Café Belong’s Brad Long, Torito’s Luis Valenzuela and Frank’s Jeff Dueck all came out to support FoodShare (Image: Caroline Aksich)
Last Thursday, 400 Torontonians gathered at St. Lawrence Market for Recipe for Change, the annual FoodShare fundraiser, which raised over $50,000 in support of its Field to Table Schools initiative. The innovative program funds education projects that teach kids there’s more to food than McDonald’s and Loblaws. The event featured 44 food and drink stations representing an impressive array of Toronto chefs, including Mark Cutrara of Cowbell, Michael Smith of the Gladstone Hotel, Aaron Joseph Bear Robe of Keriwa Café and Rocco Agostino of Pizzeria Libretto. There was also a healthy showing of the region’s wineries and breweries, including Blackoak, Frogpond, Henry of Pelham and Rosewood Estates. Each of the chefs prepared dishes that focused on local, seasonal produce, and most recommended a winery with an appropriate quaff for pairing. Ticket holders hoping to send a little more cash FoodShare’s way also had the opportunity to get in on a silent auction. Slow-food movement advocate and York professor Deborah Barndt won the GE Café professional dual-fuel stove for $3,000, while the four Linus bikes sold for well above their value, at $6,000 each. Despite post-gluttony sloth, two of the bike winners mounted their new steeds and rode them out of the building.
This brisket was first rubbed down in a typical Texas rub—ancho chili, house-dehydrated onion and garlic powder, cumin, coriander, black pepper and fresh thyme—and then smoked for four hours in a Big Green Egg. After smoking, the brisket was cooked for 72 hours sous-vide. The dish, served on a homemade brioche, was capped off with julienned Granny Smith apple and a sunny-side-up quail egg
This brisket was first rubbed down in a typical Texas rub—ancho chili, house-dehydrated onion and garlic powder, cumin, coriander, black pepper and fresh thyme—and then smoked for four hours in a Big Green Egg. After smoking, the brisket was cooked for 72 hours sous-vide. The dish, served on a homemade brioche, was capped off with julienned Granny Smith apple and a sunny-side-up quail egg
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(Image: Caroline Aksich)
Albert Ponzo, of Le Sélect Bistro, prepares his last Texas-style beef brisket of the night
Albert Ponzo, of Le Sélect Bistro, prepares his last Texas-style beef brisket of the night
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(Image: Caroline Aksich)
Winlai Wong, of the Spice Route, served some excellent oyster mushroom jiaozi dumplings. Wong told us about how her father, a master wok chef, used to bring live chickens home. Wong once made the mistake of naming one of the birds, much to her father’s chagrin (let’s just say the story had a predictably not-so-happy ending)
Winlai Wong, of the Spice Route, served some excellent oyster mushroom jiaozi dumplings. Wong told us about how her father, a master wok chef, used to bring live chickens home. Wong once made the mistake of naming one of the birds, much to her father’s chagrin (let’s just say the story had a predictably not-so-happy ending)
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(Image: Caroline Aksich)
Keriwa Café’s Aaron Joseph Bear Robe delighted attendees with his red fife pierogie stuffed with braised bison tongue and accented with a pickled heritage carrot. The dish reflected a culinary marriage between Robe’s wife’s Polish background and his Siksika Nation reserve upbringing
Keriwa Café’s Aaron Joseph Bear Robe delighted attendees with his red fife pierogie stuffed with braised bison tongue and accented with a pickled heritage carrot. The dish reflected a culinary marriage between Robe’s wife’s Polish background and his Siksika Nation reserve upbringing
Local Kitchen’s Fabio Bondi pulled fresh mozzarella and served it with a splash of olive oil, a sprinkle of sea salt and a fresh basil leaf
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(Image: Caroline Aksich)
The crowd was absolutely gaga for Steffan Howard’s (Palais Royale) goat cheese and apple truffles, which were crusted with crushed pistachios and served drizzled with a delicate July honey from Fred Davis’s rooftop honey (the hives are located at Casa Loma and the Four Seasons Centre)
The crowd was absolutely gaga for Steffan Howard’s (Palais Royale) goat cheese and apple truffles, which were crusted with crushed pistachios and served drizzled with a delicate July honey from Fred Davis’s rooftop honey (the hives are located at Casa Loma and the Four Seasons Centre)
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(Image: Caroline Aksich)
By 8 p.m., Luis Valenzuela (Torito) had run out of salmon, but that didn’t stop us from tasting the rest of the dish: an endive vessel filled with farro, mixed with a tomatillo and avocado salsa and topped with a dollop of crème fraîche. The salmon had been cured for three days and smoked for two hours over mesquite and apple wood
By 8 p.m., Luis Valenzuela (Torito) had run out of salmon, but that didn’t stop us from tasting the rest of the dish: an endive vessel filled with farro, mixed with a tomatillo and avocado salsa and topped with a dollop of crème fraîche. The salmon had been cured for three days and smoked for two hours over mesquite and apple wood
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(Image: Caroline Aksich)
Rosewood Estates’ mead paired well with neighboring Michael Smith’s rhubarb apple cream cookie
A Pizzeria Libretto chef pulling mozzarella supplied by Quality Cheese in Woodbridge
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(Image: Caroline Aksich)
The Gladstone’s new chef, Michael Smith (formerly of C5), told us that it’s difficult to make interesting desserts that feature in-season produce in February. Smith wowed with his rhubarb apple cream cookie, which was served with water buffalo yogurt custard. He had macerated the rhubarb and turned the sour stalk into a raisin-like consistency
The Gladstone’s new chef, Michael Smith (formerly of C5), told us that it’s difficult to make interesting desserts that feature in-season produce in February. Smith wowed with his rhubarb apple cream cookie, which was served with water buffalo yogurt custard. He had macerated the rhubarb and turned the sour stalk into a raisin-like consistency
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(Image: Caroline Aksich)
The Enoteca Sociale/Pizzeria Libretto crew served an Italian winter classic: patate e fagioli, a rib-sticking soup
The Enoteca Sociale/Pizzeria Libretto crew served an Italian winter classic: patate e fagioli, a rib-sticking soup
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(Image: Caroline Aksich)
Emerie Brine, a chef for Bernardin (the Canadian jarring giant), served baked cinnamon puff pastries filled with apple pie and topped with crème fraîche
Emerie Brine, a chef for Bernardin (the Canadian jarring giant), served baked cinnamon puff pastries filled with apple pie and topped with crème fraîche
Frank’s executive sous-chef Jeff Dueck offered vegan carrot cupcakes with coconut cream icing; for the lactose lovers in attendance, cupcakes with the more traditional cream cheese icing were also available
Frank’s executive sous-chef Jeff Dueck offered vegan carrot cupcakes with coconut cream icing; for the lactose lovers in attendance, cupcakes with the more traditional cream cheese icing were also available
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(Image: Caroline Aksich)
Café Belong’s Brad Long plates vegan meatballs and mushroom slaw on half a toutin (Newfoundland’s breadier version of a doughnut). Belong and his team had prepared 200 toutins, but demand was so high that by 7:30 p.m. they’d almost run out
Café Belong’s Brad Long plates vegan meatballs and mushroom slaw on half a toutin (Newfoundland’s breadier version of a doughnut). Belong and his team had prepared 200 toutins, but demand was so high that by 7:30 p.m. they’d almost run out
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(Image: Caroline Aksich)
Four hundred philanthropic foodies mingled at this after-hours St. Lawrence Market party
This cacao drink, xocolatl, is high maintenance—it requires a lot of vigorous mixing to keep it homogenous. ChocoSol offered up what might be the world’s healthiest churro—made of chia, flax, sorghum, amaranth and buckwheat, and infused with Oaxacan cinnamon—which was served with the xocolatl
This cacao drink, xocolatl, is high maintenance—it requires a lot of vigorous mixing to keep it homogenous. ChocoSol offered up what might be the world’s healthiest churro—made of chia, flax, sorghum, amaranth and buckwheat, and infused with Oaxacan cinnamon—which was served with the xocolatl
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(Image: Caroline Aksich)
Vegan chef Doug McNish’s cornmeal-crusted tempeh croquettes tricked more than one carnivore in attendance—we heard a number of attendees raving about his crab cakes
Vegan chef Doug McNish’s cornmeal-crusted tempeh croquettes tricked more than one carnivore in attendance—we heard a number of attendees raving about his crab cakes