Toronto Wine and Cheese Show Wine Appreciation Seminars

The Toronto Wine and Cheese Show presents a series of wine appreciation seminars March 20 to 22 at the International Centre (6900 Airport Road, with a free shuttle bus from Kipling TTC). (The Dairy Farmers of Ontario are also presenting cheese tasting seminars throughout the show.)

• Friday, March 20, 6 to 7 p.m.: Hidden Gems: How to Find a Really Good Wine with Toronto Star wine columnist Gord Stimmel


• Friday, March 20, 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.: Wine & Cheese: The Big Award Winners with Canadian cheese expert Gurth Pretty and Justine Lakeit of Caroline Cellars Winery


• Saturday, March 21, 1 to 2 p.m.: Build Your Wine Confidence with Angela Aiello and Paxton Allewell (pictured) of iYellowWineClub.com


• Saturday, March 21, 3 to 4 p.m.: Chilean Wine at Its Very Best with Gabriel Salas of Select Wines and Shawn Rocchi of Pair of Pairs catering


• Saturday, March 21, 5 to 6 p.m.: Big, Bold Italian Reds with the LCBO's Antonio Ruscetta


• Saturday, March 21, 7 to 8 p.m.: Celebrity Wine Tasting with Angela Aiello and Paxton Allewell of iYellowWineClub.com


• Sunday, March 22, 1 to 2 p.m.: Chilean Wine at Its Very Best with Gabriel Salas of Select Wines and Shawn Rocchi of Pair of Pairs catering


• Sunday, March 22, 3 to 4 p.m.: Red Carpet Reds with Geoff Kahbert of the LCBO

Tickets are $40 each, and they include entry to the Wine and Cheese Show. To order, call 905-842-6591 or 1-800-693-7986, ext. 260, or email noliver@metrolandwest.com.

More About Marmalade at Fort York

I forgot to mention... on Saturday, February 28, I posted my report on the Culinary Historians' Mad for Marmalade event with the historic cooks at Fort York. I did enter my marmalade, but it did not make the top two. Maybe next year!

Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Show 2009

The CFRA show runs this Sunday to Tuesday, March 8 to 10 at the Direct Energy Centre. It's the big restaurant industry show (i.e. not for the general public), with exhibitors like McCain, Boston PIzza and the Beef Information Centre (BIC). One of the highlights this year is the inaugural Japan Pavilion, which showcase ten companies from Japan and Ontario who will present Japanese food, beverages and cookware, some of which are new to Canadians. Expect everything from sake and green tea to soy sauce, rice vinegar and roasted lavor.

There will also be a competition for celebrity chefs called "Cooking With the Stars" at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday and Monday. It features Jason Rosso (The Distillery Restaurant Group), Roger Mooking (pictured, Kultura and Nyood), Giovanna Alonzi (Terroni) and Roberto Fracchioni (Millcroft Inn & Spa), and will be judged by Michael Bonacini and Massimo Capra (Mistura, Sopra).

Top chefs like Mark McEwan, Alex Rolland, Melissa Craig and Bob Blumer will lead live demonstrations, and there will be industry-specific workshops on non-food topics like business growth. Fun items include a Guinness Record attempt at a 4,000-litre Caesar cocktail. There’s also an "Eat Local" pavilion (hooray!)