Toronto Taste 2009 – Good Eats in Pictures

Fabulous whitefish sandwiches from Epic at the Royal York.

We came, we saw, we ate.

Second Harvest’s Toronto Taste fundraising event was, by our observation, a resounding success. Spread out over Cumberland Street and the Village of Yorkville Park, over 30 of Toronto’s top restaurants, as well as a number of wineries and breweries, offered samples of their finest fare. While tickets were $225 a pop, attendees were offered unlimited food and drink, plus the opportunity to rub shoulders with some celebrity chefs including Michael Smith and Mark McEwan (anyone who lingered too long at the One booth could also have earned themselves a cameo in an upcoming episode of McEwan’s TV show The Heat), not to mention event host and TV personality Carlo Rota. It was wonderful to see attendees dressing up (I was tempted to start snapping photos of cute outfits as well as the luscious food) and even a little bit of rain didn’t put chefs or guests off their game.

Here is a collection of pics taken by Greg and I throughout the evening. There wasn’t a lot of signage or a list of who was serving what, so some of the food porn doesn’t have a chef or restaurant attached to it. Apologies in advance to the chefs who I haven’t been able to match to their food. If you were there and can identify the chef/restaurant of the mystery dishes, please let me know.

Finally, thanks to the organizers for such a fabulous event, to all the chefs and restaurants who made it a true feast for the senses and to the many, many volunteers who went out of their way to ensure that guests had forks and napkins and clean plates. Congratulations to you all – truly a job well done!

Sustainable shrimp gazpacho from Michael Smith.

 

Do not feed the chefs! Martin Kouprie of Pangaea plots an escape.

 

This was a fabulous steak and lobster canape from Far Niente. Topped with hollandaise sauce – one of our favourites of the evening.

 

Loved these little sardines on crisps from Chiado.

 

Millcroft Inn wins for the best display. Check out those antlers.

 

Smoked salmon lolly with asparagus chaser from Oliver and Bonacini at the Board of Trade.

 

Yes, Michael Smith is very tall.

 

Ice cream and berries from Pangaea.

 

Mark McEwan and a tray of seared tuna.

 

John Higgens of George Brown Chef’s School; the students are serving up a rhubarb crumble.

 

Frank Romano from Far Niente prepares to brown the hollandaise on his surf and turf dish.

 

We called this the fishing boat. A seafood salad with shrimp and squid.

 

The hungry crowd.

 

Tiny cupcakes from Dufflets.

 

Salmon cured in Blanche de Chambly beer from beerbistro.

 

Donna Dooher gets down to business.

 

Brad Long, artfully arranging pea shoots.

 

The staff of life at Ace Bakery.