Thirsty conference attendees, many who arrived to Toronto’s 34C heat the same day, were welcomed with a huge array of Canadian wine selections as well as local beers. Our good friends at Steamwhistle were of course on hand, and local #FoodieTrivia organizers Cheesewerks made an excellent pairing with the peameal mac n’ cheese.

The Queen West and Spadina area, the heart of Toronto’s Chinatown, was also well-represented by an Asian food station offering fat Lo-mein noodle salad, crispy BBQ pork, and sweet little veggie dumplings. Being served these in teeny little takeout boxes was almost as delightful as the food itself

But if you know my penchant for sweets, you can well imagine where I spent most of the night: parked right in front of this amazing display of popcorn, truffles, baked bars and cookies, and GIANT GUMMI BEAR CARVING. This… this is how you throw a proper opening night party!

Giant Gummi Bear CARVING STATION… WHAT! #TBEX vine.co/v/bYEx0We5xpg

— corecorina (@corecorina) June 1, 2013

But special mention of the evening has to go to one of the most delicious, simplistic, and ultimately unique items we got to try. Ninutik SASSeh — and I’m not sure if is a proper name, an invented name, the company that was making these at the event? — was the name etched in the ice sculpture, so it must have been important.

SASSeh at #TBEX … Ummmm AWESOME. vine.co/v/bYEtXY7K57a

— corecorina (@corecorina) June 1, 2013

Now I’ve had the Canadian classic of maple syrup poured on snow; essentially a really sweet and tasty toffee. But this time, the added element of one single cube of lusciously potent cheese in the middle escalated a quiet dessert in to a glorious symphony.

I had two of these, and would have had more if I weren’t so self-conscious of my own enjoyment. Blue cheese was the best combination, but cheddar also had an incredible effect on the taste of the sweet sugary maple syrup. Just amazing.

Although travel blogging does not necessarily have to include food, as a writer for this “food adventure blog”, I  believe it goes hand in hand. The TBEX kick off party was a fantastic salute to Canadian beverages and foods, and an awesome experience for anyone who came out to the party.

It will be exciting to see how this conference continues to encourage the exploration of new places and new cuisines, and of course I’ll be there to capture all the delicious moments of TBEX 2013 in Toronto.

Beloved brewery and indie music purveyors Steam Whistle are getting ready to celebrate the 25th edition of the UNSIGNED series, AND we want you to be there!

“Our goal was always to give back and help the growth of Canada’s indie music scene.” Matt Weed, Unsigned series coordinator.

Enter NOW to win tickets to the Steam Whistle UNSIGNED #25 on Friday May 24th, 2013 featuring Canadian indie music from Beliefs, The C’Mons, and Hussy.  

One winner will receive: 2 tickets to the show, 4 refreshment tickets and some SWEET Steam Whistle swag – making sure YOU get all makings of a great night out at the Steam Whistle Brewery!

To enter, just leave a comment below or tweet @FoodSpun telling us what you LOVE about beer (couldn’t be easier than that!)

Winner announced May 23, 2013.

Considering that most Jamaican and West Indian restaurants are located either at the West or East end of Toronto, it’s quite natural that diners would be attracted here. As the Queen Street Market building gradually morphs into a food court, Jerk Joint will most likely be one of its star attractions.

Jerk Joint’s leading diva and owner, Sharon Slacks told the The Grid she wanted to open her own place and meet the need for diversity of food in downtown Toronto.  The restaurant features a casual setting, and quality cheap eats for eat-in, take-out or online delivery. When you visit, you’ll most likely also meet Colin Dean Walker or Dino as he is popularly known; a 49-year old chef full of wise childhood stories.

Not sure what to expect? Consider trying the jerk chicken wrap, a 48-hour marinated grade A chicken, smoked and grilled. It can be ordered in small or large size with a side of rice or coleslaw. There’s also a variety of other foods on the menu; the Bolt Burger, named after Olympic champion Usain Bolt, is just what you need to get you feeling ‘Irie.’ The six ounce meat patty prepared using sirloin beef and lean ground beef mix seasoned with sauce served on a Jamaican sweet coco-bread bun.

Jerk Joint may look like an intimate in-house establishment, but they also provide catering for meetings and events. Known as one of the more unique delivery options in downtown Toronto, you can order them through Orderit.ca where the full menu is available online. Or if you find yourself in the Queen West and John St. area, stop in and experience their authentic Caribbean specialty dishes first hand; Jerk Joint does not disappoint.

Their appetizers, also known as Lebanese Mezze, feature salads and dipping sauces that can be eaten with freshly baked pita. Most popular is their hummus, made with chickpeas, which are then cooked, mashed and blended with olive oil, lemon juice, salt garlic and Tahini paste. Baba Ganoush is another popular menu item, made with eggplant and a mix of seasonings. The restaurant gives you the option of choosing large sesame bread or mini sesame pitas to go along with the dipping sauce.

Haddad’s Middle Eastern Bakeries are probably best known for their catering trays, which offer a unique variety of specialty pastries and items perfect for any party. Their trays can be mixed and matched, but feature items such as a mini pizza, topped with pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, olives, mushrooms and oregano spices.

Another popular item ordered from the bakery is their spinach pie. It is a baked crust stuffed with a creamy mix of spinach, exotic spices and oil.

Of course, any good meal always ends with dessert. Try some sweet Lebanese cookies made with pistachio, walnuts or dates from the bakery. They also taste perfectly when paired with a cup of home-made tea or hot chocolate.

The best part is that all of these middle eastern specialty baked goods can be enjoyed for delivery to your home or office; view the menu online and order delivery from Haddad’s Middle-East Bakeries from Orderit.ca.

Here’s some Restaurants on Orderit.ca that’ll leave you feeling the love with delivery at home:

Steak

Wildfire Steakhouse and Wine Bar Toronto

Their braised beef short rib and rib steak has a taste enough to rekindle any love. Here, you’ll also find classic like Filet Mignon and New York Striploin. All steakhouse items here are seasoned with a signature blend of spices and served with roasted garlic mashed potatoes and grilled seasonal vegetables.

Gigi’s Pizza Spaghetti House Vancouver

Although they are widely known for great tasting pizza and pasta dishes in Vancouver, you can get a 12 oz Top Sirloin or Alberta New York Steak and be rest assured it will taste just as good. All their steak and lobster dishes come served with the chef’s salad, baked potato and garlic bread.

Villa Pizzeria ‘N’ The Greek Place Ottawa

Go Greek with shrimps on a skewer or a calamari platter served with rice, Greek potatoes, Greek salad and tzatziki or cocktail sauce. These are some seafood delights up for delivery in the city of Ottawa.

Seafood

Aki Da Japanese Toronto

Located downtown, Aki Da Japanese has some of the finest seafood offerings in Toronto. The chef’s recommended dishes includes grilled live oysters topped with crabmeat, garlic and cheddar cheese. The steamed fresh mussels with tomato, onion, garlic and sake sounds equally tasty.

Fraser Court Seafood Vancouver

This popular restaurant has all kinds of seafood you can think about from shrimp and scallops to prawns. They also have a variety of fish dishes made with halibut, cod or fillet of sole which makes up for the absence of lobster on the menu. All you have to do is look through their menu to pick what you like and have it delivered to your door.

Home Food Inn Asian Cuisine Calgary

If you’re in the Calgary area, fresh lobster in black bean sauce sounds like a pretty mouth-watering choice. This oriental restaurant typically serves its food buffet style but also offers delivery. Their food has received a couple of rave online reviews on Yelp from guests, one of whom highly recommends the salt pepper squid.

Dim Sum

Arisu Korean and Japanese Restaurant Toronto

You can count on Japanese food to usher in some romance on you dinner date tonight and sushi is just the dish to spice things up. Arisu is located in Bloor Street West and offers a variety of Japanese sushi and sashimi rolls for dine-in and delivery.

Bentei Sushi Vancouver

This is definitely one of the city’s cool sushi spots. Their menu is fully stocked with Maki sushi rolls, sashimi, Nigiri sushi and special rolls. They also have combination options where you can order a combination of different assortments of sushi at a reasonable price.

Yang Sheng Restaurant Ottawa

Finding dim sum in Ottawa shouldn’t be so hard anymore. Yang Sheng’s menu had a long list of dim sum and appetizers just begging to be eaten. Most of the dumplings and pot stickers come in servings of 4 to 6 pieces. You might want to order the chicken and veggie or shrimp and chive dumplings.

Whatever your Valentine’s Day plans, keep these romantic delivery ideas in mind year-round. There’s nothing like letting someone else do the cooking – and the dishes! – to help set the mood for an intimate evening at home.

Through February 10th, Toronto Cold Stone Creamery customers can enjoy a second ice cream for JUST A PENNY with the purchase of a regular price treat! The Penny Retirement Party is a good reason to empty those piggy banks and get ready to sample a world of creamy indulgence with your friends. This offer is valid at any of the following locations: 1094 Bloor St. West, 644 Dixon Road, and at the Dufferin Mall in Toronto.

Looking for a little EXTRA indulgence this Valentine’s Day? Cold Stone Creamery makes some pretty awesome treats, like custom ice cream flavours, and even ice cream sandwiches, cakes and cup cakes!

Undoubtably, the new Brownie Batter Connection ice cream is going to be a HUGE hit this Valentine’s Day, incorporating the rich chocolately flavour sought by every brownie-holic. You can try this ice cream on its own, or pick up a delicious ice cream cake in the shape of a heart (aww) – perfect for surprising your sweetheart or just devouring all by yourself.

Would you like to WIN a small Brownie Batter Connection Cake?

Cold Stone Creamery has offered a prize of one cake (to be picked up at any of the three locations named above) and all you have to do is tell us who you would most like to share this tasty cake with!

It could be someone you know or just a fantasy Valentine!

To enter, leave your comment below, on our Facebook page, or mention us on Twitter. One winner will be selected from all entries received by Tuesday, February 12th at 8pm EST.

You may remember Chef Moonen from Top Chef Masters (Season 2) and his devotion to sustainable seafood – a hot topic among professional chefs, who want great produce without great sacrifice to the environment. Opened in February 2005, the two-level RM Seafood has never wavered in its commitment to delicious, beautiful items sourced specifically for renewability and low-environmental impact.

The chef’s signature dish is the clam chowder, which is rich and creamy and fairly chunky compared to other chowders I’ve tried. It’s also delicious. Leeks, little neck clams, potatoes, carrots, bacon and a very light sweetness make this a must-try on the menu. I recently saw John Tesar recreate this dish on Top Chef Season 10 – probably why I was so eager to try this my first night in Vegas.

This chowder was so filling that I opted for a caesar salad instead of an entree; an excellent decision, as it perfectly accompanied the large bowl of soup. With everything made in house, I was pleasantly surprised that the dressing wasn’t overbearing (sometimes seafood restaurants tend to go heavy on the anchovies) – in fact, their caesar is light and tangy, with delicious little grilled garlic bread bites around the edges in lieu of croutons.

And though I decided to eat light, you can always be sure of some little extras at RM Seafood. The pastry basket that arrives at your table will contain a variety of little breads and baked goods, but make no mistake – you want the corn bread. I’m not sure why a seafood restaurant chose to serve corn bread, nor do I care – it’s AMAZING. I almost feel silly for focusing on it, but every time I eat here this is the first item that people get excited about.

Of course, this is only a fraction of the offering at RM Seafood, but hopefully a couple items that are not as often featured in reviews. You can of course get incredible samplers with every variety of seafood imaginable, as well as dishes featuring crab (Alaskan or Dungeness), arctic char, pompano, baramundi, Maine lobster, scallops – even beef! But all in the name of sustainability.

RM Seafood is located in the entrance to Mandalay Place (near the House of Blues) and serves an a la carte menu and sushi/oyster bar downstairs, and a slightly higher-end offering upstairs with market value pricing. If you’re looking to try them out, you can also check out Tix4Tonite for up to 33% off entrees!

Magic Oven

If you’re looking for healthy, organic, yet equally tasty options for pizza, you’re in luck. Magic Oven serves healthy pizzas, made with fresh ingredients, free of additives or preservatives. Their whole grain pizza crust is made with unbleached flow, wheat flakes, sunflower seeds, buckwheat, cracked wheat, barley/oat flakes and millet seeds. They also offer gluten-free crust and online ordering.

Piazetta Trattoria

Piazetta has been serving up fresh Italian cuisine for 19 years. It is known for its authentic wood oven-baked thin crust pizza, which can also be ordered gluten-free and paired with a variety of pasta, meat and seafood entrees of your choice. Take-out and delivery is available within the GTA.

Grazie Ristorante

This is a go-to spot for pizza if you’re near Yonge and Eglinton. Their pizza menu goes beyond the ordinary; expect fresh Italian ingredients, sauces and real cheese to come along with your meal. The support of loyal visitors who reside in this area has helped the restaurant thrive as a business, and they now offer delivery across North Toronto.

Have you visited any of these restaurants? Tell us about your experience or suggest a new place we may not have tried! You can also check out our other restaurant suggestions here. Looking for more great pizza? Our partner Orderit.ca offers great delivery options online!

Toronto food fans were buzzing this summer when the infamous Anthony Bourdain arrived with TV cameras in tow, for a rumoured filming of The Layover. The new travel channel show follows in the footsteps of No Reservations, and the Toronto stint allowed Bourdain to do what he does best – feature the city’s best food fundamentals.

We’ll post the episode here for now, until someone decides to take it away:

S2E5 AB: The Layover – Toronto by zodiacza

To kick off, David Sax (author of Save the Deli) whisks Bourdain to the St. Lawrence Market for a famous peameal bacon sandwich at Carousel Bakery. Peameal – pork loin rolled in corn meal – had its roots in the need for preservation, but has become a market staple… I can personally vouch for the house mustard, with both maple syrup and horseradish.

Although I’m not sure the Butter tart is a “Canadian classic dessert”, they do enjoy a tart at the market; and it’s a great place to start a food tour of the city. As Sax explained, ”Unlike Mtl or Vancouver… Toronto’s charms are kind of hidden. You’ve got to dig in the dirt a bit.”

The Belleview in Kensington also has their breakfast mentioned, as well as Evergreen Brickworks Market featuring Chez Vous Catering. Scrambled Eggs with aged cheddar and maple-smoked bacon, gourmet grilled cheese creations and much more; I’ve eaten at events here and it’s pretty darn tasty (if a little out of the way).

Next up, a visit to the gorgeous Tosho Knife Arts, where Bourdain advises you can “get yourself a real knife, worthy of respect”. Owners Ivan and Olivia know everything about knives, including how to properly care for them. They have an intimate way of handling their products that makes the experience almost sublime, and Bourdain fully endorses them; he even learns a couple secrets about ‘Tactical Knife’ design.

Sax and his ‘student’ next settle at Ronnie’s Local 069 in Kensington for beers, to experience the love of patios that drives us to sit outside in November and people watch. They also discuss the virtues of an ‘ideal Torontonian’ – polite, abrasive flare being the conclusion. I can agree with all of that!

Hidden inside a food court, Bourdain is led to Agave Y Aguacate‘s authentic mexican takeout. Francisco and Anita operate with a precision that this episode of The Layover captures beautifully (see photo on left) and I’m sure they will be seeing new customers as a result.

Bairrada Churrasqueira is given a quick nod for its respective deliciousness, as well as King West’s WVRST, where duck, elk, venison and other wieners can be consumed with lots of beer. Or how about Belgian-style fries cooked in duck fat? MUST try!

At Cocktail Bar in Little Italy, Bourdain meets up with culinary ambassadors Ezra Title (Chez Vous Catering) and Anthony Rose (Rose and Sons)  for a “pre-dinner Negroni”. They discuss Toronto’s mild inferiority complex, and how recently chef’s have begun to embrace their own personality. What Bourdain calls ‘the Brooklyn spore’ – I like that, too.

This of course led the trio right across the road to The Black Hoof – arguably the #1 most recommended restaurant in Toronto. This snout-to-tail chef incubator is well known, and caused a buzz when Gordon Ramsay visited a few years ago. There was little doubt that Bourdain would hit this spot on The Layover, and owner Jen does a great job presenting the Horse Tartare (among other unique dishes). The ‘inside-out’ tongue sandwich is impressive, but the bone marrow luge… that’s supremely hedonistic, and really does Toronto proud.

Beast Restaurant is also given its due, with delicious creatures that area seasonal, local and awesome. Edulis also gets a nod, named for chef Michael Caballo’s favourite wild mushroom. I have yet to eat here, but after so many rave reviews it’s absolutely at the top of 2013′s must do list.

When the menu called for a party, it’s pretty awesome that indie rock strong hold F*cked Up answered. With mentions to Cold Tea, Horseshoe Tavern, Dakota Tavern and Sneaky Dees, they end up at Thirsty and Miserable to discuss Torontonians’ resourcefulness, “Under any regime that restricts fun, fun happens!” And in this city, what’s more fun than late night poutine.

Poutini’s is close to Toronto’s heart (and stomach) – it’s certainly one of the BEST poutine joints in the city. It’s beautiful to see The Layover featuring one of our favourite foods. What Bourdain can only call morally wrong; but good.

Spence Bakery‘s late night sidewalk Jerk Chicken is also called out, and 24-hour Owl of Minerva in Koreatown gets to share the spotlight for it’s yummy soups. All sublime choices for the drunk, weary, hungover… or simply hungry.

Breakfast on day two is a surprising choice: Bacchus Roti Shop in Parkdale. It’s a heavy choice but probably good for hangovers. So is a grilled cheese for buns burger, from The (notorious) Burger’s Priest. California Sandwiches in Little Italy, and Forrestview Restaurant in Chinatown are also options, the latter being a dim sum pick on many foodie lists.

Finally, Beast owner Scott Vivian, who is credited with inspiring Bourdain to come film in Toronto, escorts his guest to Porchetta & Co. as the last stop. Here, owner Nick Auf Der Mauer leads a grand tour of cured meats, crispy skins and gorgeously stuffed sandwiches. Discussing the food scene in Toronto seems moot at this point in the episode, but both Vivian and Bourdain conclude that it is alive and well; and perhaps not at all what the rest of the world expects.

The city without a slogan – Toronto. Or as Boudain suggests: Hogtown, the magical place for magical animals… either way, with The Layover treatment, Toronto has certainly earned some cred for it’s vibrant food scene. Even better, there is now a semi-official, Bourdain-approved list of Toronto spots to explore in 2013 – Happy EATING!

Noka Sushi and Japanese in Toronto is a cute spot with a huge menu and surprising depth of flavour. It’s also a superb value and a popular delivery spot for those seeking authentic, Japanese cuisine.

House-made sauces and specialty items make all the difference at Noka.

Known for their specialty maki, gyoza and an array of secret sauce recipes, the restaurant also offers daily all you can eat specials and delivery.

New this year, Noka has added a catering menu with a great variety of finger-friendly foods. Thanks to the artistry of their two talented sushi chefs, you can expect a uniquely beautiful arrangement every time you order; even if it’s just a (beautiful!) sashimi sampler.

One of our favourites is also the signature 513 Bloor roll, with salmon, avocado, shrimp tempura and cucumber (pictured below). Another delicious choice that we tried for delivery was the Ex-Boyfriend roll, with shrimp tempura, cucumber, scallop, avocado and creamy sauce – probably one of the most delicious items on the menu!

The trick to Noka‘s flavour profiles seems to lie in the house made sauces and garnish; try the pork gyoza and you’ll have no doubt that the accompanying sauce is something special (and quite addictive!)

For a limited time, when you order over $40 you can take 20% off with promo NOKA20OFF

Noka Sushi and Japanese is located at 535 Bloor Street West, Toronto and can be ordered for delivery or takeout at Orderit.ca – you can find their regular menu here and their catering menu here.