The Ultimate Toronto Picnic
Hey Toronto,
With patio seats being harder to come by in Toronto than concert tickets, we’re going to show you how and where to put together the best picnic, while supporting local restaurants and family-owned food businesses.
This round-up is not only delicious but will also bring you on a trip around Toronto, visiting different pockets of the city. It’s a tour and picnic all in one!
When it comes to a picnic, bread is the foundation for any good snack.
Forno Cultura is a favourite for Toronto locals – the cafe merges your casual coffee shop with an Italian bakery ambience to create delicious, doughy treats. The finest of natural ingredients and organic flours are used to make fresh bakery goods, and their bread brings a taste of Italy to every bite. We picked up the Focaccia Bianca and loved its roasted crust and buttery crumb, a match made in heaven for a scrumptious toast with jam. The second loaf we grabbed was a bitter filone which is excellent for cream cheeses and dips as its dense texture allows it to hold up well to thicker accompaniments.
Petite Thuet offers traditional, organic fresh bread in the heart of Rosedale. Petite Thuet is a French family bakery that uses authentic bread-making techniques to create its delicious baked goods. One of their signature loaves of bread is light organic rye bread. Its sour flavour makes a perfect base for anything sweet or salty.
Now that we have the bread let’s grab some food to pile on it.
Cheese is the backbone to elevate any loaf, and lucky for you, we’ve found 3 amazing Ontario cheeses that rise to the challenge.
Mountainoak Black Truffle: Made in Ontario’s own New Hamburg, the Van Bergeijk family has been perfecting Gouda cheese since 1976, and their Mountainoak Black Truffle is a testament to their craft. This unique cow’s milk Gouda is rich and buttery with notes of nuttiness and just the perfect amount of Black Truffle. This truly gourmet product will have all your picnic guests feeling like certified cheesemongers.
The Lancaster Cheese: This hard cow’s milk cheese is sure to please even the pickiest of cheese eaters. It is shaped like a loaf to express its intended use to be sliced and eaten directly on bread as Dutch farmers do. This slightly opened textured cheese will provide guests with a flavourful experience unlike any other with its sweet and sour flavour profile and nutty aromatic hues. The Lancaster Cheese is a genuine artisanal delicacy perfect for accompanying any loaf of bread that might end up on your blanket this year.
Gunn’s Hill, Dark Side of the Moo Cheese: If you are a connoisseur of hand-crafted cow’s milk cheese, then the Dark Side of the Moon is just for you. This cheese begins by soaking for four days in Dark Side Chocolate Stout from Woodstock’s Upper Thames Brewery and then ages for four months to ensure the stout’s rich aromatic flavours have time to penetrate every layer. A genuinely innovative experience is what you get when you indulge in a slice of Dark Side of the Moon, making it the ideal topper for any basic loaf that may show up.
And you’re in, no need to run around the city to grab these three kinds of cheese in time for your picnic because The Cheese Boutique has got you covered. As a sanctuary for hundreds of cheeses from across the nation and globe, they will be sure to set your mind at (ch)ease.
If you like your bread to be accompanied by something a bit sweeter, you need to make a pit stop at Kitten & the Bear. As artisanal jam icons, this quaint family-owned shop creates some of the best French confiture style fruit preserves the GTA has ever seen. The company prides itself on using the highest quality ingredients obtained by local producers. We recommend getting your hands on a jar of their classic strawberry or Sunshine peach, a gorgeous jam infused with yuzu and orange blossom.
And no list of bread accompaniments would be complete without a few dips and salads. Souk Tabule is known for its modern take on Middle Eastern cuisine. This culinary landmark makes some of the most flavourful and authentic cuisines any picnic goer has ever seen. Get your hands on Souk Tabule’s hummus – this complex yet straightforward spread will add a complimentary nutty, savoury note to any loaf it’s placed upon. We also suggest you try the Muhammara, a roasted red pepper and walnut dip that embodies a bold flavour profile of savoury, sweet, smoky, and a tad bit spicy. An alluring picnic feature for the epicure in your life.
If dips and spreads don’t tickle your fancy, how about a few fresh salads to get the picnic started. Souk Tabule offers a variety of freshly made in-house salads inspired by the Middle East’s rich flavors. We recommend you try the beet salad or their renowned Quinoa Tabule, a refreshing salad made from a combination of parsley, tomato, onion, and quinoa that has been tossed in a light lemon and olive oil dressing. Simplicity never tasted so good.
All that munching needs a nice cool drink to be washed down with.
On a hot summer day, Pacific Bottleworks Co. offers a variety of unique drinks that will leave you feeling cool down and refreshed. The company has everything from classic Boylan sodas and sparkling waters to sweet and natural Cabana lemonades. If you are looking for a fizzy drink, they also offer organic spritzers. An iced tea lover? Why not try a fruity GoodDrink bottled tea? They come in an assortment of unique flavours, including passion fruit, pomegranate, and strawberry. Although these beverages may be non-alcoholic, they are intoxicatingly refreshing for any picnic you’re planning to throw.
It’s not a picnic if there aren’t some sweet treats – that’s right, it’s time for dessert.
There is nuttin’ better than pecans and walnuts at a picnic, especially when it’s Jewels Under the Kilt’s artisan Canadian-grown freshly roasted nuts. You may not consider nuts a sweet treat, but then again, you probably have never eaten any of these candied nuts. From Ceylon Cinnamon Walnut to Apple Pie Pecan, you will find whatever you’re craving at Jewels Under the Kilt. And if you’re one for the classics, the Original Pecan combines pecans with dark maple syrup, invoking nostalgic feelings reminiscent of eating pancakes on a weekend morning.
Let’s get poppin’! EATABLE popcorn is a perfect snack to have while catching up with your friends and family. This isn’t your average popped kernel; this is alcohol-infused gourmet popcorn. EATABLE makes premium popcorn out of natural ingredients and infuses it with wine and spirits. EATABLE has something for everyone. Their signature six-pack offers Pop Goes Sangria, Poppin’ Peach Bellini, Whiskey on the Pops, Pop the Champagne, Pop the Salt & Tequila, and Poppy Caesar. What makes this snack so easy? All you need to worry about is placing an order for EATABLE; products get delivered right to your door.
Is it really dessert without cake? What about a chocolate layered cake? Le Dolci makes decadent cakes with velvety smooth swiss meringue buttercream topped with dripped chocolate syrup and sprinkles. Le Dolci has sweet treats that will have your mouth watering – everything from smash cakes to cupcakes.
If you can’t figure out where to host your picnic and the hustle and bustle of Trinity Bellwoods doesn’t excite you, then check out these five often overlooked and underrated picnic spots located in the GTA. You can thank us later 😉
- Trillium Park (Ontario Place)
- Sunnyside Park (Swansea)
- Edwards Gardens (Don Mills)
- Rosetta McClain Gardens (Birch Cliff)
- David Crombie Park (St. Lawrence)
By: Haley Sova, Sarah Osher & Anastasiia Podymova