Toronto Michelin chef is serving free bites from 18-metre sushi bar at TIFF 2025

Toronto sushi lovers are in for a treat at TIFF 2025 as one of the city's top Omakase restaurants plans to serve free eats from a 60-foot (over 18-metre) sushi bar.

The return of TIFF brings an onslaught of excitement to the streets of Toronto year after year, from exciting activations along Festival Street (better known as King West) to the chance to do some celebrity spotting at restaurants across the city.

This year's film festival is shaping up to be a particularly exciting one for fans of the Toronto food scene, though, as two films featuring members of the industry are set to premiere at the festival.

First up, there's Dish Pit, a short film written by Canadian actor and Danny's Pizza Tavern co-owner Anna Hopkins, which just so happens to have also been shot at Danny's.

Then, there's Still Single, a feature-length documentary centred around Chef Masaki Saito, the heavily awarded, world-renowned chef behind Toronto's Michelin two-star Sushi Masaki Saito and MSSM.

The film explores Chef Saito's culinary journey, from his one-of-a-kind approach to Omakase to his lasting impact on the Toronto food scene, as well as his lesser-seen personal life and the people behind him.

To mark the premiere of Still Single, Chef Saito and his team have something particularly larger-than-life up their sleeves.

Taking over the northwest corner of King and John Streets, just outside the TIFF Lightbox on Friday, Sept. 5, you might just get the chance to sample the very Omakase that earned Chef Saito his two Michelin stars.

It'll be delivered to you from a whopping 60-foot-long sushi bar manned by over a dozen chefs from Saito's MSSM Yorkville, who'll be churning out free samples for any festival-goers lucky enough to make it to the front of what's sure to be a particularly lengthy line.

Chef Saito himself is even rumoured to be popping behind the bar at some point to whip up some extra special bites. Not too shabby, considering a dinner at Sushi Masaki Saito will run you up a nearly $800 tab.

While the sushi bar falls short of breaking any world records for its length, we're certain they've at least got a claim for something along the lines of "longest outdoor sushi bar in Canada," right?

Either way, record-breaking or not, who's going to turn down free Michelin sushi? Not us! See you there.