As noted in Sunday’s post, the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo 2013 started yesterday with a VIP evening, and opens to the public today. With plenty of cooking demonstrations and tastings, there’s much to do at this year’s expo. I was at the VIP event Thursday evening, trying the many foods and wines at the event, including:
Chuao Chocolatier: After being disappointed that BRIX was not in attendance last year, I was happy to discover Chuao, a line of chocolates with both traditional and more unusual flavours. Perhaps the most unusual one is called the Potato Chip bar, described on the website as “Crisp kettle cooked potato chips and a hint of sea salt, mix and mingle in milk chocolate.” Chuao is currently only available at the St. Lawrence Market, but hopefully, they will be picked up by other stores in the GTA very soon. With its unusual flavours, it can surely catch people’s attention!
Cupcake Vineyards: Three wines were featured at the event, including one called Red Velvet, made with a blend of various reds with a Zinfandel base. The other red was a Cabernet Sauvignon with more berry flavours and notes of cocoa. On the white side, there was a Chardonnay with flavours of butter, cream, citrus and vanilla. As you can tell, all three wines were very, for a lack of a better description…cake-like.
Blue Nile Ethiopian Restaurant: I’ve never had Ethiopian food before, so I can’t really say how “authentic” this Hamilton-based restaurant is. However, I can say that the red lentils I had were very good – it had a bit of a kick to it (green lentils are also available if you want something milder. Meat options are also available and all dishes are served with a rolled up flatbread called injera.
Muskoka Lakes Winery: DelectablyChic! first wrote about this cottage country winery in 2010 and is another favourite. Unlike the typical wine, these are made out of cranberries. New to try this year is the maple and cranberry wine, which is, according to the rep present, now available in the vintages section at the LCBO.
Hank Daddy’s BBQ: Probably one of DelectablyChic!‘s favourite returning exhibitors! Known for the Pulled Pork Parfait (first written about in 2011), this year I had the chance to taste their brisket with polenta. Not too bad, but I think I will go back to the parfait next year (very rich and heavy, but oh-so-good)!
Feel Good Guru: Very good vegan food! There were two more savoury options, including a the Bangkok Doc, a “twist” on pad thai made with grated carrots, kelp, yam, zucchini noodles and other feel good, delicious veggies. Definitely worth trying!
20 Bees (Diamond Estates): They were there sampling their “Buzz and Bubbles,” a sparkling Shiraz. Not exactly a wine one would have with dinner, of course, but great with dessert, especially in the summer or after a spicy meal.
Of course, there also exhibitors that weren’t that good. There was a vegan chef who was served two items, including a tempeh slider. Unfortunately the slider was not that great – the spelt bun it came was so hard that one might as well have used hockey pucks. Playa Cabana was also a bit of a disappointment. The taco I sampled was served in what I thought was a soft tortilla until I tried to fold it, only to find that it was crunchy. Needless to say that my taco broke apart and was next to impossible to eat without cutlery (which they did not provide). However, the number of bad exhibitors were, fortunately few and far between. Other exhibitors included downtown Toronto restaurant e11even, who was serving up delicious crab cakes (that was majority crab – no fillers other than spices and a bit of panko), MASI, mini dessert boutique, Bite Bar and many more.
The Gourmet Food and Wine Expo opens to the public today at the Metro Convention Centre and tickets are available at the door. Tasting tickets are $20 for a a sheet of 20 tickets, but if you’re a foodie, definitely start with at least 30! A reminder that one must be 19 years old or older to attend.
