The First Ever Toronto Food & Wine Festival

FE attended the media preview for the first annual Toronto Food & Wine Festival held at the Evergreen Brickworks.

Formerly known as the Delicious Food Show, with new partner FOOD & WINE Magazine, the show had expanded, offering three days of foodie heaven. The show featured celebrity chefs and food experts including Curtis Stone, Tyler Florence, Chuck Hughes, Daniel Boulud, Gail Simmons, and David Rocco.

Some of the show’s highlights included: Diner en Noir presented by PC Black Label Collection, Heritage BBQ, Cochon555, Miele Celebrity Stage, Chef’s Talks, Exclusive Chef Series where guests could prepare dishes with celebrity chefs, the Grand Tasting Pavilion with over 130 stations to sample from, and the Ontario Pavilion showcasing wine, beer and ciders from across the province.

Our day began with cappuccino from Miele Canada and eggs and aioli buttermilk breakfast sandwiches from Cafe Belong. We then attended the Terroir master class with knife expert, Chef Kevin Kent who explained that knives are a chef’s best friends. He talked about his passion for handmade Japanese knives as they are sharper and stay sharp longer, resulting in blades that slide through food better.

After the master class, Judy Merry, VP of show producer Informa Canada and Joseph Messer, VP and Associate Publisher of Food  & Wine Magazine spoke to us about their excitement for the show. We were then introduced to Chef Roger Mooking who came along for the tour with us.

We later caught some of Chef Antonio Park‘s Terrior class on fresh fish and watched Chef Mark McEwan prepare for his Exclusive Chef class. Chef Brad Long met us along the way and chatted with us as well.

Then it was down to business at the Grand Tasting Pavilion where we sampled products from some of the vendors such as fresh bread from Ace Bakery, chocolate tastings from Green & Black Organic (loved the salted milk chocolate), Holy Cannoli, Mary Brown‘s shortbread, Mexican braised beef poutine from Beretta Kitchen, Ritrovo Selections Organic Apple Balsamic Vinegar, mini pop tarts from Toben Catering, PC Black Label lemon soda, green beans with popcorn from Hawthorne Food & Drink, and straight from the oven, margherita and mushroom pizza from Levetto Toronto.

It was a lot of fun attending the preview of the event. TFW15 was one fabulous experience. We are already looking forward to next year’s show.

Antonio Park

Brad Long and Judy Merry

Brad Long

Joseph Messer

Kevin Kent

Kevin Kent

Kevin Kent

Levetto Pizza

Mark McEwan

Roger Mooking and Judy Merry

(photos by Sari)