Food

Festival Schedule

Friday September 28

Brazilian Night with Bossa Nova–a fundraiser for The Betinho Project

Gladstone Hotel 1214 Queen Street West
7:30 pm, Admission $15

Brazilian national hero and former Toronto resident Betinho worked to end hunger; the Betinho Project sustains his connection to this city.
Ticket information:

September 29, October 13, October 20

Street Food Pilot Project Featured Event

Details TBA (check alphabet-city.org for updates)

The street food pilot project–organized by Multistory Complex–offers a taste of what Toronto's street food could be like. Sample delicious and diverse street food - nothing over $7! With partners FoodShare, The Stop Community Food Centre, and the Brickworks. More partners and site locations to be announced.

Saturday 29 September

Good Food For All Festival

The Stop Community Food Centre
1884 Davenport Road West (at Davenport & Symington)
12-3 pm
Admission is free

Food workshops, free food samples and live music by Brian Macmillan, Nine Mile, and Michel De Quevedo. The kidzone will include a bouncy castle, whimz live animals, activities by Real Food for Real Kids, crafts, and face painting.

Sunday, September 30

Earth! Global Harvest Traditions

Kensington Market
1pm to 7pm
Admission is free

The latest in a series of Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market celebrating community, culture, and ecology.

Solar delights from Brook Kavanagh

Kensington Market (across the street from La Pallette, 256 Augusta)
3 to 6 pm
Only 20$ per person!
Contact chefbrook@hotmail.com or call 905 484 2389 for questions and reservations.

Revel in seven-course tasting menu by chef Brook Kavanagh of La Palette, Served hors d'oeuvre style right on the street. All ingredients obtained from local farmers. Some dishes completely cooked using passive solar power.

Eat the City

Kensington Market
1pm and 4pm (meet at the corner of Nassau and Augusta)
Admission is free

A guided weed walk with the guerrilla gourmet through laneways and hidden places in Kensington Market to harvest food, herbs and teas.

Wed 3 October

Festival Grand Opening Featured Event

Mayor Miller's Proclamation on Local Food at Nathan Phillips Square

Presented in partnership with the Toronto Food Policy Council
South end of Nathan Phillips Square (this event has been moved from the Rotunda)
10am; free admission and free food

A live trumpet fanfare by an 11-piece orchestra will introduce Toronto Mayor David Miller, who will read his Proclamation on local food, while chef Brook Kavanagh of La Pallette restaurant serves up free and tasty (and locally sourced) treats. Also featured: a photo exhibition of images by Laura Berman–who has documented the work of Toronto’s food organizations–and the launch of Alphabet City's FOOD book.

The Official Dinner Featured Event

by Drake Hotel executive chef Anothony Rose and Leisure Projects
Drake Hotel Dining Room
Doors open 7:30 pm, ticket price $69 (includes four-course dinner, one glass of wine, and a copy of the FOOD book; does not include tax and gratuity). Reserve seats by calling the Drake Hotel at (416) 531-5042 extension 113

Montreal curatorial team Leisure Projects collaborated with Drake Hotel executive chef Anthony Rose to create The Official Dinner. Emulating the atmosphere of official Canadian entertaining, especially the Royal tours of the 1950’s, the evening will include an exhibition, a sumptuous dinner, surprise guests, and a performance by Quartetto Gelato. The menu for the event, designed by Drake is inspired by official meals of the past such as Queen Elizabeth’s Lunch aboard the Britannia.

Thursday 4 October

Ontario Food Terminal tour

7:30 am (Time to be confirmed; check alphabet-city.org for final details.)
Drop-off and pick-up outside the Drake Hotel (1150 Queen St. W.)
Admission is free to those with a copy of Alphabet City’s FOOD book

Travel to the OFT by chartered bus and get an insider’s tour of the facilities with Alphabet City authors Pierre Bélanger and Angela Iarocci. Only 30 spaces available. First come, first serve, so please be early. Bus leaves at 7:30 sharp. No cameras allowed.

Exhibition Opening Street Food Vending and Design

Design Exchange, 234 Bay Street
6pm, admission is free. Exhibition runs from Sept 25 to Oct 16

The results of a national street food vending cart design competition organized by Multistory and Lorella Di Cintio will be announced and exhibited.

Exhibition Opening Diana Shearwood, Behind the Mall Featured Event

De Leon White Gallery
1139 College Street (College and Dufferin)
7pm, admission is free
Gallery hours: 10 am to 6 pm M-F
Runs to 14 October

A photographer obsessively pursues all manner of food trucks, resulting in a stunning series of images.

Saturday 6 October

Exhibiton Opening Eat Me Featured Event

CONTACT gallery, 80 Spadina Avenue, Suite 310
2pm
Runs to Oct 30

Exhibition includes Dean Baldwin’s Attempt at an Inventory, showing the artist’s photographs of (almost) everything he ate and drank over the course of a year and Sian Bonnel’s Scenic Cookery landscapes rendered in peas and mashed potatoes, corned beef, and more.

Exhibition Christine D’Onofrio, Smarties

David Mirvish Books, 596 Markham Street
runs through October

Oral-erotic pleasure plays out on smarties candy Runs to October 30

Tuesday 9 October

Design Duel @ Drake Hotel Underground

8 pm

Mason White of Lateral Architecture sets three design firms a time-limited task: build a food terminal building, live onstage, from a buffet of all-food materials. Who will win first prize?

Friday 12 October

Sabor!

Doors/Dinner @ 7pm

 585 Dundas West (a block and a half west of Dufferin)

Salsa at Lula Lounge with Café Cubano
Food and music are inextricably linked in the salsa tradition. When the band is really cooking, the singers will call out "Sabor!" or "Que Rico!" - to indicate that at the music at that point is especially rich and flavourful. Café Cubano–one of the most respected groups in Toronto’s latin music scene–presents a potent blend of dance-floor friendly salsa, and high-energy showmanship. With singer Yani Borrell and percussionist Junior Urbaez, Cafe Cubano is lead by music director/pianist Betancourt and featuring Yankar Gonsalez on trombone and Jalodan Ruiz on timbales.

Beginner salsa Lesson @ 9pm
Café Cubano @ 10pm and 12am
$15 or $54 dinner, dance lesson and show package (dinner reservations guarantee seating).
416 588-0307 or lula.ca for menu and entertainment details

Saturday 13 October

Harvest Family Fun Day at Evergreen Brick Works

550 Bayview Avenue
Farmers’ Market: 8am to 1pm
Fun Family Activities: 10am to 4pm
Admission is free

Celebrate the harvest season in style. Indulge in delicious local eats and join in the fun with pumpkins, workshops, games, a straw bale maze, and live music. Help us bring nature back to cities: take the FREE shuttle bus, walk, cycle, or carpool. Leave your waste at home; bring a shopping bag & a re-useable cup.

 Find out more: www.evergreen.ca.

Sunday 14 October

Guerrilla Gourmet Dinner

6:30pm
Contact: maria@guerrilla-gourmet.com or 647.831.3377. $50 per person.
A copy of Alphabet CIty's FOOD book is included in the price.

A spontaneously brewed wild dining experience. Organic, locally grown, vegetarian meal shared with strangers in an intimate setting. RSVP is necessary.

Monday 15 October

La Divina: A culinary and musical experience inspired by the life and art of Maria Callas Featured Event

Drake Hotel Dining Room, 1150 Queen Street West
Doors open 7:30 pm, price $95 includes concert, four-course dinner, and wine (does not include tax and gratuity) Reserve seats by calling the Drake Hotel at (416) 531-5042 ext 113.

In partnership with the Consulate General of Greece, Alphabet City is delighted to present mezzo-soprano Ariana Chris–with pianist Melody Fader, flutist Louis Papachristos, and violist Nikos Papadakis–in a musical celebration of Maria Callas, followed by a four-course meal composed of La Divina's favorite dishes, created by Drake executive chef Anthony Rose.

Tuesday 16 October

World Food Day: The Right to Food Featured Event

Heaslip House, 297 Victoria Street, 10 am to 12 pm
Admission is free

Ryerson Responds to the Food Challenge: Join Ryerson University professors Mustafa Koc, Nina-Marie Lister, Pamela Robinson and guests in a 2-hour symposium that will engage in the challenges raised in Alphabet City's Open Letter on Food and explore the ways in which Ryerson research and education can promote, study and activate food security, edible landscapes, and local food diversity.

Exhibition Opening Growing Toronto's Foodshed Featured Event

School of Urban and Regional Planning
105 Bond Street
12:30 pm
Exhibition runs to 30 October
Admission is free

Architectural drawings, maps, and data analyses describe the reality and potential of Toronto’s foodshed. Includes works by Pierre Bélanger, David Carruthers, Chris Hardwicke, Angela Iarocci, Claire Ironside, and Nina-Marie Lister. Curated by John Knechtel.

Friday 19 October

grrrly gourmet

7pm; $75 per person
Contact: maria@guerrilla-gourmet.com or 647.831.3377. A copy of Alphabet City's FOOD book is included in the price.

Be prepared to have food on your face and leave with sumptuous skin. An edible spa night creating delicious body treatments. All supplies provided. A simple organic, locally grown, vegetarian dinner will also be served. RSVP is necessary.

Saturday 20 October

FoodShare Open House

90 Croatia St. (near Bloor and Dufferin)
Admission is free

Canada’s largest food security organization, FoodShare, holds a grand opening of its new food education and training centre, the first of its kind in Canada. Features speeches from Mayor David Miller and FoodShare Executive Director Debbie Field at 11 am, a fresh salad bar lunch and tasty treats at noon, and fun activities for the whole family from 1-3 pm. Also includes a silent auction (11am-2pm), the Good Food Market, local musicians, and delectable prizes.

AMUSE-BOUCHE Cabaret

Drake Underground
9pm, Free admission with a copy of Alphabet City’s FOOD book.

Food. Sex. Sensuality. Join us for Amuse Bouche, a cabaret of desire. Hosted by Chanelle Gallant, Amuse Bouche will explore the connection between food and body through burlesque, song, literature, acrobatics, and more. Includes readings by Margaret Webb, Russell Smith, Diane Mason, Jowita Bydlowska as well as FOOD book contributors Mei Chin, Maria Zajkowski, Ann Shin, and Nyla Matuk. Burlesque performances by members of TigerLily's Erotic Cabaret .Co-presented with she VISIONS Productions. Raffle proceeds to benefit Sheena's Place, a centre for people with eating disorders.

Festival Highlights

• The Street Food Pilot Project
• Festival Grand Opening
• The Official dinner
• Exhibition Opening Behind The Mall
• Exhibition Opening Eat Me
• La Divina: A culinary and musical experience inspired by the life and art of Maria Callas
• World Food Day: The Right To Food
• Exhibition Opening Growing Toronto's Foodshed

Downloads

NOW magazine insert PDF (643 KB)

Lead Sponsors

Organizing Committee

Organizing Committe: Megan Griffith-Greene John Knechtel, Joe Liu, Nyla Matuk, Carina Reeves, Caspar Sinnige, Aeryn Twidle, Lea Zeltserman