My WebSite

Friday, June 5, 2009

"24 Hours Toronto" News

Food & Drink Discover the food in your neighbourhood

For Trina Hendry, the best way to get to know a neighbourhood is to eat your way through it.

DELICIOUS DISHES: Udupi Palace restaurant manager Hubert D’Mello and Trina Hendry of ChowBella Culinary Experiences show off one of the dishes available during a culinary tour.

Hendry founded ChowBella Culinary Experiences & Concierge which aims to expose people to Toronto’s culinary offerings. Throughout the summer, the company is holding culinary tours in three Toronto neighbourhoods; Little India, Kensington Market and West Queen West.

“I think food brings people together, and in a city where we have access to every culture in the world— to open that up to people and let them explore is amazing,” Hendry said.

The two-hour tours will take a group of about 12 people to various restaurants, supermarkets, coffee shops and other local stores to sample food, drinks, ingredients and learn more about he history and make-up of the neighbourhood.

The tour of Little India will be led by local chef Joshna Maharaj and will begin at Udupi Palace on Gerrard St. E. with a cooking demonstration.

“People love to see something made in front of them,” said Hubert D’Mello, manager of the restaurant which specializes in South and North Indian vegetarian cuisine.

“We are well-known for Dosas (similar to a crepe made of rice and lentils, filled with vegetables) and nowadays everybody is health conscious, so if people see the kitchen is clean and the food is totally vegetarian automatically the interest develops.”

Hendry drew from her previous work for hotel chains in the city where she was responsible for organizing behind-the-scenes culinary experiences for out-oftowners, and was inspired to start something based on “culinary tourism” for tourists and locals alike.

“There’s this local movement, local food, supporting your local businesses and I think this is the opportunity to do this,” she said.

In these economic times, Hendry says she hopes Torontonians will become tourists in their own city and discover places they may not have known before.

“It’s all about the local movement and you get to sample food all along the way. It’s not a bad way to spend two hours.”

Visit the tour’s website at chowbellaconcierge.com for more information.

No comments:

Post a Comment