Want to do your part to feed 700,000 people and have a great time while you're at it? You need to experience Toronto Taste!

As Mother Teresa once said, "If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one." Well, Second Harvest is in fact planning to feed a very ambitious number of people - 700,000 to be exact - with the money it hopes to raise at this year's Toronto Taste.

And boy oh boy, does  Second Harvest know how to throw an amazing party - if you haven't gone before, you MUST mark Sunday, May 27th on your calendar, get your tickets, and make this the year that you go!  And if you have gone before, go again - it gets even better (is that possible?! It's already so good!) every year. It really is surreal, being indoors and outdoors at the Royal Ontario Museum and rubbing shoulders with 60 of the best chefs and 30 beverage purveyors, tasting all the food and drink that they have to offer,  participating in the various auctions with some of the best items we've ever seen, enjoying live entertainment, and just knowing that you are part of something bigger - you are part of an initiative to rescue excess food and provide more than 700,000 meals to those who need them desperately. It feels good just SAYING it! Imagine how it feels when you're THERE! It really is a ton of fun for an amazing cause. And it's hosted by Food Network's Bob Blumer and Food Network Chef and recording artist Roger Mooking - this has "fun" written all over it :)

We were there last year and we will be there again this year - we absolutely adore Toronto Taste and we look forward to seeing you all there!

Yours in food, 

-Stacey

Toronto Taste: THE food & beverage event of the year (and for a good cause to boot!)

Mark and I were lucky enough to be Official Roving Twitter Reporters for Second Harvest's largest fundraiser, Toronto Taste, and it was a BLAST! If you do only one charitable thing next year, make sure it's Toronto Taste - it was a ton of fun for a great cause!

Since the first Toronto Taste 21 years ago (then known as Taste of the Nation), the event has raised over $4 million, enabling Second Harvest to secure enough fresh food to deliver over 8 million meals to those in Toronto living with hunger. That’s enough to feed almost every one of Regent Park’s 2,045 families with children three square meals a day for a whole year.

As it's held at the Royal Ontario Museum, the ambiance was great - with the way it's set up, you get the best of both worlds - food and drink were served up by 60 top chefs and 30 beverage purveyors both inside and outside the ROM. There was live music plus a ton of opportunities to win great prizes through a raffle as well as via live/silent auctions.





While we certainly didn't get around to every chef and beverage purveyor (you couldn't possibly in just one night!), we had a couple stand-outs to share:

• Brisket burger with kimchi from Nota Bene
• Cider-braised pork belly from Epic
• Mushroom polenta from Scarpetta
• Chicken lollipops in a mayo-spice sauce covered with Indian rice puffs from Roger Mooking which we paired with a Rickards White with the help of our friend Steve Riley from Better Beer.com
• Salty Chocolate Caramel from Xococava (served by men walking around with old-style candy boxes strapped to their chests no less!) and washed down with a Henry of Pelham 2008 Riesling
  
• Ricotta orange donut with candied orange and cardamom orange smoothie shot from Pangaea
  
• White chocolate mascarpone meringue with strawberry sauce from Baker Street

We also learned, again from our friend Steve Riley at Better Beer.com, how to taste beer. Check out the diagram to the left or visit his site to find out more!

Food and beer pairing


Roger Mooking drops in

Like I said, if there is just one charitable thing you do next year, make it Toronto Taste. You will not be disappointed!

Yours in food,
-Stacey