The Good Food & Drink Festival, Toronto, ON

The Good Food & Drink Festival was happening this weekend at the Direct Energy Centre.

I've never been and it sounded like fun so I checked it out this afternoon.

As I entered, they were giving out bags for any goodies I picked up along the way.  In the bag, was a bottle of Levi Roots Reggae Reggae Jerk/BBQ Sauce ... I'm looking forward to trying it.

Near the entrance, there was a big display of products that Arlene Dickinson had invested in on Dragons' Den.

OMG's were giving out sample bags

I filled out a ballot to win this basket ... fingers crossed!

There were lots of vendors and it wasn't too busy.

I took a walk around and there was a wide range of products.

Donuts from BakeryHaus

My donut was okay

Oysters

Cigars

Max's had a DJ

Linda did a demo on my hand with some great aloe lotion

Food trucks

Food trucks

blu-dot protein tea was tasty

I had a sample (so crisp!) and a nice chat with Tyler of GP8 Sports Water

Ricardo gave me a sample of some ground hemp seeds

Original Kettlecorn's samples were colourful and yummy!

Jewels under the Kilt's nuts tasted good

I got some sample cat food from Oven-Baked Tradition

The kale salad from the Culinary Arts School of Ontario
smelled so fresh

 I had a yummy ice cream sample from the Kawartha Dairy

Udi's glutin free cookies were good

They were also giving out bags of pretzels

Jorge Cuamacas and Laura Spada played Spanish music

There were lots of wine and beer vendors.

I checked out free wine sampling.

I liked the Malivoire Gamay but didn't like the Chardonnay

I liked the Pondview Estate Winery Harmony
(Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer and Riesling) and
the Creekside Estate Winery Laura's Red
(Cab Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz and Malbec)

I liked the Cattail Creek Riesling and the Rosehall Run Pinot Noir

Sample tickets were drinks were $1 each and I bought 10.  I picked my sampling glass at the entrance.

Here are the samples I tried ... I liked them all.

Pelee Island Winery Riesling Gewurztraminer

Vikram Vij (soon to be on Dragons' Den) was behind me in line

My fav was Rockway Vineyards' Patio Pink

Strewn Two Vines' Riesling Gewurztraminer

Noteworthy Shenanigan's Pinot Grigio

Coyote Run's Red Paw Pinot Gris

I watched some demonstrations.

Chef Terry Salmond, a competitor on this season's Top Chef Canada

Chef Tim Everett of Whole Foods Market

Christa from Earth's Own gave a talk about almond milk

We were given samples of almond milk ... it was good

We were also given samples of squares made with almond milk

We also got a 2 litres of almond milk to take home

The cheese seminars were popular.  I'm not a fan of cheese so passed.

There was a silent auction with the proceeds going to Sick Kids.

It was a fun festival and I'll definitely go next year.