One of my favourite annual Fixtures in the City is The Delicious Food Show and now in its third year, I’ve seen the Event develop from spectacular to somehow even more polished. Taking place at the Direct Energy Centre this weekend, the three-day Food Expo brings-in a star-studded list of Celebrity Chefs with countless opportunities to delight your tastebuds. Cooking Demonstrations, Autograph Signings, Food and Drink Sampling – the question is, what isn’t there to do at The Delicious Food Show?
The Chew Star, renowned Chef and Author Mario Batali headlines the Event this year delighting Fans by putting on a Demo, followed by a Signing today for his new Book AMERICA FARM TO TABLE, offering them a rare chance to get up close and personal. The new Book brought him one-on-one with Farmers across the U.S. gathering stories. He says, “We took pics of their mailboxes, their food, their chickens. Their food is even more delicious after knowing their stories”. The famous Croc-Wearer adds, “There is no gift more selfless and emotionally delightful than giving something delicious.”. Just last night, the Chef in a once-in-a-lifetime Op collaborated with BUCA‘s Rob Gentile at that Hotspot “gifting” palettes with some scintillating offerings and we hear Truffles were plentiful.
Popular Culinary Personality Tyler Florence also graced the Stage today promoting also his latest Book, INSIDE THE TEST KITCHEN. The Book is comprised of Recipes based on Twitter Fan Feedback and Photos shot entirely on his iPad. With the assistance of Technology, he was able to put together the Book at one-third the Budget which a Cookbook normally costs (approximately $130k). “I spent three hours on Twitter, thanks to in-flight Wi-Fi, crowdsourcing Recipes from the Community”, says Florence on the 125-Recipe release. “We found a way to cook a 16 lb. turkey in one-and-a-half hours and make bread rise with no yeast”.
Canadian Celebrity Chef/Hunk Chuck Hughes returns to the Event this year and as always is a Favourite. On the topic of cooking for Children, he revealed to Media that his Son absolutely is into chopped liver and he is experimenting with lots of pureeing currently. There was a consensus among Batali, Hughes and Florence at today’s Junket and that would be for Parents to stop offering their Children the “Kids’ Menu” option when dining out. As Batali says succinctly, “I hate Chicken Fingers”.
One huge announcement was made at today’s Gathering and we learned that in September 2015, the City will host the first-ever TORONTO FOOD AND WINE FESTIVAL. Although details are still yet to be confirmed, it is said that it won’t be exclusive to downtown Toronto only. That is, other parts of Greater Toronto also will be engaged. This comes hot on the heels of successful Festivals in New York, Austin, LA, Hawaii, Atlanta, Barbados, and Aspen from the respected Publication.
The Delicious Food Show runs from Friday, October 17, 2014 through Sunday, October 19, 2014. More details here.
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
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