By Lori Bosworth
Taste of Toronto has revealed the final chefs and restaurants that will be participating in Taste of Toronto, the popular Toronto food festival which takes place at Fort York from July 2-5, 2015. Chefs Masaharu Morimoto, Alvin Leung, Lynn Crawford and Stuart Cameron will appear, along with over 30 of Canada’s top chefs.
Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto will introduce signature dishes from his eponymous restaurant scheduled to open in late 2015 in Toronto’s King West neighbourhood. Chef Morimoto’s showcase dishes at Taste of Toronto will include Uni Carbonara made with smoked bacon, quail egg, and parmesan, as well as Toro Tartare served with sour cream, caviar, wasabi and dashi soy.
Chef Rob Bragagnolo of Marben will introduce his new restaurant, Carver at Taste of Toronto on Sunday, July 5. Carver, which will open in Toronto in fall 2015, will focus on locally-sourced and naturally-raised, slow-roasted meats. The other final chefs and restaurants at Taste of Toronto include Stuart Cameron of Byblos, Patria and Weslodge, as well as the Kinka Family of Guu Toronto, Kintori Yakitori and Kinton Ramen. Other newcomers to the festival include Alvin Leung, who will appear with Eric Chong, his MasterChef Canada protégé, at the R&D booth.
Celebrity chef and Egg Farmers of Canada Chef Ambassador Lynn Crawford will perform a demonstration and cooking class, Massimo Capra will present with Italian favourite Galbani cheese, and Rick Moonen will appear alongside True North Salmon.
Some dishes you can expect at Taste of Toronto 2015 include:
- Byblos’ charcoal lamb kofte, with house pickles, toum and green schug;
- R&D’s octopus with chargrilled choy sum chimichurri and “yu heung” eggplant;
- Little Sister’s compressed watermelon and cucumber salad;
- Barque’s crispy BBQ pork taco on a bed of fresh jicama slaw; The Harbord Room and THR & Co.’s grilled summer squash, coloured with pomegranate, pickled red onion and Macedonian feta;
- Los Colibris’ light traditional ceviche
- America’s savoury tuna poke cocktail
- Richmond Station’s acclaimed Stn. Burger with beet chutney and OKA cheese
- The Drake Hotel’s Fish Fry with clams and haddock and house-made tartar sauce;
- Splendido’s braised pork belly with peanuts and Thai basil;
- Rasa’s truffle gnudi, presented with local mushrooms, pickled shimenji and walnut pesto;
- Montecito’s vanilla panna cotta with port-poached rhubarb and caramelized white chocolate;
- Bosk’s peaches and cream, topped with Darjeeling cream, bourbon syrup and a brown butter almond crumble.
The whole roster of chefs at Taste of Toronto include:
- Adrian Niman, Rasa
- Alvin Leung and Eric Chong, R&D (Thursday and Friday only)
- Amanda Ray, Biff’s Bistro
- Anthony Walsh and Michael Bonacini, Oliver & Bonacini
- Bill Osborne, America
- Carl Heinrich, Richmond Station
- Cory Vitiello and Robbie Hojilla, The Harbord Room and THR & Co.
- Damon Campbell, Bosk
- David Neinstein, Barque
- Elia Herrera, Los Colibris and El Caballito
- Franco Stalteri, Charlie’s Burgers
- Jonathan Waxman and Matt Robertson, Montecito
- Ippei Iwata, Aki Urata and Koji Tashiro, Guu Toronto, Kintori Yakitori and Kinton Ramen (Saturday only)
- Masaharu Morimoto, Morimoto Toronto
- Michael van den Winkel, Little Sister
- Miheer Shete, Bannock
- Rob Bragagnolo, Marben (Sunday only)
- Stuart Cameron, Byblos, Patria and Weslodge
- Ted Corrado and Matt DeMille, The Drake Hotel, The Drake Devonshire and Drake One Fifty
- Victor Barry, Splendido
- Lynn Crawford, Egg Farmers of Canada Chef Ambassador
- Mark McEwan, McEwan Group
- Massimo Capra, Galbani Cheese
- Rick Moonen, True North Salmon
Taste of Toronto takes place July 2-5, 2015 at Fort York in Toronto. General Entry tickets are Adults $19-$30, Child (6-15) $15; Premium tickets (includes entry and $30 in Crowns) $49-$60; VIP tickets $90 (includes access to Delta Air Lines VIP lounge, $30 Crowns, 1 Pilsner Urquell beer, wine or a Sanpellegrino and fast track festival entry. Tickets may be purchased online.
