It’s an East vs. West showdown this weekend, as Cabbagetown and The Junction both host their annual community street festivals. And sitting roughly in the middle, you’ll find the ever-popular Vegetarian Food Fair down at Harbourfront, where even carnivores are welcome. Watch for a full preview of the VFF here on Taste T.O. later today.

Also this weekend is the second annual Black Creek Brews Fest at Black Creek Pioneer Village. Earlier this week, we gave away some regular tickets to the event, and now we have a special bonus giveaway: a pair of tickets for Saturday which not only include admission to the Brews Fest (and the rest of the Village), but also two seats at a special 3-course lunch with beer pairing being hosted by beer writer Stephen Beaumont at the Half Way House Restaurant at 1:30pm.

The contest is now closed. Thanks to all who entered.

To enter, send an email to brewsfest@tasteto.com before 11am today with “BLACK CREEK - BEAUMONT” in the Subject line and your full name in the body of the email. The winner will be chosen at random and notified via email, and their name will be on the guest list with a ‘+1′ at the Black Creek box office on Saturday.

The full list of happenings for the next week follows below, and as always, our Events page has more information on these and many other upcoming events in Toronto and area.

Continue reading T.O. Events for September 5th-11th »

Just a friendly reminder that we are giving away six pairs of passes to this weekend’s Black Creek Brews Fest at Black Creek Pioneer Village. For more details on the event, see our post from a few days ago.

The contest is now CLOSED. Thanks to all who entered.

To enter, send us an email at brewsfest@tasteto.com with “BREWS FEST TICKET GIVEAWAY” in the Subject line and your full name in the body of the email. Winners will be chosen at random at 3pm today and notified via email. Winners’ names will be on the guest list with a ‘+1′ at the Black Creek box office. Good luck!

One of the highlight craft beer events of 2007 was the inaugural Black Creek Brews Fest up at Black Creek Pioneer Village, so it’s great to see that it’s coming back this year even bigger and better. Taking place this coming weekend - Saturday, September 6th and Sunday, September 7th - from 11:00 AM to 4:30 PM each day, the Brews Fest will once again feature some of the best craft breweries in Ontario today, while also celebrating the province’s rich brewing history.

One of the few complaints that many people had about last year’s event was the small number of breweries on hand, so this year, the number has been doubled from five to ten, including Black Oak, Steam Whistle, Mill Street, Neustadt and more. In addition to sampling beer, you’ll also be able to learn about it, with beer and food experts including Mirella Amato, Roger Mittag, Julia Rogers and Dorothy Duncan presenting talks and workshops throughout the weekend. On Saturday, beer writer Stephen Beaumont will be hosting a lunch with beer pairings at the Half Way House Restaurant, and there will be other special demonstrations and presentations happening throughout the Village, plus live music and other entertainment for the whole family.

The contest is now CLOSED. Thanks to all who entered.

The folks at Black Creek have kindly provided us with six pairs of tickets that are good for admission on either day of Brews Fest. For your chance to win, simply send an email with brewsfest@tasteto.com with “BREWS FEST TICKET GIVEAWAY” in the Subject line, and your full name in the body of the email. Winners will be chosen at random on Thursday, September 4th and notified via email. Winners’ names will be on the guest list with a ‘+1′ at the Black Creek box office. Good luck!

This year’s edition of the ever-popular Toronto’s Festival of Beer takes place next weekend at Historic Fort York, and as with last year’s fest, the fun will be starting with the Bowman’s Ball on Thursday, August 7th from 4pm to 10pm. The evening will feature plenty of beer and food, a poker run with a grand prize of a trip for 2 to Oktoberfest in Germany, and a live performance by ska legends Dave Wakeling and The English Beat.

Thanks to the fine folks at the Ontario Craft Brewers, we’ve got a pair of VIP tickets - an $80 value - to give away for this opening night celebration. NOTE - The contest is now closed. Thanks and good luck to all who entered. The winner will be notified by email.

One of the hi-lights of last summer’s harvest season for anyone with a love of good food was undoubtedly the Picnic at the Brickworks. A partnership between Slow Food Toronto and Evergreen, the picnic paired producers and growers with 50 local chefs and offered an afternoon of culinary delights to all who attended.

The picnic was so popular, selling out well before the actual date, that Slow Food Toronto and Evergreen are back this year to do it again, this time with even more of a focus on the food producers taking part.

Currently, tickets are still available from the Evergreen website, at a cost of $90 per person.

TasteTO has one pair of tickets available to give away. We will draw a winner from the correct answers tomorrow at 9am. NOTE - The contest is now closed - thanks and good luck to all who entered. The winner will be notified by email.

Please note that the Picnic at the Brickworks is a 19+ event.

There’s something about an event at Hart House that just gives it an automatic air of sophistication. Nothing stuffy, mind, but the inspiring architecture based on Oxford University, and the gorgeous courtyard in the centre of the building make attendees at any event want to dress up a little bit, be on their best behaviour. Even if that event is a barbecue and beer festival.

The brainchild of Arlene Stein, Hart House’s director of Catering and Events, the Craft Beer Festival and Summer BBQ on July 31st is meant to be a celebration of local sustainable food and drink.

Continue reading This Little Piggy Went to Hart House, This Little Piggy Drank Beer »

The 16th Annual Good Food Festival runs from Friday April 25th to Sunday April 27th at the International Centre, 6900 Airport Road, Mississauga.

Check out food and drink samples, cooking demonstrations, or be a People’s Pick judge and help choose the top products in a variety of categories.

TasteT.O. is pleased to offer ten pairs of tickets to the Good Food Festival. NOTE - the contest is now closed, thanks for your participation.

As mentioned here yesterday, the documentary film How To Cook Your Life about Zen priest and chef Edward Espe Brown is opening in Toronto this Friday, November 23rd.

At the time of the original post, we weren’t sure where the film would be screening, but a representative from the distributor Mongrel Media has since confirmed that it will be showing at Canada Square (2190 Yonge Street at Eglinton).

Mongrel Media have also provided us with five screening passes to give away. Each pass will admit two people to any Monday to Thursday showing of How To Cook Your Life throughout the film’s run. To win a pass, you simply need to be one of the first five people to email your name and full mailing address to htcyl@tasteto.com.

UPDATE: All of the passes have been claimed. Thanks to all who entered! 

And don’t forget that we’re also giving away a pair of tickets to another foodie documentary, A Table In Heaven, which will be screening at the Bloor Cinema on Wednesday, December 5th. Full details on that give-away can be found in yesterday’s post.

A pair of food-related documentaries will soon be screening in Toronto, one in a limited release and one for a single night only. We’ve got the scoop on both of them, as well as a pair of tickets to give away to one of them. Which one? You’ll have to read on to find out…

Continue reading Food on Film: How To Cook Your Life & A Table in Heaven »

In the summer of 2006, chef Michael Stadtländer along with his wife Nobuyo, son Hermann, and several apprentices from his renowned restaurant Eigensinn Farm hopped into a renovated and biodiesel-powered school bus cum kitchen-on-wheels called “The Liberator” and drove across Canada. They were headed to several islands off the coast of British Columbia for a series of remarkable culinary events, and their many adventures were filmed, with the result being The Islands Project, a documentary that is charming, eccentric, and completely entertaining - much like Stadtländer himself.

Continue reading The Islands Project: Film Review and Ticket Contest »

The 8th annual Planet in Focus International Environmental Film and Video Festival (whew, that’s a mouthful!) kicks off next Wednesday, October 24th for a five day run. One of the largest events of its kind in the world, the festival will feature screenings of over 80 documentaries, dramatic features, shorts, animated films and experimental works that “celebrate, question, and establish varied ways of viewing the state of our world”.

As you might guess from the fact that we’re mentioning the festival on Taste T.O., a lot of the films in this year’s line-up are focussed on food and agriculture. Some of the food-related festival highlights are listed below - but first, we have a contest!

The folks at Planet in Focus have provided us five pairs of tickets that are good for admission to any screening at the festival. If you would like a chance to win a pair, send us an email at pif@tasteto.com with your name and the title of one of the food-related films screening at Planet in Focus this year. Deadline for entries is 12:00 noon on Tuesday, October 23rd, and the five winners will be notified on Tuesday afternoon. The winners’ names will be at the box office of both festival venues (The Royal Cinema and Innis College) and will allow the winner and a guest entry to any festival screening of their choice.

Read on for information about a few of the films that will be screened at the festival…

Continue reading Contest: Planet in Focus »

Just a quick reminder that the contest for tickets to the first instalment in the Independent Boast & Toast craft beer event series closes at 12:00 noon today (Friday).

Email boast@tasteto.com with your name and phone number to enter to enter. The winner will be selected at random from all entries, and will receive two tickets to the event which takes place on Sunday, October 14th at Rower’s Pub (150 Harbord Street).

For more details, see the original contest post from earlier this week. Good luck to all entrants!

Next Sunday, October 14th, a series of events called Independent Boast & Toast will be kicking off with an inaugural evening at Rower’s Pub (150 Harbord Street). Created by Russ Rowlands of Industry SOS, a service industry consulting firm that works exclusively with independent and locally-owned bars and restaurants, the aim of the Boast & Toast series is to bring together local bars and pubs with members of the Ontario Craft Brewers and other independent brewers for evenings of food, beer and fun.

For the first event in the series, Rower’s will be welcoming the brewmasters from Great Lakes, Wellington, Denison’s, Nickelbrook and Trafalgar, all of whom will be pouring samples of their brews. Food pairings will also be served throughout the evening, and all attendees will receive a souvenir sampling glass. Tickets are $40 and are available at Rower’s, either in person or by calling 416.961.6277.

You can also try your luck at winning the pair of tickets that Russ and Rower’s Pub have kindly provided to Taste T.O. for giveaway. Just send an email to boast@tasteto.com with your name and phone number to enter. A winner will be chosen at random from all entries received by 12:00 noon on Friday, October 12th. Good luck!

August has ended up being Beer Festival Month in Toronto. We had Toronto’s Festival of Beer a couple of weeks ago, the Golden Tap Awards this past weekend, and now coming up on August 25th and 26th is the 1st annual Black Creek Brews Fest at Black Creek Pioneer Village.

What makes this new event unique is the fact that it will feature workshops and presentations throughout the weekend that will look at Ontario’s brewing industry from an historical perspective. So unlike most beer festivals where you just kill off brain cells, you’ll actually be able to learn something at this one!

Read on for more details on the event, and your chance to win free admission.

Continue reading Contest: Black Creek Brews Fest »

The 12th annual edition of Toronto’s Festival of Beer is rapidly approaching, and this year they’re expanding beyond their traditional Friday-to-Sunday schedule with a Thursday night “gala event”, the Bowmans Ball.

Presented by MIX 99.9 at Fort York on Thursday August 9th from 4pm to 10pm, the Bowmans Ball will feature beer and food samples, a poker competition with a chance to win a trip for two to Oktoberfest in Germany from itravel2000.com and Contiki Tours, and a performance by the legendary Canadian folk-rock band pictured above.

Why are we not telling you the name of the band? Because if you can tell us who they are, you’ll have a chance of winning a pair of tickets to the Ball (a $70 value!).

EDIT: The contest is now closed. Congratulations to all the winners! The correct answer is Spirit Of The West.

Continue reading Contest: Toronto’s Festival of Beer - Bowmans Ball »