There’s (Tasty) Magic in the Fair
November 8th 2010 - Posted in events and festivals, Food, The World at Large, toronto
Comments Off 
Okay, it’s sort of the same thing every year – but there’s something about the Royal Winter Fair that just makes us so excited. Sure, there are parts we don’t get, like why many of the food competition winners are hidden away in the Upper Annex where most people never see them, and how McDonald’s has weaseled their way into the Journey to Your Good Heath section (sure, they pay lots of money to be there, probably, but come on!).
On the other hand, for ten days every November, the Royal is where city and country come together in a celebration of Ontario’s harvest – from giant pumpkins to many varieties of apples to jams, corn, produce and some of the most beautiful animals you’ve ever seen. Those cows bathed and fluffed up like giant teddy bears will one day be someone’s dinner, but not before they’re bedecked with ribbons to show just what good quality beef they really are.
Greg and I once had this idea to do an anonymous blog about events and restaurant openings. We were going to call it Hors D’oeuvres For Dinner and it was going to chronicle the weird and bizarre things we find ourselves at while writing for TasteTO. Like the event at the hotel where the PR lady was in the lobby having a nervous breakdown because the hotel didn’t shut down regular restaurant service for the media event and she couldn’t tell the paying customers from her media guests. Or the things where you show up, expecting dinner based on the wording of the invitation only to end up eating a couple of canapés and too much wine (hence the title). We never followed through with it because we figured everyone in the food community would eventually figure out it was us, and because we already get in enough trouble for calling people on their crap as it is. But sometimes, there are events so bizarre or “fail” that they need recounting. This is one of those.
As a teenager, I was a huge Cyndi Lauper fan. I loved her music, wanted to look like her, and for a year or so in high school, modelled my wardrobe after the outfits from the videos for her album She’s so Unusual.
