After a weekend in St. Louis, we enjoyed a long weekend back in Toronto watching curling as well as eating (and walking) our way around downtown!
We had a visitor to Toronto for the long weekend, our friend Sam who was staying with us for the second year in a row to watch the Players' Championship of curling. Between watching games at the Mattamy Athletic Centre we explored Toronto by foot, visiting Kensington Market and Chinatown, checking out a show at The Second City, and trying out quite a few new restaurants.
On Saturday morning, we skipped the tie-breakers and headed to St. Lawrence Market for some exploration and some lunch. We had been to the market briefly when we visited Toronto before we moved here but hadn't spent much time there since so we decided to properly explore the market this time around.
On Saturday morning, we skipped the tie-breakers and headed to St. Lawrence Market for some exploration and some lunch. We had been to the market briefly when we visited Toronto before we moved here but hadn't spent much time there since so we decided to properly explore the market this time around.
The St. Lawrence Market was originally founded in 1803 when the the area was proclaimed "Market Block", with the first permanent farmer's market built there later that year. The three buildings themselves (The South Market, The North Market, and St. Lawrence Hall) have a storied history with a brick building replacing the original North Market wooden building in 1831, the great fire of Toronto destroying them all in 1849 and new buildings being constructed and (some) demolished all the way up until 1979.
On Saturday, we visited the South Market which hosts over 120 vendors on the main and lower floors with everything from fresh fish and vegetables, to a vendor that exclusively sells varieties of rice, to shops that seem to specialize in Canadiana baby onesies. We wandered around for a while, scoping out lunch options and potential cooking utensils.
In the end, we settled on some shareable foods such as BBQ pork buns, cheese and potato perogies covered in sour cream, and a gigantic cabbage roll.
On our way out, we couldn't resist the scent of freshly baked bread and pastries, so we had to stop by to take a look... and a bite...
On Saturday, we visited the South Market which hosts over 120 vendors on the main and lower floors with everything from fresh fish and vegetables, to a vendor that exclusively sells varieties of rice, to shops that seem to specialize in Canadiana baby onesies. We wandered around for a while, scoping out lunch options and potential cooking utensils.
In the end, we settled on some shareable foods such as BBQ pork buns, cheese and potato perogies covered in sour cream, and a gigantic cabbage roll.
On our way out, we couldn't resist the scent of freshly baked bread and pastries, so we had to stop by to take a look... and a bite...
We each picked up a pastry and enjoyed our tasty treats as we walked to the Mattamy Athletic Centre, essentially our home for the weekend.
Although the teams we were rooting for didn't end up winning the Players' Championship, we had a lot of fun watching the games. And Sam, you're welcome back anytime... just make sure you bring some more of those cookies.
Here are a few more photos of our St. Lawrence Market adventure:
Although the teams we were rooting for didn't end up winning the Players' Championship, we had a lot of fun watching the games. And Sam, you're welcome back anytime... just make sure you bring some more of those cookies.
Here are a few more photos of our St. Lawrence Market adventure:
(SLIDESHOW)
As you may have guessed, this time last year we were at the Players' Championship, in 2015 we were tasting our way around a Food and Wine show, and in 2013 we had a random day in Downtown St. John's.
