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Michael Stadtländer has rallied 100 of the best chefs from across Canada to participate in Foodstock, an epic, pay-what-you-can public food event on October 16 to raise money to fight the construction of a huge limestone quarry in the town of Honeywood, Ontario. The Highland Companies’ plan aims to span 2,316 acres of land and run 189 feet deep (deeper than Niagara Falls), and will have to pump 600 million litres of groundwater out of the pit each day (about the same amount used by 2.7 million Ontarians), all to extract crushed stone known as amabel dolostone.
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We stopped by the inaugural Food Truck Eats and found a revolution in the making
At 3 p.m., the lines continued unabated. (Image: Renée Suen)
Saturday marked the inaugural staging of Food Truck Eats, a street food event organized by Suresh Doss, publisher of Spotlight Toronto, which saw four street trucks and 10 vendors gather at the historic Distillery District. Although a conservative turnout of 500 was expected, more than 3,000 showed up for the long-weekend event (which ended up trending on Twitter). Despite the heat and long lineups, the crowd was abuzz—a sure indication of the city’s readiness for more liberal street food rules. We caught up with the various vendors—Cava, Geoff Hopgood, El Gastrónomo Vagabundo and more—to check out their wares and find out what they made of the day’s success. We also spoke to Doss, who gave us the heads-up on the next two events, which will take place at the on Aug. 20 at the Distillery and Oct. 1 at a new location to be announced, and will feature some surprise guests.
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New summer food truck event fuels hopes for a Toronto street food revolution
Niagara’s El Gastrónomo Vagabundo will be one of the trucks on site at the July 2 event (Image: Suresh Doss)
Steeltown might have beaten us to the food truck race, but three special events starting this summer are laying the groundwork for a decent street food culture in Toronto. Starting this July, Food Truck Eats will host food trucks and street food stalls featuring some top Toronto chefs in a bid to free up chefs from the substantial legal and health concerns associated with street-side operations. We caught up with Suresh Doss, the event’s organizer and the publisher of Spotlight Toronto, for the details.
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Just Opened: Marben trades in the onyx for oh-so-popular reclaimed wood
Carl Heinrich with a companion in the newly redesigned Marben (All images: Karon Liu)
Splendido did it, then Centro, then Brassaii, and now Marben. Sure, they’ve all been renovated, but more specifically, they’ve all received make-unders.
Back in March, Marben auctioned off bits and pieces of its former self, including the famous glowing onyx bar, in order to make way for understated pieces, vintage fixtures and reclaimed wood. General manager Sarah Evans says the Wellington West restaurant’s overhaul was meant to lighten up the place and make it known for its food rather than its scene (Brassaii cited similar urges). Still, with the restaurant open until 2 a.m. every day and Bavette—a separate downstairs party space—set to open at the end of the month, Marben isn’t retiring from the revelry. “The city needs a rowdy restaurant,” says Evans.
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Food Wars: Montreal 14, Toronto 1
We want Terrence Henry’s job. The Atlantic has asked him to explore North America in search of our continent’s best farmers, brewers, butchers and chefs. The goal is to create a map of the most innovative artisanal food around—not the fussy five-star stuff that usually gets reviewed. While we support his mission, we were surprised to see that Henry’s Google map presently lists only one stop in Toronto (at Lai Wah Heen). Once we compared that to his Montreal itinerary—14 planned tastings!—our surprise turned to competitiveness. We think no North American culinary tour would be complete without sampling Ruth Klahsen’s chèvre, say, or Colborne Lane’s liquid nitrogen ice cream. Or Ryan Donovan’s charcuterie from Cowbell. Or the fukiyose platter at Sushi Kaji. Or Marc Thuet’s bread. Or the bold chocolate concoctions at Xococava.
Oh, the list goes on. We encourage readers to post their favourite local innovations, too, both here and on The Atlantic’s site. After all, he said he was looking for suggestions.
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