Gourmet Food & Wine Expo is an annual event in Toronto for gourmet food, beer, wine & spirits plus a lot of fun held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
The Expo is not just for consumers but anybody who’s into food & drink because the event gives you access to thousands of consumers, trade experts and media.
Gourmet Food & Wine Expo 2016
The 2016 Gourmet Food and Wine Expo kicked off on November 17 with the Thursday’s VIP Preview Night, and runs until Sunday (November 20, 2016).
There were a lot of people when I went, similar to my visit last year. It pretty much has the same format as well, with the shows at the west-most part of the floor, some live music and seating area at the center and vendors scattered all over, and the popular Angry Orchard Wall, where people can put their signature.
Also Read: Cuisine and Cuvee, An Epic Party With A Purpose in Toronto
Gourmet Food & Wine Expo Prices
In case you’re unfamiliar with prices in the expo, minimum tickets (the currency) to purchase is 20 tickets, and 1 ticket is $1. Be prepared to spend a minimum of $20 to spend unless you share tickets with friends.
Wine samples go from 1-3 tickets (average 2), and food samples going from 3 tickets and up so it’s very easy to spend a lot.
Travelling Foodie Tip: You can keep the wine glass!
8 Highlights of Gourmet Food & Wine Expo 2016 in Toronto
Here’s what I checked out during the VIP Night Preview, and they’re mostly the free ones!
Fine Canadian Cheese Seminar
One thing I look forward to since my first time attending last year was the Fine Canadian Cheese Seminar which is a complimentary seminar sponsored by the Dairy Farmers of Canada.
I always enjoy this seminar because I LOVE CHEESE! And in this seminar, you get to try samples of unique cheeses with a cheese expert explaining the cheese and its intricacies! You’ll definitely learn from this.
- Dofino Creamy Havarti from Arla Foods – with Honey because Havarti works well with sugar
- Evanturel from Thornloe Cheese – with sweet chili compote jelly to bring out the contrast
- Le Mamirolle from Fromagerie Rang 9 – with candied almond. The cheese is made from organic milk.
- 2-year-old Gouda from Mountainoak Cheese Ltd. – with balsamic reduction to highlight the caramel notes.
Ristorante Ultra Thin Pizza
Near the Chef Stage, you’ll see Bubble Waffle, and walk a little past that you’ll see a Ristorante Pizza Food Truck with free samples of their new Ultra Thin Pizza.
I tried their Oven Roasted Chicken and Peppers, and they were delicious! They also have vegetarian options for samples.
Campbell’s Everyday Gourmet
Right by the IG Photo Booth setup and the Angry Orchard Wall, there’s a big setup by Campbell’s offering free samples of three kinds of gourmet soup.
I sampled the Golden Butternut Squash only because the other two were tomato-based, but you can sample all of them if you want.
Cheese from Alexis de Portneuf
So glad I got to try this place! They offer free bite-size samples of cheese and they were amazing!
Woodbridge Wine by Robert Mondavi
The wine sampling here only cost 1 ticket, or 3 tickets if you want a bag of Mrs. Vickie’s Kettle Chips to pair the wine. You’ll get different flavours of chips depending on the wine.
It’s very hard to find 1 ticket wine samples so it’s worth checking them out if you did get tickets. They have 4 wine selections to choose from.
Pelee Island Winery
Wine sampling at Pelee Island Winery ranged from 2-3 tickets depending on the 8-10 wine selections you can choose from.
I tried the 3-ticket Baco Noir red wine and they gave generous pours (half the glass).
Also Read: Best of Windsor-Essex County, Ontario
JaBistro
The Kinka Family has booths here too. If I did have tickets, I definitely would’ve used them at JaBistro.
For 5 tickets, you get 2 pcs aburi oshi zushi: salmon and ebi. If you know Jabistro, you know it’s a steal for $2.5 aburi sushi.
ChocoMe
ChocoMe offers free samples of their chocolates. I wanted to try some but it was very crowded so I didn’t bother.
Event Photos at Toronto’s Gourmet Food & Wine Expo
Gourmet Food and Wine Expo
Website / Address: Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, Ontario
Disclaimer: Although the media entry was complimentary provided by Gourmet Food and Wine Expo, the opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of the companies.
stenoodie
Friday 18th of November 2016
Nice overview, Ray! Thank you! I'm excited to check it out tomorrow when I go. ^_^
Travelling Foodie
Friday 18th of November 2016
Thank you so much, Karen! Hope it helps! Let me know which ones you end up trying or doing!