Eat, Drink & Give, Cuvée Weekend, Stop for Food Chef Challenge and Recipe for Change

Photos (L-R) Luis Valenzuela of Torito, Mark Cutrara of Cowbell and David Garcelon of the Fairmont Royal York: three chefs who'll be busy on behalf of good causes this month.

Several really big events are coming up fast in the local food and wine community, in support of great causes.

Eat, Drink and Give Haiti

If you move very quickly indeed, there's still time to buy the $100 and $150-level tickets to Eat, Drink and Give, the fundraiser for emergency relief in Haiti that's being held tonight at Roy Thomson Hall from 6:30 p.m. on, with proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders. Will I see you there? (I've mentioned on Twitter that the first three people who come up to me tonight and ask for a jar of grapefruit marmalade will get one.)

However, if you're a restaurant or winemaker and you're not already on board, you've missed the boat, because the lineup of participants already reads like a who's-who of le tout Toronto gastronomique et viticulturel, and includes (are you ready for this?) Cowbell, Barberians, Grano, Noce, The Local Co., Buster Rhinos BBQ, Splendido, Cava, Vertical, Globe Bistro, Buddha Dog, Massimo Bruno, Sultan's Tent, Veritas, Treadwell, Ramelli, Forte, Local Wine Bar, Tutti Matti, Sweet Escapes Patisserie, The Designer Cookie, For Goodness Bakes, Frozen Vines, Sugar Baking, Dufflet, Rosewood, Cave Spring, Chateau des Charmes, Le Clos Jordanne, Vineland, Black Prince, Ravine,Fielding, Sue Ann Staff, Megalomaniac, Inniskillin, Jackson Triggs, Southbrook Vineyards, Tawse, Norman Hardie, Marynissen, Wine Australia, Joseph Phelps Vineyards, Nicolas Feuillate Champagne, Maison Louis Jadot, Terzetto Wines, The Tea Emporium, Simon Carter London, Natalie MacLean and Zoltan Szabo.

Niagara's Cuvée Weekend

Then on February 19, Niagara Fallsview Casino hosts the 22nd annual Cuvée gala, a sensational celebration of local food and 160 different local wines that's part of the Cuvée Weekend, running February 19 to 21. Tickets (available online or by telephone at 905-684-8688) are $200 for the entire weekend, which includes the gala, an awards ceremony and a tasting tour called Cuvée en route. Tickets for the tour alone are $30. Proceeds go to the Niagara Community Foundation, which supports area charities.

The awesome Cuvée gala lineup includes 13th Street, 20 Bees, Alvento, Angels Gate, Calamus, Cattail Creek, Cave Spring, Château des Charmes, Closson Chase, Colchester Ridge, Colio, Creekside, Dan Aykroyd, D'Angelo,De Sousa, EastDell, Feathersone, Fielding, Five Rows, Flat Rock, Frogpond Farm, Harvest, Henry of Pelham, Hernder, Hillebrand, Inniskillin, Jackson-Triggs, Kacaba, Konzelmann, Lailey, Lakeview, Legends, Maleta, Mike Weir, Mountain Road, Niagara College, Nyarai, Pelee Island, Peller, Peninsula Ridge, Pillitteri, Reif, Riverview, Rosewood, Royal DeMaria, Southbrook, Stonechurch, Stoney Ridge, Strewn, Sue-Ann Staff, Tawse, The Grange of Prince Edward, Thirty Bench, Twenty Twenty-Seven, Vineland and Wayne Gretzky.

Participating chefs are Matthew Carmichael (Restaurant 18, Ottawa), Bertrand Alepée (Amuse-Bouche, Toronto), Tom Brodi (Canoe, Toronto), Daniel Gilbert (Daniels of Nobleton), John Crowley (Davids, Port Dover), Rory Golden (Eclipse at Deerhurst Resort), Ross Midgley (The Kitchen House at Peninsula Ridge Estates Winery), Joseph Petrinac (Little Inn of Bayfield), Roberto Fracchioni (Millcroft Inn, Caledon), William Brunyansky (The Charles Inn, Niagara-on-the-Lake), Stephen Treadwell (Treadwell Farm to Table, Port Dalhousie) and Jamie Smith (Zee's Grill, Niagara-on-the-Lake), as well as students and chefs from the Niagara Culinary Institute and Fallsview Casino Resort.

Stop for Food Chef Challenge

The Stop Community Food Centre has a monthly dinner series called Food for Change, priced at $120 with wine pairings or $75 without ($100 for kitchen workers), but on February 22 at 6:30 p.m. they're also holding a $20 event called the Stop for Food Chef Challenge, a competition where in-house chef Chris Brown and chefs from Amuse Bouche, Torito, The Roosevelt Room and C5 compete with Jamie Kennedy for top honours. It's held at the ROM's C5, and proceeds go to the ground-breaking food-related programming at the Stop. If there are any tickets left – which there still were at time of posting – you can get them here. (I'm also planning to attend this one.)

Recipe for Change

Finally, at Recipe for Change, taking place February 25 at FoodShare (90 Croatia near Bloor and Dufferin), guests can support FoodShare’s Field to Table Schools program, which brings food literacy to students up to Grade 12, while sampling tasting plates composed by top Toronto chefs. Tickets are $100, and are available online, as well as by phone at 416-363-6441, extension 226, or via email. A good selection of vegan and vegetarian fare is promised.

Among the choices on offer, Ryan Gustafson and David Garcelon of the Fairmont Royal York are providing field and forest mushroom chowder with Harmony Dairies cream, prairie grains, potato confit, and a honey-port froth made with honey from the Royal York rooftop hives. Joan Monfaredi and Nicholas Sward of the Park Hyatt promise braised beef shortrib with horseradish red wine sauce and roasted winter vegetables, while Steffan Howard of the Palais Royale tempts tastebuds with little chestnut custards, Niagara apricot preserve coulis, coriander seed tostada and spiced Chocosol chocolate sauce.

Other particpants include Fabio Bondi (Local Kitchen), Marc Breton (Gladstone Hotel), Emerie Brine (Bernardin), David Chrystian (Victor), Damon Clements (Nomad), Adam Colquhon (Oyster Boy), Mark Cutrara (Cowbell), Jared Davis (Calico), Donna Dooher (Mildred’s Temple Kitchen), Paul Finkelstein (Screaming Avocado), Jesus Gomez, Sybil Pinnock & Alvin Rebick (FoodShare), Brad Long (Veritas & My Place), Bashir Munye (Simply Fresh), Afrim Pristine (Cheese Boutique), Mike Steh (reds bistro), Luis Valenzuela (Torito), Michael van den Winkel (Quince) and Ann Yarymowich (FRANK).