Note Bene’s David Lee offered Ontario wagyu burgers.

Dufflet Rosenberg’s tiny flourless chocolate cupcakes: perfect for teatime with Barbie.

This year’s Toronto Taste corralled 40 of the city’s chefs—including Mark McEwan, David Lee, Jamie Merieles, Marc Thuet, Keith Froggett and other big names—into a fenced-in space on Cumberland Avenue. The objective was to raise money for Second Harvest. We toured the food stations and met the chefs before the crowd arrived. 

Meatier offerings come from Frank’s executive sous chef Keff Dueck , whose prepared fatty grilled lamb ribs and minted fava bean pesto. 

With his crew from The Heat filming his every move, Mark McEwan prepared garnished seared tuna slices.

Continuing the seafood theme, Chef at Home star Michael Smith offered whimsical square bowls of sustainable shrimp gazpacho—potato strips fried into anchor shapes served as a decoration. “We were up all of last night peeling potatoes,” he explained, adding that he made a thousand of them.

In-season Arctic char was the ingredient of the night. Marc Thuet had a glazed version, while Scaramouche served it raw with a citrus dressing and a fennel salad. Donna Dooher of Mildred’s Temple Kitchen served hers sashimi style (seen here), accompanied by a potato salad for a picnic feel.

Jamie Merieles from Oliver and Bonacini scored points for originality: smoked salmon wrapped around a breadstick and served with an asparagus chaser. He said the veggie conquers the fish aftertaste, though he had a big basket of mints on hand just in case.

Often, we found chefs taking breaks in between service and cooking duties. Marc Thuet and Biana Zorich (seen here) react as though they won the lottery when their sous chef arrives with plates of McEwan’s tuna. Later that night, Scaramouche’s Froggett downed Thuet’s char as helpers dismantled the flower arrangements and handed them out to the ladies in the crowd. 

Desserts were especially ingenious. The YMCA’s culinary skills training program flaunted their molecular gastronomy techniques with samples of white chocolate spaghetti with raspberry sauce and chocolate martini caviar (it tastes like regular pasta but then it slowly and strangely melts into sweet strands of chocolate) and pulled-pork ice cream (tastes more like vanilla) with a beer chaser (served in a test tube, of course). 

ice cream

Shopping

Real Estate

Toronto Life is your source for everything you need to know about real estate in Toronto and the surrounding area. We showcase house, condo, cottage and office sales and renovations, highlight local market trends, and tell the stories of the people who make Toronto their home, and make their home their own.

Real Estate News

Urban Diplomat

The discerning mediavore’s take on the news of the day, from city hall to Power Ball

City News

Culture

Joachim Howard, as told to Caroline Aksich

Italy

The latest restaurant buzz, including what’s opening, what’s closing, and where to eat, drink and be seen

Toronto Taste 2009: A $225 evening of chocolate pasta and Arctic char

The Latest

What Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman loves about midtown

$1.6 million for a Concord penthouse with two stories, three dining rooms and four climates

Dear Urban Diplomat: The pickleball court next door is driving us up the wall

A behind-the-scenes look at the Art Gallery of Ontario’s most iconic paintings

“We have less money here but more life”: Why this Toronto chef moved to Italy—and how it’s going

“Coexistence isn’t working”: Coyotes killed her dog. Now she wants them gone