing their regional recipes through Skype to local chefs who then prepared the dish for the attendees.The Mott’s Best Caesar in Town national finals had competitors competing from across Canada. The Spiritology Pavillion had exciting cocktails available to try out and to learn how to make as well.

> We visited many of the show floor booths and had fun a lot of fun. Liko’s Hawaiian BBQ cooked up SPAM Musubi; a Hawaiian favourite which had grilled SPAM on top of a block of rice wrapped in nori dried seaweed. Hot Mamas had a line of spicy sauces, jellies, and seasonings. Chateau Spill removed red wine stains from fabrics, Campbell’s Everyday Gourmet soups were delightful. Cannoli Queens had various flavors like black cherry cheesecake. Alacran Tequila Blanco made in Mexico was unique. Volpi offered nitrate free cured meats. Pommies cider was very refreshing. Cottage Country Dip’s skinny dips were made from cottage cheese and were available in flavors like onion and garlic, bacon and kale, and habanero and lime. Three Little Pigs were all natural pâtés. Healthy Crunch kale chips came in various flavors like mock cheese, chocolate and banana and chipotle. We sampled authentic Bajan rum punch featuring Mount Gay rum. Krave beef jerky was tasty. We discovered Five Stones Sauvignon Blanc vegan wine from Australia. Sabana’s Queso Fresco cheese was Canadian cheese with a Latin twist. Laura Secord had a decadent chocolate cream liquor. Dadu Ice Cream from Russia was mixed with Riga Black Balsam from Latvia to form an interesting dessert. Matcha poppy seed bubble waffles are very exciting to try.