365 Things to Do in Toronto, St. Lawrence Market, Toronto, Toronto events, Toronto farmers' markets, Toronto festivals, Toronto food, Toronto neighbourhoods, Toronto restaurants

35. Visit The Wine Bar for Winterlicious!

February 4, 2011 Heikki Walden

February 4, 2011

Serving local artisanal food, featuring produce purchased directly from farmers at St. Lawrence Market, Winterlicious at The Wine Bar is nothing short of delicious! A $15 lunch or a $25 dinner are both fantastic opportunities to sample locally-sourced wares.

Whether you choose the wild mushroom soup with white truffle oil and thyme, the pulled pork poutine with Monforte goat cheese, BBQ sauce and green onions, or the organic shrimp bisque as your appetizer, you’re sure to enjoy unmistakably local flavours. Lunch mains include an inventive purple beet risotto, mushrooms and smoked chicken on toast, and an open faced beef cheek sandwich, while dinner entrees include a delicious wild mushroom polenta, seared wild fish, or grilled Miami ribs. Dig into dessert – whether you select the rum raisin bread pudding with crème anglaise, the Lindt chocolate mousse with maple chantilly cream, or the house preserved fruit crème brule with almond cookie, you’ll find the experience unforgettable.

To learn more about The Wine Bar, check out their website at http://9church.com/, and be sure to learn more about the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood by watching our video interview with The Wine Bar’s chef, Bryan Burke!

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34. Chinese New Year – Fourth Annual Chinese New Year’s Day 11-Course Banquet

February 3, 2011 Heikki Walden

February 3, 2011

What better way to ring in the Chinese New Year with an 11-course feast? Hosted by Culinary Historian, Shirley Lum of A Taste of the World – Toronto Walking Tours, you’ll have an opportunity to learn old and new customs and superstitions, receive tips on pouring tea and chopsticks etiquette, and most importantly, you’ll learn how to pace yourself as you enjoy an 11 course banquet!

Meet at 6pm at Taste of Chinatown Seafood Restaurant (at Spadina and Dundas) and savor authentic Chinese dishes such as shark fin and seafood soup; braised abalone with vegetables and mushrooms; double lobsters with garlic, green onions and ginger; Youngzho fried rice; and of course, fortune cookies! Start off the Year of the Rabbit on the right foot; book your place at this feast today at www.torontowalksbikes.com.

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33. The Free Screen: From Ecstasy to Rapture

February 2, 2011 Heikki Walden

February 2, 2011

Celebrating 50 years of Experimental Spanish Cinema, The Free Screen: From Ecstasy to Rapture, finishes its run at the TIFF Bell Lightbox with Iván Zulueta’s Arrebato.

Described as a “raw, personal and unquestionably strange work,” Arrebato combines many of the techiniques for which Zulueta is well known, and addresses themes that mystified the director from an early age. Produced in 1980, this eerie film is rumoured to have almost collapsed because of the “drug-fuelled atmosphere of its making.” See Arrebato tonight at the TIFF Bell Lightbox at 7pm – admission is free.

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32. Visit Coppi Ristorante for Winterlicious!

February 1, 2011 Heikki Walden

February 1, 2011

Looking for some delicious Italian fare to brighten your Winterlicious experience? Look no further than Coppi Ristorante in Lawrence Park!

Serving natural and simple Italian cuisine since 1991, Coppi Ristorante’s dishes are “never adventurous but simple, never complicated but easy to comprehend, never too many spices, but one or two per dish.” This simple approach to food has commanded a popularity with Torontonians and tourists alike.

Enjoy a $20 prix fixe lunch menu, or a $35 dinner at Coppi Ristorante; choose an appetizer from selections such as the speck e pera (thinly sliced smoked prosciutto, served with sliced pear and goat cheese crostini) or insalata di finocchio e rucola (fennel and rucola salad with red pepper, pine nuts and pecorino cheese) and delight your senses with a delicious main such as salmone in padella (pan seared norwegian salmon filet with sauteed rucola and tomato and black olive salad) or tagliatelle al pesto di erbette (fresh tagliatelle tossed in a sundried tomato and herb pesto). Don’t forget about dessert! You can choose from the panna cotta agrume (citrus cream custard with toasted hazelnuts and mint pesto), tiramisu, or sorbetto al limone (lemon flavoured sorbet).

To learn more about Coppi Ristorante, check out their website, and be sure to take a look at our interview with restaurant owner Alessandro Scotto.

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31. A Passion for Dance, Opera and Dining

January 31, 2011 Heikki Walden

January 31, 2011

As part of the Winterlicious series of culinary events, Embrujo Flamenco Tapas Restaurant will host A Passion for Dance, Opera and Dining, “a brilliant combination of old music and traditional cuisine” from Madrid.

You’ll enjoy a gourmet, four-course meal featuring Spanish cuisine crafted from natural ingredients, while savoring the performances and sounds of the opera Carmen.

Dinner starts tonight at 7:30pm, and the performance continues until 9:30pm. Tickets are $69 plus HST and gratuity, and can be purchased by phone: call 416-778-0007.

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30. Come Up to My Room Alternative Design Event

January 30, 2011 Heikki Walden

January 30, 2011

As the Gladstone Hotel’s annual alternative design event, Come Up to My Room showcases the collaborative efforts of designers and artists as they transform 11 rooms and create 14 public space installations.

This year’s show is curated by Jeremy Vandermeij and Deborah Wang and features design talk events and curatorial tours. Curators select designers and artists based on their past work and experience, then turn over the exhibition space with little knowledge about what the finished piece will look like. By giving the artists and designers complete freedom, the final results are challenging, thought-provoking, and extraordinary.

Today is the last day of Come Up to My Room; exhibition hours are from noon until 5pm. Tickets are $10 for the general public. Tickets can be purchased on the Come Up To My Room website.

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29. Fort York Food Fight! Chef Competition

January 29, 2011 Heikki Walden

January 29, 2011

As part of this year’s Winterlicious, several “culinary events” can be enjoyed across the city, including “Eat Pray Lovealicious” (an Italian cooking class at the Bonnie Stern School of Cooking), Taste n’ Tour Casa Loma Marketplace (an opportunity to tour Toronto’s Medieval Castle while dining on rustic fare), and today’s Fort York Food Fight! Chef Competition.

Getting started at 1pm, the afternoon gets under way with an “intimate interpretive food tour of Fort York,” which will help participants to understand the diet of Toronto’s early days. After, join in one of two workshops: Eat Green Through the Seasons, in which you’ll explore the ecological benefits of seasonal eating, or Growing Food Indoors, a foray into the world of alternative gardening. Following the workshops, you’ll witness a “food fight” between two of Toronto’s top chefs, Ted Corrado and Scott Vivian. Their challenge will be to create and prepare meals incorporating a secret, 1812-era ingredient available in the old days of the Town of York. The winner will be heralded as the Fort York Food Fight Champion and will receive $2500.

Join in the fun and learn more about the culinary history of Toronto! Tickets are $30 including HST and gratuity; tickets are available by phone at 416-392-690 ext. 221. Visit the Fort York Food Fight! Chef Competition website for more information.

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28. Winterlicious

January 28, 2011 Heikki Walden

January 28, 2011

2011 marks the ninth annual Winterlicious, Toronto’s culinary prix fixe event.

This is your opportunity to try a selection of appetizers, mains, and desserts from some of the city’s top restaurants, from $15 to $25 for lunch menus, and from $25 to $45 for dinner menus. Whether you’re sampling butter chicken from Amaya’s Bread Bar; Wood Grilled Cumin Chipotle BBQ Lamb Ribs, Black Bean Sweet Corn Salsa and Duck Fat Frites at Fred’s Not Here or a Lemon Lavender Tart with Milk Chocolate Cream, Toasted Meringue and Amaretto Custard at Sassafraz, your taste buds will thank you for participating in one of Toronto’s most popular winter events.

Reservations started on January 13th and menus are up for viewing on the Winterlicious websites so plan your culinary triumphs – after all, there are only fourteen days to partake in this event – with 150 restaurants to choose from, you have your work cut out for you!

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27. Family Literacy Day

January 27, 2011 Heikki Walden

January 27, 2011

Here’s an event you can celebrate without leaving the comfort of your own home: today is Family Literacy Day!

Whether you have little ones at home and can encourage their literacy skills by reading to/with them, or whether you curl up on your own with a cup of tea and an engaging novel, take the time to participate in Family Literacy Day!

If you want to join with others to celebrate literacy, check out the Toronto Public Library’s event schedule, or take a look at ABC Life Literacy’s website for more information on special events and inventive ideas to get involved with Family Literacy Day.

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26. Hands-on Cooking Class: Winter soups and stews of Golden Orchard

January 26, 2011 Heikki Walden

January 26, 2011

Bring some Tupperware and mason jars along to St. Lawrence Market – your homework for this Hands-on Cooking Class is to eat your creations!

For $50/person, you’ll learn to cook some hearty and delicious soups and stews with produce from St. Lawrence Market’s own Golden Orchard Fine Foods, the first Market vendors to specialize in quality organically grown fruits and vegetables. Discover the delights of cooking with seasonal produce as you learn to craft “Murray’s specialty,” leek and potato soup, along with many other winter-warming delights.

The three hour class gets started at 6pm; pre-registration is required. Call 416-860-0727 or email kitchen@stlawrencemarket.com to register! For more information on this and other cooking classes hosted by the St. Lawrence Market kitchen, check out their website and calendar of classes!