Eat & Drink
The Stop's Night Market draws a huge, hungry crowd
The Stop's Night Market was quite possibly the nicest, best-catered summer soiree in the city. The fundraising event took place last night in the spacious alley way of Bloor and Bathurst's Honest Ed's and featured 27 food vendors representing some of the city's finest restaurants. In addition, each vendor was also paired up with a design team to create one-of-a-kind food stands, transforming the parking lot space into the most aesthetically-pleasing (and delicious) spot of the night.
Not your average food event caterers, the Night Market drew out acclaimed restaurants such as Woodlot, The County General and Cowbell out as well as new favourites Hawker Bar and Yours Truly.
Offering up signature dishes, event-goers were able to sample a bit of everything, as portions for each stop were petite enough that testing out all 27 vendors wasn't too daunting (or filling) a task.
Highlights included Hawker Bar's "son-in-law" eggs — a one-bite wonder that bursts with flavours — Woodlot's beef crudo which was topped with duck yolk, and Bushwick's shrimp cocktail which was a refreshing bite to combat the sweltering hot weather.
The all-you-can-eat-and-drink aspect of the event made for quicker and smoother service than your average food event where tickets and payment often slow things down and results in lengthy waits.
Even the longest of lines only lasted a few minutes before reaching the front of the booth which was an enormous plus. And with all the free-flowing drinks — from Steamwhistle to margaritas and even coconut water — not one complaint was heard all night.
The designs also imparted a unique personality to each vendor and, upon walking into the alleyway, is what immediately caught your eye. The wave of white cubes designed by the Ryerson Department of Architectural Science drew everyone towards Neptuno's oysters as soon as they stepped into the market but Fugitive Glue and [R]ed[U]x Lab's sculptural wooden creations also showcased the creative innovation behind some very talented designers. It almost made you forget that you were walking into the everyday alleyway you always pass by.
Additional photos:
Writing by Melody Lau / Photos by Natta Summerky
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The event did go into the later hours of the night and you can find "night" (i.e. dark/lit up pics) on The Grid and other websites/blogs. It was the summer solstice after all so even at 9pm there was plenty of natural light.
Anyway, just wanted to address some points but I agree with the other poster that some of the booths should have been featured more in the pics. The most amazing booths I have seen at any type of event before and they were all donated!
But why was this not broadcasted on BlogTO's so people could be aware and have an option to attend.
Ive said it before and Il say it again, BlogTO def has to improve its events pages.
This is a charity event. We're raising money for people who can't afford a meal. Every single person you see there donated their time, money and creativity and even with all of the generous donations these events cost a lot of money. We felt the ticket price was fair. Not only did you get to eat till you exploded, drink till you were fuzzy eyed, experience art in an unconventional manner you got to support a charity. There was not one complaint in the crowd. I just think it's sad that people feel the need to voice such negativity and use scapegoats like 'elitist' crowd...the people who showed up last night were just regular people who used their hard earned dollars to support an important cause and experience a new event in their city.
Stop hating. It's unbecoming.
In the end people are
Posted by Derek Flack / JUNE 5, 2012
http://bit.ly/LFCtuM
Instead of trying to justify it, the feedback should be used to make the next event better instead of coming on here and attempting to justify the price with the naysayers.
Everything was donated you say? So maybe next time the ticket price should be less? Imagine how many people would go for $40, or $35. The profit per person would be less but I imagine the grand total would be much higher.
Regardless, a successful event is achieved through innovation. Gaining customer feedback and improving on those points for the next event. No matter who you are in this equation, attendee or naysayer, everyone wanted to know what was in it for them, but it's blatantly obvious that we all had different ideas of what was "fair" for the ticket price.
cheers!
All the awesome food you could eat, all the awesome beer (okay, except for Steamwhistle crap) you could drink.
All you whiners f off.
I had a great time, tons of food, lots of beer, and great desserts. Met lots of new friends and didn't see one person complaining or having a terrible time.
Would love to attend more of these events!
Thanks for all the hard work, planning and organizing!
Sorry for all you who missed out!
The best man in Ottawa was Mufferaw Joe, Mufferaw Joe
As a traveler, I was thrilled to read BlogTO's original post about Toronto "getting a new night market" only to find out it's some charity dinner.
To friends, haters and silent observers:
Thank you for making this night has amazing as it was, and for taking the time to read, write and talk about it. This event served not only as an opportunity to celebrate amazing food and thriving creative energy in the city, but it was also a platform to fundraise money for a great non-profit community organization, The Stop. Let me repeat - this was a fundraiser (a fundraiser!).
Price will almost always be an issue for someone - the game of balancing numbers, portions, comfort and capacity are tricky, and while people can blindly suggest their own opinion of what could have been better, really, you have no idea. The tickets were set at this price point specifically to allow more (and obviously not all) people to access this kind of event. And certainly, we've never seen an event like this before. Fifty dollars all in? Really? Crazy.
Aside from all this ticket-talk...someone needs to put up more photos of the carts - these made the event so much fun and so unique. The designers need some press over here!
Can't wait for next year.
http://weareglmmr.tumblr.com/
ps we'll design you a sweet sauna for cheap
You mean, more like keeping out people who cause trouble, which isn't THAT bad an idea. Please stop acting as if you're entitled to go to this, simply because they used a bit of untruth in advertising to get people to pay up and come.
Also, PLEASE stop complaining about Toronto having no night markets-they will come when they will come, and not just because you or somebody else feels the need to attend/set up one without any form of supervision. If you want that, go to anywhere else in the world where such markets exist, and you most likely get hep B and hep a from the food, needing a Twinrix shot beforehand.