Farmers Market + Tech Conference = @ Eat Up TO

Yes, you read that right.  A farmers market, food and drink event with a tech conference thrown in the mix...that pretty much sums up the Eat Up TO event that took place on Sunday, June 23rd at 99 Sudbury Ave.

Some of the many sponsors of Eat UP TO

Hosted by Foodea

I was there to help out the only tea company at this yummy and informative event.  My Tea Brew is the brainchild of Certified Tea Sommelier, Donna Sikora.  Donna was my one of my fellow travel mates on my recent China Tea Tour too, so I was more than happy to help her out.  Add great drinks, some of the city's finest food trucks and food tables, with oysters!  Hello, I was there!

Food trucks!

A sunny summer afternoon calls for beer!

La Tromba's Watermelon cucumber margarita was very refreshing

Cool City Oyster Yard - I found another cool oyster house in town

Lucky Limes from Prince Edward Island were fresh, salty and sweet finish, mmm

Service with a smile from San Pellegrino

Donna from My Tea Brew

Donna's handcrafted Red bush Chai Mallow puffs were perfect little fluffy treats!  It had just the right amount of chai flavour, not too sweet and oh so soft.  I could have had two!

Berry berry rooibos on tap - fragrant, light and refreshing

John Placko of the Modern Culinary Academy

Food meets science in molecular cuisine

Flexible caramel and green tea infused aerated white chocolate - looks like sushi, fun to eat!

Kevin from Cheesewerks 

In defense of food photography by Chris from Gastropost

A great little find, La Rivolta pop-up

The arancini was delicious! Light and crispy on the outside and cheesy gooey on the inside and oh so tasty.  A treat from La Rivolta.  Everyone's so friendly at the farmer's market.

Food Media Panel of Wendy Kam Marcy (Hip Urban Girl) , Jen Chan (Foodpr0n), Yvonne Tsui (3 Hungry Cats), Casper Yue (Toronto Food Trucks) and Abbey Sharp (Abbey’s Kitchen) moderated (standing)

Dillion's vodka Thyme Lemonade was a perfect way to cap off the day.  (their vodka is distilled from Niagara grapes!)

The nice fellows from Sangwich (Dolce Lucano) gave us tea gals a treat of sandwiches, thank you guys! 

Cowbell! 

And if you can't tell by now, besides tea, I also really like oysters!!  Pimm's Cup with my last two oysters of the day (Raspberry Points from PEI).

And last but not least, Hot Bunzz!

These cute stuffed buns are a riff on the Chinese baos.

I tried the Bison Short Rib and Brazilian BBQ Beef.  I really enjoyed the flavour of the Bison. The Brazilian BBQ Beef was more similar to a Chinese style baos/buns. The BBQ sauce was made with Brazilian coffee.

They were both tasty buns, but unfortunately because I was chatting with Gayle of the Canadian Foodies Blog so long, the chef had to interject and tell me that "they're not Hot Bunzz anymore". Oh no! They're warm not hot... aww, guess I'll have to get some more soon and devour them right away to get the proper Hot Bunzz experience!

I had such a great time.  I picked up some good information, tasted some yummy food and fantastic drinks.  I look forward to next year's Eat Up TO!  In the meantime, there's a new market in town.... Night Market TO until October for us foodies!

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Wine Tasting Workshop at Creme Fraiche Market Cafe

On a chilly evening back in February of this year, I attended a wine tasting workshop at the Creme Fraiche Market Cafe.  I met the owner of this cool local cafe, Constance, at a William Sonoma Artisans' Market at Yorkdale Mall.  Upon hearing that I was a Certified Tea Sommelier, she suggested that I should come check out a special wine tasting workshop she was holding at her cafe.  Since wine and tea have some similiarities, both are crops highly affected by the land or terroir.  The products take on and reflect the taste profiles of the land it's grown on.

I enjoy wine and actually had thought of taking some wine tasting courses.  I just needed to find time in my busy schedule.  So this workshop interested me very much.

Creme Fraiche Market Cafe carries local, sustainable, artisan foods.  It sounded like it could be a very yummy affair.

 Wine Sommelier, Luis Marquez led the workshop

Constance helping the guests get settled in

Think we're in for quite a ride, look at all the glasses!  How many are we going to be tasting?  A welcoming glass of sparkling wine to start the evening.

Some of the amazing cheeses made by Ontario dairies.  Of the cheeses we tried I found the Figaro and the nutty aged Lancaster were delicious.  A very good sharp blue cheese and a Monteforte Abundance was yummy.  There were sweet honey comb and a luscious pear chutney.

 Some of the Ontario-made cured meats, dill pickles and spicy pickled beans...mmm

 The nerd in me couldn't resist making notes throughout the awesome workshop.

One sparkling wine, three white wines, six reds and a dessert wine were tasted.  Luis took us through a great journey around the world of wine.  New world and old world wines were discussed and enjoyed.  We were given pointers on how to make educated guesses as to the region, age, and type of a wine.  

 Tiramisu and a Yuzu flavoured macaron served with the Moscatel, oh my...

What an awesome way to spend an evening!  It was so much fun, tasty, and educational.  Highlights were a German Reisling, a Cab Bourdeaux, and a Spanish Moscatel dessert wine.  Creme Fraiche periodically holds other workshops such as pasta making too.  Check their Facebook page to stay on top of what's available.  Boy, I thought tea was complicated, add the alcohol in wines and, um what was I talking about?  
Perhaps a caffeinated beverage... anyone?