Everything there is to eat and drink at the Distillery District’s Winter Village
Including Swiss raclette, jerk chicken pierogies, Dutch pancakes and a roast-beef-dinner burrito
Even though global warming has gifted warmer-than-usual November temperatures for Toronto and we haven’t seen a single snowflake, the people behind the Distillery District’s charmingly executed annual holiday market are doing their best to convince us all that winter is indeed coming—and we’re going to like it. This year, the historic cobblestone streets glow under a canopy of lights and sparkling decor that culminate at the spectacular 17-metre-tall silver fir. But you can’t eat a tree, and we’re here for the food. Below, a look at all of the indulgent comfort food available from the adorable cabins lining the neighbourhood’s cobbled streets.
A Yorkie Burrito
For those who spend the days leading up to the holidays dreaming that drawn-out family dinners could be more condensed and hand held, David Adjey’s Yorkie Burrito—a TLDR version of a roast dinner with all the fixings—is on here to save the day (or at least launch a million Tiktoks). For it, braised beef pot roast, rich gravy, roasted potatoes, sautéed onions, butter-poached carrots, English peas, cheesy cauliflower and creamy horseradish are all swaddled in an elastic and airy, oversized and flattened-out Yorkshire pudding wrap.
A festive grilled cheese sandwich
While it typically doesn’t get more comforting than melted cheese sandwiched between slices of buttery toasted bread, the classic version of the grilled cheese may take a back seat to Artisan Grilled Cheese Cabin’s holiday edition. The Christmas Dinner grilled cheese is stuffed with the holiday’s holy trinity: roast turkey, creamy brie and a sweet-and-savoury cranberry relish.
Swiss raclette
Historically served in Switzerland and countries with Alpine connections, raclette—which is really just melted Swiss cheese—could please cheese lovers of any nation. Here, giant blocks are melted under mini salamander grills, scraped over roasted rosemary potatoes and festooned with tangy cornichons. Nachos don’t hold a holiday candle to this festive funk.
Related: Six of the city’s tangiest, creamiest, cheesiest fondues
Barbecued sausages
A variety of Butcher Shoppe sausages (farmer’s, chorizo, turkey) are cooked over a Grinch’s Grill—a five-foot-long charcoal barbecue that smells better than any pine-scented Diptyque candle. The snappy oversized links are stuffed into buns from Etobicoke’s Dimpflmeier Bakery and dressed with sauerkraut and a trio of Kozlik’s mustard: triple crunch, dijon and German.
Fully loaded fries
It isn’t the holidays until someone dips their sleeve in gravy, so we suggest heading over to Fireside Fries and making it official. Choose your clothing-stain contestant: a traditional poutine with rich house gravy blanketing twice-fried taters and squeaky curds or a carton of kimchi-covered fries sprinkled with scallions, fried shallots and chili-crunch aïoli.
Schnitzel sandwiches
Chicken is usually overshadowed by turkey this time of year, but at Schnitzel Haus, the plebeian poultry takes centre stage. Pounded flat, panko-crusted and fried until golden, the tender chicken breast is sandwiched inside a freshly baked pretzel kaiser bun and smothered with sautéed pickled peppers, fried onions and mayo.
Smoked meat, chili and chestnuts
At the Chesnuts and Charcoal station, a rotating selection of smoked meat sandwiches (pulled pork, brisket, porchetta) are available depending on what the pitmaster has on hand. There’s also house-made beef chili and chestnuts that are continually roasting on an open fire. (It’s not just a song lyric, people.)
Pierogis
The humble pierogi, when executed correctly, is a gift from the magi. Such is the case at Pierogi Miska, a stand run by two people—one Jamaican, the other Ukranian—that offers classic cheese-and-potato pierogies as well as global takes on the tender dumplings that have the crazy-beautiful quality of a Christmas sweater. We suggest trying the Caribbean chicken ones: boiled-then-fried cheese-and-potato pierogies topped with slow-cooked jerk chicken stewed with scotch bonnets, drizzled with two aïoli (smoked paprika and sunflower petal), and garnished with fried shallots and green onion.
S’mores hot chocolate
The barista elves at Cluny’s Patisserie are fire-torching marshmallow fluff on top of a warm blend of whole milk and chocolate ganache, and a dollop of whipped cream, smack-dab in the middle of it all.
Classic crêpes
A variety of fillings are wrapped in thin sheets of toasty unleavened batter and tucked in tight. Classic flavours include straight-up granulated sugar with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice or silky Nutella lined with firm-but-ripe slices of banana.
Cups of cheer
Drunk-uncle heavy hitters like steins of beer and egg nog (the most divisive of all holiday drinks) are on offer at Jingle Bells Brews, but the apple cider and mulled wine are the civilized standouts. The cider is made with local cortland and honeycrisp apples, pressed and cooked down, then poured into a crimson cup where spiced rum joins the party.
Over-the-top rice cereal treats
The Whimsical Crispie Co. cabin is slinging colourful marshmallow cereal treats that make the average Rice Krispie square look sad. The squares come in a variety of flavours, including vanilla Grinch, Reese’s Pieces, white chocolate peppermint, salted caramel chocolate, gingerbread spice and (the Rudolph of this herd) rocky road, chock full of rich milk chocolate, gooey marshmallows and smoky roasted almonds.
Soft pretzels
Santa’s paunch isn’t the only thing that’s oversized at this year’s Winter Village—the soft pretzels are pretty chonky too. The freshly baked and buttered Dimpflmeier twists are topped with a choice of pumpkin seeds, poppy seeds, sunflower seeds or coarse salt. By request: a cup of Kozlik’s triple crunch mustard for dunking. Served warm and toasty, so holding one in each hand can make mittens redundant.
Dutch pancakes
Good things come in small packages—especially when those things are tiny made-to-order pancakes. Light and fluffy, the wee flapjacks are served up BeaverTail style, covered in melted chocolate and an assortment of guilty-pleasure toppings like Oreo cookie crumble, hunks of cheesecake and sticky praline pieces. For that extra bit of holiday spirit, the Candy Cane Lane creation is smothered in melted white chocolate, crushed peppermint sticks and white chocolate curls.
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Erin Hershberg is a freelance writer with nearly two decades of experience in the lifestyle sector. She currently lives in downtown Toronto with her husband and two children.
