On November 19th-22nd, the Metro Toronto Convention Centre was home to the city’s biggest Gourmet Food & Wine Expo (GFWE). Being the major food and drink enthusiast I am, I made my way over to the grounds for two of the four days to explore different flavours and discoveries from over 1500 item selections of spirits, wines and gourmet foods across 14,000 square feet.
I previously introduced the Gourmet Food and Wine Expo in a post along with a collaboration with Tito Ron’s to giveaway three pairs of tickets to the VIP evening on the the Thursday, we gave a pair of tickets away every 4 days leading up to the exciting evening.
Upon our arrival, we first scoured through the GFWE guide to discover far too much dabble, and went for the run around for ourselves. The currency of the show is in the form of tickets and these are purchased in sheets of 20, 40 is recommended per person, each vendor’s pricing ranges from 1 to 6 tickets.
Now my friends, it is time for an evening recap of my highlights and discoveries of the night, hover over to catch my captions:
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- The playing grounds
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- A showcase of Mott’s new Lime Caesar toppled with a spicy bean with a very thick rim – 1 ticket
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- Enough tickets to wear as a scarf
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- Tito Ron’s Hot Pineapple Cider, the best cider I’ve ever had – 2 tix
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- Tito Ron’s sold out on Day 1 within the first hour and a half! Damn good beast steak sandwiches in a calamansi sauce.
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- New discovery: Bar 40 – we grabbed the set for $60
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- Adding Bar40 to any drink to emphasize flavours or compliment another – $4
Bar 40 was an awesome discovery, they need to kickstart the open of their own bar! Basic cocktails are instantly transformed with a spritz of either four “balances”: umami, sour, sweet and salt. We purchased the full set of bitters offered by Bar 40 for ourselves. These guys are currently on shelves at BYOB Cocktail Emporium on Queen West or online.
After 6pm, the expo is filled with photobombers.
Wines, wines, wines. My highlighted favourite is Union’s Forte Port Wine (3 tickets), honestly, the best port wine I’ve ever indulged it, it is certainly dark and deep with sweetness, but I wouldn’t change it any other way!
Now we have it, beers, ciders and our deep whiskys and scotches.
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- Unexpected favourite: Granville Island Lions Winter Ale (5.5%) – 2 tix
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- Surprisingly well-balanced: Young’s Double Chocolate – 1 tix
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- Excellent, and available for $55 at the LCBO: Dun Bheagan Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky 2006 – 3 tix
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- Low carbonation and sweetness, what I want in a cider – Okanagan Premium Cider in “Dry Pear”
Other adventurous snacks along the way, trust me, a Caesar is a snack, that bad boy is only $1 and deliciously filling, especially with that crunch of bean at the end. We landed in perfect timing for the Cheese Tasting, we were walked through and sampled five cheeses, boursin forever being one of my easy-to-grab favourites.
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- Mad Mexican tortillas and salsa, they make my favourite salsas – 5 tix
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- A showcase of Mott’s new Lime Caesar toppled with a spicy bean with a very thick rim – 1 ticket
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- Cheese Tasting, boursin
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- VJ. Stings creates savourites and adds their chili sauces into chocolates (2 tix)
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- Grapevine Catering
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- Grapevine Catering
Extreme Bean: Eyeing the asparagoos -in-olive that I am about to chow and enjoy (it was my second one)
The Gourmet Food & Wine Expo is an adventure for the tastebuds, eyes and ears. It was a thrill to be apart of a grand show, and I cannot wait to return next year! Stay tuned for the next one lined up on their website.
