Yesterday was the third annual Picnic at the Brick Works. The event was sold-out and judging by the smiles on people’s faces, it was a huge success. As the print-media sponsor it’s hard to write dispassionately about the event –but it is, without a doubt, my favourite day of the year. The Picnic is a true celebration of good food, pairing local producers with the city’s top chefs to create some truly memorable dishes.

The organizers made a specific effort to broaden the scope of cuisines represented at the event. There were many dishes from Latin America as well as Asia and Eastern Europe. I also noticed that there were more local wine producers in attendance. It was a perfect opportunity to try new wines, ciders and beers, particularly with so many people opting to take cabs or the shuttle-bus due to limited parking.

I’ve attended all of the Picnics and it was nice to see so many chefs back. Many have provided recipes for Tonic and I think of them as friends of the magazine. It was also great to see many new faces, and I hope to include as many of their recipes in the magazine as I can in the new year.

I spoke with many attendees throughout the day to get their impressions and canvass their favourite dishes. Among the most popular were the lamb crepe, created by Vertical’s Tawfik Shehata www.verticalrestaurant.ca and the Honey Ice Cream with Blueberry Compote from Ryan Gustafson of EPIC at the Royal York www.fairmont.com.

I really liked the smoked fish appetizer created by the Drake’s Anthony Rose www.thedrakehotel.ca/dining. It featured smoked trout and white fish from Akiwenzie’s Fish & More kiwenzie@bmts.com. The spicy tomato dhosa from Mildred’s Temple Kitchen was spicy and satisfying. I am a huge fan of the ice creams created by Cava’s Chris McDonald www.cavarestaurant.ca. His plum ice cream was delicious and one of a small number of dishes for which I made room for seconds.

Slow Food’s Arlene Stein and her troop of volunteers are to be commended for a fantastic job of hosting the event. A special thanks to Ryan for assisting me with my self-inflicted parking difficulties.