I love brunch! It has the perfect mix of what I love about breakfast - bacon, eggs, toast, doughnuts - and non-breakfast foods like salads, sandwiches and pies.
I was upset when I missed out on last year's launch of Brunch Fest so this year I made sure to go out of my way to check out what I heard was a great event. With the toasty temperatures for early June, it was the perfect food festival to kick off the summer. No only was there several food vendors and dishes to choose from, there were outdoor lawn games, Muskoka chairs to lounge in and an outdoor bar. If you got too hot there were vendors inside the event site at 99 Sudbury and a Nespresso bar serving free coffee to guests. The best way to describe Brunch Fest is a millennial/hipster garden party in downtown Toronto and not in a bad way.
The food theme at Brunch Fest? Fried chicken. Lots of it. Multiple vendors had it on their menus and while it may not be the type of food you associate with brunch, it works - especially paired with something sweet like waffles or pancakes. My love for French toast drew me to Fully Loaded T.O's fried chicken French toast, while Sean went for the traditional chicken waffle from the Porch. Both dishes had the sweet/salty combo going on, but I liked that the Porch's chicken waffle had a spicy maple syrup because I'm a fan of the sweet heat trend.
One of the main draws for me was that Rosen's Cinnamon Buns participated in the event. I have been dying to try their infamous cinnamon buns for months and was sad when I found out that the bakery is not accessible, so I was stoked when I heard they were going to be at Brunch Fest. They were everything I hoped for - a perfect balance of cinnamon, vanilla and butter and not overly sweet. The only thing I wished for was that they were warm.
Like many popular food festivals, Brunch Fest tickets were sold based on timed sessions, but unlike other events guests were allowed to stay as long as they wanted. I thought this was a great way to control the crowds without being too rigid and forcing people to leave before they were ready to. In general, I felt like the festival was well organized and with entry prices ranging between $9.95 (on Friday) and $15.95 (on Saturday and Sunday) and food being no more than 4 tickets (which was equal to $8), it was affordable and accessible to most people. With so many food choices and vendors, there weren't crazy lineups for food, which meant guests could relax and eat and drink at their own pace. This was definitely a worthwhile food festival.
