Who is planning to attend Picnic at the Brickworks 2011?

[prima]

Event: http://ebw.evergreen.ca/picnic/

Here is the thread post-2010 picnic, which includes some links to photos. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/738141

[ylsf]

I would have loved to have gone but it always seems to be the day after Nuit Blanche and I probably won't be awake by the time it ends :)

[JennaBean]

Even on a non Nuit Blanche weekend I find the hours challenging.

[TorontoJo]

Me + 3.

[phisherking]

I wish event organizers would check on what else is happening in town when they pick dates. This is not the first year the picnic is the day after nuit blanche. Really frustrating for those of us who want to do both.

[prima]

Makes sense to me that the Picnic at Brickworks would take place at harvest time, considering the mission of Evergreen Canada, and considering the mostly locally sourced and mostly slow food served at the Picnic. Before Thanksgiving, before the freeze (since the event takes place outdoors), before Halloween (where kids' activities might trump their parents' fundraisers), and not too close to Eat to the Beat.

Nuit Blanche, Food Truck Eats and Culture Days don't need to take place during harvest.

[JennaBean]

Niut Blanche needs to happen before the weather changes. I think that's the main reason to have that one early.

For me the bigger issue is the afternoon timing and the fact that children are allowed to attend. I don't want to spend that much money and then only be there for an hour next to someone's kid.

[atomeyes]

price plus time plus proximity to TUM plus proximity to Nuit Blanche and its food trucks = nope

[foodyDudey]

I wonder how many will be taking their kids at $60 each for kids 3 years and older. Maybe they should have said "must be 18+ to attend"

[prima]

or 19 plus since there were samples of booze. A fair number of attendees brought their adorable, but less-than-well behaved children last year.

I think the babes-in-arms rule is a nice, charitable solution to the traffic problem created by last year's strollers.

I figure $60 is 2, maybe 3 hours of a Rosedale/Leaside/Forest Hill babysitter's time. Some people might splurge on their kids. Some people will hire a baby sitter to serve their kids Alphagetti while they hit the Brickworks.

[wontonfm]

I'll be there! It's one of my favourite food events in the city. I'll be hitting Food TrucK Eats early on Saturday to ensure I have room for all the Brickworks goodness.

WON
http://whatsonmyplate.net

[ylsf]

By early, do you mean 8pm? :) That should give you enough time to digest I guess!

[wontonfm]

Or even 7PM as part of the fundraising aspect :)

WON

[kellybobo]

First time at the Picnic. It was great (except for the weather). Ate and drank till I was ready to burst.

[bytepusher]

Last year officially there were supposed to be no kids and there were a surprising number of them, this year other than a few people with babies in snugglies I saw exactly 1 idiot with a stoller and 1 toddler. That's it, no bored teenagers (other than the kids that had been put to work in the Buddha Dog stand)

They moved it back to the original location this year after understanding that last year was a mistake.

Food quality and variety was very good, best I think since the first version. There were a few chefs who overdo the portion size (cowbell, Royal York, Gladstone) and a few that sold out really early (Stockyards, Gladstone)

Highlights in no particular order the orichetti from Vertical, cassoulet from Auberge, the salad from Paese (my kind of salad has a big hunk of smoked pork in it), antechuchos (sp?) from Cava, pork belly twizzlers from Healthy Butcher.

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The Healthy Butcher
565 Queen St W, Toronto, ON M5V, CA

Cava
1560 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4T 2S9, CA

Paese
333 King St W, Toronto, ON M5V, CA

[prima]

I liked the salad from Paese, too.

Wasn't a fan of the pork belly twizzlers. Off the top of my head, my favourites were the chicken liver pate from Luma, the trout tostada topped with tomatillo salsa from Hooked and the fennel sorbet with red shiso blossom on a meringue from All the Best.

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Paese
333 King St W, Toronto, ON M5V, CA

Luma
330 King St W, Toronto, ON , CA

[TorontoJo]

You picked two of my favourites as well: the trout tostada and the artic kiwi berry and fennel sorbet. Other favourites: the stuffed potato skin from Marben, the roasted squash soup from The Food Dudes, the sweet potato donuts from LPK's Culinary Groove and the amazing sunchoke salad with ham hock relish from Uptown 21. The tomato basil macaron from Jason Inniss was a pleasant surprise and the lamb pastrami from Niagara St. Cafe was also declared a winner.

I thought overall it was a really good year for the picnic. My biggest beef is with the organization of the entrance area. They really need to separate the "have wrist band and just waiting to get in" line from the "trying to get wrist band" line. It was a mess and it took forever. It didn't help that they bottle necked the entrance by putting the glass/plate/utensil pick up right inside the entrance. But besides that, it was a great event and I hope they keep it going.

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Marben
488 Wellington Street West, Toronto, ON M5V 1E5, CA

LPK's Culinary Groove
Toronto Ontario, Toronto, ON , CA

[fickle]

Marben's stuffed potato was also a highlight of mine as well as Splendido's pork belly kimchi bun, Canoe's beef tartare, Pingue's prosciutto, Keriwa's pemmican bannock and Caplansky's donuts.

Very happy they moved back to the old space also, last year's nightmare with the strollers and congested corners weren't an issue this year thankfully. Agree with the glass/plate pickup area - wrong placement and direction. Little things that can easily be fixed for next year ;-)

Here's a link to my pix. Let me know if I've labelled anything incorrectly, it was a challenge sorting through them in a food comatose!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/70078254...

[prima]

Nice photos!

[Strongbad789]

I went. I wish I could remember more (or really, any) specifics about the food, but I just remember that I liked almost everything and really liked a number of things.

Other than the weather (which is clearly not their fault, and they were equipped to handle it anyway), and the ridiculous lack of organization when checking in (which was their fault, and should definitely be remedied next year), it was an amazing event. I'm not a big eater, so my wife and I basically split one of everything (or as many things as we could stuff in) and it was great. Got to try a lot of the wine, too, and found a number I liked.

I will definitely be returning next year (my wife got me tickets for my birthday, and joked that it looks like it'll have to be a permanent gift from now on...I certainly won't complain).