Posted by Sheryl Kirby in announcements, events, events upcoming on August 28, 2008 at 12:20 pm

When: Sunday, September 14th, 12pm - 4pm
Where: Evergreen Brick Works, 550 Bayview Avenue

Slow Food Toronto and Evergreen are hosting the second annual Picnic at Evergreen Brick Works. The picnic is a festival celebrating local food producers teaming up with award-winning chefs as they work side-by-side to offer the best locally sourced produce and artisanal products, as well as wine and beer.

Organizers need over 100 volunteers to ensure the success of this event.

They are currently looking for individuals to assist with the following responsibilities:

• Volunteer Coordinators to assist with managing other volunteers – (some event management experience required)
• Welcome hosts and registration attendants to help welcome in guests.
• Silent Auction Coordinators.
• Food and beverage personal to assist with chef stations.
• Individuals to assist with the set up and tear down of the event venue.
• Individuals with CPR and/or First Aid training to assist as emergency coordinators.
• Security attendants to assist with crowd management.
• Talent coordinators and individuals with audio visual experience.
• Traffic attendants and parking sales coordinators.

All volunteers will receive a free t-shirt as well as be able to enjoy cuisine provided by farmers and chefs during the event.

If you are interested in assisting with this event, please contact Arlene Stein (Arlene.stein@utoronto.ca) by Friday, August 29th.

Posted by Sheryl Kirby in announcements, farm to table on August 20, 2008 at 9:42 am

The Holland Marsh area of Ontario's Greenbelt region is the province's "salad bowl" with over150 farmers on nearly 10,000 acres of some of the richest soil in the country.

Yesterday, the Holland Marsh Growers Association announced that it has received a $400,000 grant from the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation to assist with not only growing, but storage, processing and packaging as well, which will help to shorten the distribution chain and strengthen the local economy.

These new programs will also work to diversify crops beyond the carrots, onion and celery that were the mainstay of farms in the area, to include vegetables ranging from different types of lettuce to spinach, bok choy and kohlrabi.

The Association will also work with farmers to become certified by Local Food Plus, allowing them to create a distinct Holland Marsh-Local Food Plus brand.

To celebrate the grant, Toronto chef Jamie Kennedy prepared a salad made entirely from Holland Marsh-grown produce consisting of artichoke hearts and romaine lettuce, garnished with coloured carrots, celery root and beefsteak tomatoes, topped with a shallot vinaigrette. The salads were hand-delivered to Premier Dalton McGuinty and MPP Julia Munro, who represents the Holland Marsh area.

Posted by Greg Clow in announcements, events, events upcoming on June 19, 2008 at 1:06 am

This will be old news to those lucky AmEx cardholders who had a two day jump on things, but for the rest of us, June 19th is the day that the reservation lines open for Summerlicious (or as they call it in in the biz, "Summervicious").

Seats at spots like Canoe, Senses and North 44 will probably be snapped up before the day is out, so just remember that there are over 130 restaurants to choose from. Good luck and happy 'liciousing!

Posted by Sheryl Kirby in announcements on June 17, 2008 at 6:30 pm

Fresh eggs every morning. Natural pest control in the garden. And some pretty girls flouncing about the yard. Except it's not allowed.

The City of Toronto prohibits keeping chickens on private property, even if the owners only keep hens for their own use. Some enterprising people are out to change that rule, however, and have started a petition to allow individuals to keep up to three hens as pets and for eggs.

Chickens are lively, funny and come in some truly gorgeous breeds - and they actually make great pets. Check out BackYard Chickens for more information on raising birds in an urban setting. And stop by Omlet UK, where a chicken's dream house, with all the amenities, is available to UK residents, where backyard chickens are encouraged.

Please sign the petition and help make backyard chickens legal in Toronto.

EDIT - Gail Gordon Oliver of Edible Toronto sent me a link to this great site about Toronto Chickens.

Posted by Sheryl Kirby in announcements on June 12, 2008 at 5:06 pm

Did you head down to the Monarch Tavern over the past couple of days in search of Zane Caplansky's smoked meat, only to leave empty-handed? Turns out the press from the Globe and Mail article on Saturday overwhelmed the poor guy, and after opening on the 10th, he was out of smoked meat within 24 hours.

Caplansky has asked TasteTO to pass on his apologies to our readers, and to let everyone know that he will be re-opening on June 19th with twice the amount of food on hand.

In the meantime, from tomorrow until next Thursday (June 19th) - with the exception of Sunday the 15th - he will be at the Monarch Tavern (12 Clinton Street, at College) handing out 2-for-1 coupons to anyone who stops by there for lunch.