So you may have heard about Tasting Tour Toronto. Or maybe you haven't. We, the co-creators Jaime and Naomi, have been trying to keep quiet about it because it's been a learning process running it and didn't feel comfortable presenting it until we had things down.
Now after almost two months of tweaking the tour, trying out various restaurants, and having friends tell us frankly and honestly what they thought of it, I'd like to share the concept of what we're doing and why we're doing it. Quickly, it's a chance to eat your appetizer, main, tea, and dessert all in different locations while in the company of other food-lovers and getting to learn about restos in TO and the owners behind it. We walk around neighbourhoods in Toronto trying out a series of signature dishes from smaller, local restaurants.
This happily coincides with me having just seen Food Inc., which tells the story of where the food we get comes from, and overwhelmingly we are being removed from our food. Tasting Tour Toronto is all about bringing us back together, forming a community of food lovers, in a fun, playful way.
Why? Two good reasons:
One) You very rarely get a chance to try a food crawl in the city. We've chosen four great venues that each have something special to offer. They're places you may not have known about and that's half the fun.
It's even more fun when you get to meet like-minded people and have opportunities to speak with them throughout the night. Unlike normal one-venue dinners, you can explore and chat with whomever you like all night long.
Two) The places we have chosen are ones we love and wouldn't want to see disappear. There's nothing worse than not being able to have that one dish you are craving for because the restaurant isn't around anymore. We want to support more local establishments, people whose livelihoods are tied to this city and put money back into our economy.
Where we at?
We've started thus far in the Grange area and we've remixed the Tour a couple of time with the following restaurants:
Vegetarian Haven on Baldwin
Fresh Wood Grill on Baldwin
Art Square Cafe on Dundas W
Mangiacake on McCaul
David's Tea on Queen W
From these awesome establishments, we've had delicious curry soups and chicken with dark chocolate crepes, Cuban sandwiches and milk oolong teas, giant carrot cakes and arancini. (I have to admit one perk of this is getting to eat this every two weeks.)
Over the past few tours, we've got to learn about the owners and establishments and it's furthered my passion for this idea. All this and we offer it for about the same price as a night out at the 'Liciouses.
We're still tweaking some of the final touches for the Tour, but we're almost ready for showtime. If you like this idea and want to give it a go, let us know at info@tastingtourtoronto.com. We're still polishing it with friends, but we'll be ready to go soon. We're always open to new ideas and suggestions (and restaurants)!
See you on the Tour.
Cheers,
Jaime
