Normally, the north building of St. Lawrence Market is the focus of local food only on Saturday mornings as farmers and food producers fill tables with all things edible and Torontonians descend upon the place in search of tasty treats. This past Tuesday evening, the market building was a bastion of local food again as a number of chefs and wineries offered samples of their wares as part of An Evening of Local Cuisine, one of the many events put on by The Green Carpet Series.
Attendees had the opportunity to wander the space sampling food from local restaurants that had been paired with wines from Ontario wineries. Participating chefs and restaurants included Chef Ben Heaton from Globe Bistro, Chef Marc Breton from the Gladstone Hotel, Chef Nathan Isberg from Coca, and Chef Anthony Rose from the Drake Hotel. Participating wineries were Henry of Pelham, Frogpond Farm, Flatrock Cellars and Vineland Estates Winery.
For the non-wine drinkers, Mill Street Brewery and Steamwhistle Brewing were on hand with samples of locally-brewed suds. There were also samples available from The Healthy Butcher, The Big Carrot, Everdale Organic Farm, Merchants of Green Coffee, Real Food For Real Kids and WWF, who were handing out pumpkin stencils just in time for Halloween.
The main feature of the event was definitely the Sustainable Chef competition, hosted by TV personality Gil Deacon, and judged by a selection of folks including Trish Magwood of Dish Cooking Studio and musician Sarah Harmer. Chef Jamie Kennedy gave a keynote address before two teams of chefs working with local and organic ingredients battled it out. The team of Joshna Maharaj of The Stop Community Food Centre and Brook Cavanagh of La Palette ultimately beat out the team of Chef David Wolfman and food writer Kathryn Borel.
The Green Carpet Series host events throughout the year that focus on green living. Previous events have included a fashion show and this is the second food-related event they have produced.
