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It’s been a roller-coaster ride the last two years, but the city is alive once again. And the next two months, with food festivals and markets galore, will be a prime time to get out to eat.
There are the usual big players to look forward to, but we also have a new crop of festivals and markets, many led by pop-up vendors and caterers formed throughout the pandemic. These new additions bring a mix of regional cooking rarely seen in restaurants before as well as creative interpretations of traditional cooking by the next generation of chefs.
This will be the summer to get yourself acquainted with the culinary talent that has been percolating over the last two years. Here’s where to get a taste of it all.
Saturdays from July 9 to Sept. 17, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., at 1856 and 1993 Keele St.
Sundays from July 3 to Sept. 25, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Eglinton Avenue West and Oakwood Avenue (Reggae Lane in Little Jamaica)
Vendors: 14 food and retail vendors for Keele Street and 16 for Little Jamaica
The Afro-Caribbean Farmers’ Market is a much-needed addition to the summer food landscape, focusing on foods catering to the city’s large Afro-Caribbean population.
Here you can find locally grown callaloo and okra, which aren’t available at many markets in the Greater Toronto Area. Food options include plates of jerk chicken, samosas, baked goods and cups of Blue Mountain Jamaican coffee.
This year, the market is expanding in size with room for food trucks focusing on Caribbean and Canadian fusion fare (think jerk chicken poutine).
The success of last year’s inaugural market in Little Jamaica led to a second market this year at Eglinton Avenue West and Keele Street.
Market organizer Lori Beazer said she hopes it will lead to the creation of more minimarkets around the city catering to the specific culinary needs of neighbourhood residents and leading to improved food access and support for local food producers.
The market also has what Beazer calls Callaloo Cash, credits that food insecure shoppers can use toward purchases there. “The market is very aware of low-income eaters,” she said. “So we’ve created something to lower that barrier and let people shop for the food they want with dignity.”
Date and location: Aug. 26, 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Aug. 27, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Aug. 28, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 1328 Barton Street in Winona, Stoney Creek (southeast of Hamilton)
Vendors: Over 100 food, drink and retail
The annual festival celebrating the almighty Ontario peach is back after a hiatus due to the pandemic.
What makes this standout compared to other summer festivals is that it truly feels like a county fair.
There will be standard carnival food like funnel cakes and hot dogs, of course, but as the name suggests there will also be peach pies, cobblers, milkshakes, sundaes and crepes.
And despite being run by local volunteer organizations, this isn’t a tiny operation: there’s a midway with more than a dozen rides that will make it worth the road trip. Try to see how far the view goes when you’re on a ferris wheel that’s not obstructed by condos.
Heads up that parking spots fill up fast, but in past years I’ve paid $20 to park on the property of one of the nearby houses (you’ll see a lot of signs for that). Or, if you’re coming by public transit there’s a shuttle from the Eastgate Square mall. Additional travel info is on the website.
July 1 and 2, 2 p.m. to midnight and July 3, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Splendid China Mall
July 29 to July 31, 2 p.m. to midnight; Aug. 1 noon to 6 p.m. at Bayfront Park (Harbourfront Hamilton Night Market)
Vendors: 50 food, drink and retail
Lucky Lion is one of the newer entries in the city’s food festival scene, focusing on East and Southeast Asian street foods.
As its name suggests, there will be lion dance performances put on by the Wushu Project, a local martial arts school. While the performance dates back centuries, these lions are outfitted with futuristic LED lights so get those camera phones ready.
Speaking of photo opportunities, over the Canada Day weekend, a replica Hong Kong taxi will also be parked at the festival for those who want a nice backdrop for their food shots.
Expect classic street food such as barbecued scallops, takoyaki, egg waffles, dumplings, whole grilled squid on a stick and mochi doughnuts, the latter quickly becoming a staple at food festivals.
Yosh.TO will be serving treats for the Instagram-generation such as a churro corndog and tornado fries with gravy and cheese (which is supposed to be a poutine on a stick).
Baan Authentic Thai Cuisine, which popped up during the pandemic, will be doing Thai dishes such as pad see ew and pad kra pao.
And, of course, an Asian night market wouldn’t be complete without the aroma of stinky tofu wafting in the air. Find it at Wei’s Stinky Tofu booth.
Date and location: Every Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. from July 23 to Sept.10, at 7 Queens Quay East (at Yonge Street)
Number of vendors: 50 food and drink
Brooklyn-based food festival Smorgasburg makes its Toronto debut at the waterfront this summer. Full disclosure: Suresh Doss, was hired to pick the food vendors and curate the menus — so if some of the vendor names sound familiar, it could be because you’ve read about them in these pages.
The food is a mix of pop-ups and small-scale caterers from across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, many of which will be serving downtown Toronto for the first time.
Market 707’s Little Sister Baking will have a new tapas-inspired Indian menu of spicy shrimp patties, savoury-sweet chickpea-filled palmiers and spicy rasam toast.
Scarborough-based Armenian bakery Mamajoun will be baking flatbreads to order with an on-site oven.
Hamilton-based Mamey will be doing Guatemalan tamales three ways: halal chicken; vegan black bean, sweet potato and corn; and cheesy pinto bean. Wash down your order with the coconut-milk horchata.
Slow Jams will be doing Filipino bar snacks including a lechon sandwich, kinilaw and beef empanadas.
Markham-based Japanese bread maker Iki Shokupan will be selling shrimp and beef sandos made with its fluffy milk bread (and will be selling whole loaves as well).
Chef Victor Ugwueke of Afrobeat Kitchen will be serving his take on Nigerian jollof rice, suya beef and a vegan vegetable-stuffed plantain.
For something sweet, Good Gang Ice Cream will be making ice cream sandwiches, rotating different flavours each week such as toast and gianduja as well as a skyr-flavoured ice cream.
Date and location: Aug. 5 (7 p.m. to midnight), Aug. 6 (2 p.m. to midnight), Aug. 7 (2 p.m. to 8 p.m.) at 179 Enterprise Blvd. in Markham
When the inaugural Night It Up! festival launched 20 years ago, it helped kick-start our obsession with East Asian-inspired night market festivals in Toronto. After a long hiatus due to the pandemic, the three-day festival is back.
No other market quite captures the spirit of night markets from East and Southeast Asia quite like Night It Up!
In festivals past, never-ending rows of food stalls presented a sensory overload of smells and tastes.
While the full vendor list for this year hasn’t been announced yet, judging from previous markets, you can expect to see some of the most popular street foods of cities like Taipei, Osaka and Seoul. In the past, eaters lined up for freshly grilled takoyaki, Korean pancakes (pajeon) and endless yakitori.
The most notable part of Night It Up! is how it offers a glimpse into unique, sometimes over-the-top blending of different cultures and dishes. Expect to see the likes of cotton candy ice cream burritos, ube sandwiches, fried chicken coated in a variety of sauces (katsu) and toppings (seaweed).
Also important to note, the market is hosted by Power Unit Youth Organization, a youth-driven non-profit that aims to make an impact in the lives of youth through various philanthropic projects.
Date and location: Thursdays through October, 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at 29 Lower River St. in Toronto
Vendors: 30+ food, artisan and produce vendors
There are many weekly farmers’ markets in Toronto, but maybe none quite as cool and unique as the Underpass Farmers’ Market.
The Underpass Park is a success story in Toronto about revitalizing industrial, derelict space under the overpass in Corktown to create vibrant pockets of covered spaces for outdoor activities like skateboarding and basketball as well as things like the arts and food events like the farmers’ market.
Now in its fifth year, the market has taken on the role of town square, as the space comes to life with a rotating list of vendors.
What’s great about this market is how artisanal and small it feels — in a good way. You’ll find the usual small, family-run farms from across Ontario popping up. Like Kooner Farms from Caledon, known for its free-range chickens. There’s also County Left Farm from Claremont that brings a weekly haul of seasonal produce.
The market is also a great place for food from artisans. For example, Fathima’s Kitchen is a crowd favourite for its South Asian samosas and you’ll find an assortment of pantry goods from Persian-Polish-Mexican pop-up, Toot Kitchen.
Date and location: July 23 and 24 in Little Manila (Bathurst Street and Wilson Street)
Vendors: Number not known at this time
While Toronto is home to a thriving Filipino food scene, many of the newer food businesses function as pop-ups on social media, for a variety of reasons (i.e. capital). A food festival, hosted in the heart of Little Manila, presents the best opportunity to try as many as you can.
The Philippines is home to over 7,000 islands, and during the pandemic, dozens of pop-ups started to focus on regional Filipino cuisines, from the seafood-inspired cooking of the islands to baked goods that change from city to city.
This is what organizers are promising a taste of at Fun Philippines, an inaugural food event hosted by the Philippine Legacy and Cultural Alliance. The two-day event aims to showcase how diverse the cuisine can be from each region in the country and the three major island groups.
So far the organizers have announced the following vendors: Kabalen Toronto, a pop-up that highlights the regional cooking of the province of Pampanga with dishes like sisig and morcon and an international pop-up by guest chef Cocoy Ventura.
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