This past Saturday, I attended my final LuminaTO event, the 1000 Tastes of Toronto. I had gone to the event last year, so my expectations were high. Too high, apparently.
This year was a disappointment.
First of all, the event was held in a different space, which I admit, did bode well for having other events happening at the same time, but I love the waterfront and anything that seems boardwalk-y is fantastic.
Secondly, the food was blah. There was only a handful of fancy-schmancy restauranteurs that set up shop this year, so it didn't have the cool factor that I loved about last year. I'm not entirely sure if the organizers have a goal of having festival-goers get to sample dishes from slick locations that they may not usually get to dine at, or if it's just a chance for vendors to get some publicity. I do admit that there was a nice selection of ethnic food to represent the cultural diversity of Toronto, but I don't need a LuminaTO event for that. I'm probably growing out of their intended demographic (I'll make parallels to Summerlicious/Winterlicious).
The event did give me the opportunity to re-try an oyster on the half shell. Courtesy of Rodney's Oyster House, they aren't as bad as I remember. I'm open to having a couple more in the future.
There's also a chance that I just happened to go to the event at the wrong time. Some of the booths worked in shifts and in talking to someone else that went earlier in the day, I'd missed out on a couple stand-out dishes.
Oh well. It was nice to get out and take in another event in the city. I'll probably go next year as well, but be prepared to be disappointed and dine elsewhere.
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