(Image: Jenna Marie Wakani)

On Wednesday, 550 Toronto foodies and philanthropists gathered in the Wychwood Barns for What’s on the Table, the annual fundraiser for The Stop Community Food Centre. The sold-out event featured 35 food and drink stations representing a staggering array of top Toronto restaurants, including Canoe, Scaramouche, Niagara Street Café, Parts and Labour, Jamie Kennedy Kitchens, C5, Ruby Watchco, Noce, Cowbell, George and the Gabardine, with desserts from Frangipane, Nadège and Soma, and drinks from Steam Whistle, Henry of Pelham, Frodpond Farm and Château des Charmes, among many others, not to mention two contestants from season one of Top Chef Canada. The event, which also included a pair of auctions, one silent and one live, raised over $340,000 to support The Stop’s mission of increasing everyone’s access to good food through its food bank, drop-in centre, after-school programs, urban agriculture initiatives and more. Check out our gallery of the dishes, chefs and guests from the night »

Eat well and feed the hungry along the way—that’s the concept behind the annual What’s on the Table benefit being held this year on November 2. Since 2005, the fundraiser has gathered $1.5 million for The Stop, the innovative community food centre whose goal is to increase everyone’s access to healthy food (check out our interview with chef Chris Brown from shortly after he joined The Stop). Dining stations open at 6:30 p.m., and patrons won’t be starved for choice; the event features offerings from over 30 chefs, including Lynn Crawford of Ruby Watcho, Anthony Walsh of Canoe and pâtissier Nadège Nourian (see below for the very impressive full list).Ticketholders with a little extra money burning a hole in their pockets can bid on a number of prizes in the live and silent auctions, including a week in the Turks and Caicos Islands and jewellery from Tiffany. Sponsors Cave Spring, Flat Rock, Château des Charmes, Henry of Pelham, Stratus Vineyards, Frogpond Farms and Steam Whistle are providing the drinks.

What’s on the Table, November 2. 6 p.m. $225. Wychwood Barns, 601 Christie St., wott.thestop.org.

Returning chefs:

• Bertrand Alépée—The Tempered Chef
• Rocco Agostino and Matthew DeMille—Pizzeria Libretto
• Chris Brown and Scott MacNeil—The Stop
• David Chrystian—Victor
• Elena Morelli and Guido Saldini—Aria
• Andrew Mackenzie and Andrew Hunter—Buddha Dog
• Ted Corrado—C5
• Mark Cutrara—Cowbell
• Donna Dooher—Mildred’s Temple Kitchen
• Claudia Egger—Frangipane
• Keith Froggett—Scaramouche
• Jamie Kennedy—Jamie Kennedy Kitchens
• Matt Batey—Mission Hill Winery
• Nick Liu—Niagara Street Café
• Giorgio Taluri—Noce
• Lorenzo Loseto—George
• Matty Matheson—Parts and Labour
• Albino Silva—Chiado
• Jesse Vallins—Trevor Kitchen
• Scott Vivian—Beast
• Anthony Walsh—Canoe
• Ruth Klahsen—Monforte Dairy
• Cynthia Leung and David Castellan—Soma

Newcomers:

• Jason Bangerter—Luma
• Lynn Crawford and Lora Kirk—Ruby Watchco
• Top Chef Canada competitor Todd Perrin—The Chef’s Inn
• Brad Long—Café Belong
• Patrick McMurray—Starfish
• Graham Platt—The Gabardine
• Nadège Nourian—Nadège
• Matthew Batey—Mission Hill

On select Wednesday nights starting May 11, chefs will pit their hand-made sausages against those of their competitors. For $25, guests will receive a Sausage League 2011 menu, including the evening’s two competing sausages, and additional sides (we’re guessing Steam Whistle will be heavily represented, since they’re sponsoring). At the end of the meal, diners will get the chance to vote on which sausage reigns supreme. The chef who wins moves on to the next round until the final three-way showdown, which takes place September 28. Frankly, with Top Chef Canada currently airing, we couldn’t be more primed for the intra-Toronto restaurant competition.

Below, the schedule of Sausage League 2011 events taking place at Marben from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Reservations recommended.

Round A:

May 11: The Hardbord Room vs. The Drake Hotel
June 22: The Stop Community Food Centre vs. Table 17

Round B:

May 25: Marron Bistro Modern vs. C5
July 6: The Healthy Butcher vs. Trevor Kitchen and Bar

Round C:

June 8: La Palette vs. Parts and Labour
June 27: Torito vs. Pizzeria Libretto and Enoteca Sociale

Semifinals:

Aug 10: Winners of Round A
Aug 24: Winners of Round B
Sept 21: Winners of Round C

Finals:

Sept 28: Three-chef contest with winners from Rounds A, B and C

Marben Restaurant, 488 Wellington St. W., 416-979-1990, marbenrestaurant.com.

(Image: Jon Sufrin)

With the recent arrival of such hot spots as The Hideout, Tattoo Rock Parlour and Barchef, the Queen and Bathurst area has seen a boom in late-night hangout options (with the notable exception of the  Bip Bop Big Bop’s closure). But a few steps north on Bathurst used to mean immediate entry into a nightlife dead zone. At least, that was before Adrian Ravinsky and David Stewart opened 416 Snack Bar on Monday, bringing with them a cosmopolitan menu of palm-sized grub options.

The two business partners met years ago as bussers at Ferro. Since then, they’ve become true front-of-house veterans, having undergone serving or managing stints at such venues as Brassaii, Buca, Gilead and more. Now, at 416, they’re trying their hands at menu creation in the space formerly occupied by burrito spot Johnny Banana Johny Banana. “We’re sort of hastily trained chefs,” Stewart admits, but it’s certainly not obvious from the effort put into their eats. It probably helped, too, that Grace’s Dustin Gallagher provided his services as mentor.

For $4, customers get several bites’ worth of a pork belly bun, the meat of which is cured for a week, submerged in duck fat for three or four hours, then deep-fried until crisp. It comes on a steamed bun, made in-house, with hoisin sauce, pickled celery, pickled ginger and watercress as garnishes. The Napolitano pizza pocket ($4) offers vegetarians a miniature panzerotto filled with mozzarella, basil and San Marzano DOP tomato sauce. Other petite highlights include a grilled hot dog ($3) and a Jamaican beef patty filled with braised short rib ($3), both also made from scratch.

The beer selection includes such local favourites as Duggan’s Number 9 ($6), Hoptical Illusion ($6.50 a pint) and Steam Whistle ($6); the wine list is VQA heavy, and the liquor selection steers clear of candy booze. All of that, plus the antique-heavy decor, make for a venue that’s reassuringly worthy of the name.

416 Snack Bar, 181 Bathurst St. (at Queen St. W.), 416-364-9320, 416snackbar.wordpress.com.

Anthony Bourdain at his book signing at Massey Hall (Image: Renée Suen)

Toronto chefs and foodies, take note: Anthony Bourdain, the reformed bad boy of the culinary world, beloved potty mouth and host of the Travel Channel’s No Reservations, will be featuring Toronto on his show. Bourdain made that announcement on his book tour this week when he stopped in at Massey Hall to promote his follow up to Kitchen Confidential, Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook. The globetrotting professional eater and drinker entertained and dazzled admirers during his 90-minute performance, downing bottles of Steam Whistle pilsner and drawing upon material from his memoir. Bourdain graciously entertained banal questions during the event’s short Q&A and took time to applaud Beast’s Scott Vivian, who catered the post-show VIP book signing. However, it was his announcement of bringing No Reservations to the city that drew the most hoots and hollers from the packed house.

The former chef noted that it was Vivian and a group of the city’s chefs—including Anthony Rose (Drake Hotel), Mark Cutrara (Cowbell), Nick Liu (Niagara Street Café) and Zane Caplansky (Caplansky’s Delicatessen)—he met at an event organized by Toronto Life contributor Ivy Knight (host of 86 Mondays) the evening prior that helped tip the scales in favour of Toronto. Bourdain informed us in a follow-up meeting that while season seven’s roster was already spoken for, Toronto will be in the lineup for season eight.

Catching up with Vivian after the show, we were told that Bourdain never truly considered bringing No Reservations to Toronto due to a lack of recommendations from chefs he met in Vancouver and Montreal, the only Canadian cities featured on the show to date. In response, Vivian noted the city’s interest in nose-to-tail dining, collection of small mom-and-pop restaurants, and ethnic neighbourhoods. “I wanted to let him know the food scene in Toronto is real. I told him I would be honoured—would love—to take him around and show him some cool places. Before he left, he shook my hand and said, ‘I look forward to making television with you.’”

More T?: Twitter gains popularity among T.O. foodies

Chefs and restaurateurs across the city are heading into the Twitterverse in a big way. Since our last roundup of Toronto foodie feeds, the popularity of the on-line service has exploded, with Grant van Gameren, Anthony Walsh, Dufflet Rosenberg and many more joining the fray. We find ourselves addicted to the culinary dispatches from these local epicureans (unlike most inane tweets that detail what’s for dinner). Here, our latest guide to who’s tweeting what.

• Black Hoof’s chief of charcuterie, Grant van Gameren, knows how to get followers hooked. He recently tweeted that he’ll offer a free dish to a lucky customer every so often. The rules? Van Gameren will tweet a special code (along with the name of the dish) on random days at 6 p.m. The first customer to mention the code to their server wins. [The Black Hoof on Twitter]

• Frequent tweeter chef Anthony Walsh from Canoe mostly chronicles the dinner service—surprise, it always ends well!—as well as his culinary travels throughout the province. When we last checked in, he was about to taste Jersey bull. [Anthony Walsh on Twitter]

• Twitter addict and apparent scuba diving enthusiast Martin Kouprie of Pangaea loves to chat with just about everybody in cyberspace, whether it’s food related or not (which is often the case). Recent topics include Iggy Pop’s ugliness and the possible extinction of sharks. [Martin Kouprie on Twitter]

• Over at the Distillery District, dessert destination The Sweet Escape keeps their feed full of daily cupcake specials and new concoctions. Does it qualify as food porn if there aren’t any pictures? [The Sweet Escape on Twitter]

• Ossington hotspot Jezebel Burlesque owner Giancarlo Spataro would like the Twitterverse to know that the club will be holding open auditions for its shows. For what it’s worth: Spataro also follows the cast of The Hills. [Jezebel Burlesque on Twitter]

• Pizzeria Libretto frequently tweets about new ingredients and dinner specials. Starting today, they’ll be testing out a “locally inspired” four-course, $25 prix-fixe menu. [Pizzeria Libretto on Twitter]

• The city’s darling baker, Dufflet Rosenberg keeps a low profile with less than 70 followers (we’re sure that’ll soon change) and starts off every update with the words “sweet tweet,” followed by photos of her newest treats and general news about her bakery. [Dufflet Rosenberg on Twitter]

• Newbie tweeters at Mildred’s Temple Kitchen keep their pancake-centric tweets cute and funny by comparing their fluffy flapjacks to UFOs or incorporating them into the evil queen’s chant from Snow White. The resto doesn’t update often, but they’re always 140-character gems. [Mildred's Temple Kitchen on Twitter]

• The Tea Emporium will make individual tea suggestions when requested by their followers and share lovely photos of, what else, tea. [The Tea Emporium on Twitter]

• Restaurant Makeover star and occasional tweeter Lynn Crawford keeps followers up-to-date on the status of her new cooking show and posts a the odd 140-character recipe. [Follow Lynn Crawford on Twitter]

• The Royal York Hotel reports on its rooftop bee hives and how the resident queen is faring—that is, once one sorts through the deluge of tweets about local attractions. [Follow The Royal York on Twitter]

• The all-encompassing account for all things Canoe, Jump, Biff’s Bistro and Auberge du Pommier, Oliver and Bonacini keeps people in-the-know about chef appearances, menu changes and specials that can’t be found on the restaurants’ Web sites. [Follower Oliver and Bonacini on Twitter]

• King West bistro Brassaii keeps it professional with tweets on daily specials and menu changes. Among the notable users the restaurant is following are Global TV news anchor Leslie Roberts, General Motors and a fake Kim Kardashian. [Brassaii on Twitter]

• The guys at Steam Whistle Brewing are busy tweeting about their newest promo campaigns and sponsorship events. Still, considering it’s a widely known fact among Torontoians that free beer can be had at their Roundhouse headquarters everyday, what else do we need know? [Steam Whistle on Twitter]

• Of course, Torontolife.com and Daily Dish are also on Twitter. Followers get our regular food, events and style dispatches, as well as notification of when new material goes up on our site. [Toronto Life on Twitter]