where jess ate

It all began in London, England 10 years ago when the first Taste festival was held. Fast forward a decade and Taste festivals are now held in 20 cities around the world including Dubai, Sydney, Dublin and Milan. This summer, Toronto joins the ranks as the first North American city to hold one.

Taste of Toronto (@tasteoftoronto) will take place from July 24 to 27 inside the historic walls of Fort York. The four-day event will be featuring 17 Toronto restaurants with each participating restaurant serving three signature small plates which will give visitors a taste of what Toronto’s amazing culinary scene has to offer. They’ve got a fantastic line up which includes Richmond Station (@richmondstn), Splendido (@Splendido_TO), the McEwan Group (@TheMcEwanGroup) and Khao San Road (@khaosanroadTO) to name a few.

In addition to the restaurant pop-ups, the event will feature the Metro Master Class Stage where you can catch Chef Elia Herrera (Los Colibris) teach how to make a traditional ceviche, Chef Carl Heinrich (chef/owner of Richmond Station and Top Chef Canada winner) share his knife skills or Chef David Neinstein (Barque Smokehouse) share his tips and tricks for the best home BBQ.

Taste of Toronto will also feature historical cooking classes presented by Fort York, a live music stage curated by Arts & Crafts (@artsandcrafts) and a vendor marketplace which will consist of 50 local food producers. Other highlights include Celebrity Chef appearances including Food Network Chef Chuck Hughes (@ChefChuckHughes) and Momofuku’s David Chang (@davidchang).

Tickets [Promo Code]

Tickets start at $30 which include access to festival grounds plus $6 worth of ‘crowns’, the event currency (1 crown = $1). Crowns are loaded onto a currency card to make it more convenient for purchasing dishes at each pop-up.

I’ve got a promo code for my readers which includes two tickets for $45 which includes $6 worth of crowns per ticket (a savings of $15). Click the link below to take advantage of this deal (available until July 14):

CLICK HERE FOR THE PROMO CODE LINK

Taste of Toronto Safari

Leading up to the festival, I was lucky enough to be invited on a Taste of Toronto Safari which gave us…well, a taste of Taste of Toronto. During the evening, we were chauffeured to five participating restaurants to get a preview of what’s to come at the festival:

El Caballito

Pollo Con Mole – cemita bread, mole poblano, pulled chicken, white onion & avocado

Margarita

Yours Truly

Salt Cod Inari – salt fish, sushi rice & horseradish

Charred Octopus – sous-vide & charred octopus, chorizo, green mango

Boxer Julep

Hopgood’s Foodliner

Albacore Tuna – with preserved summer tomatoes, basil and crispy shallots

Beer & Lemonade Radler

Barque Smokehouse

Smoked Duck Tacos – with pickled radish, carrots, crispy fried chicken skin and hoisin BBQ sauce on a flour tortilla

Hugo – Hinterland whitecap, elderflower, mint & lime

Weslodge

Wagyu Hot Dog – with a house bun, beet mustard & beef cheek marmalade

Bourbon Sweet Tea

Excited yet? Get your tickets before they’re sold out!