Imagine being able to try food and drinks from over 90 local restaurants from across the city for only $100. This was exactly what we did when we attended The Stop’s (5th annual) Night Market last month. Along with the all-you-can-eat/drink perk, the admission fee goes toward The Stop’s programs to increase access to healthy foods and confront the underlying issues that lead to poverty and hunger.
The event runs for two nights, with vendors operating out of one-of-a-kind food carts created by local designers. Here are a few we managed to capture (before the lines started forming). To view all of the carts displayed this year, visit The Stop’s Facebook album.
Left: Cart design by Spoke Creative // Right: Cart design by The Hunger
Most people definitely wouldn’t be able to eat everything offered, but luckily, we came in a group of four. Through teamwork and dedication, we managed to try something from nearly every vendor that night!
Frankie’s Meatballs with red sauce & pickle salsa verde from Bespoke Butchers
This year’s Night Market was an overall success – feeding tons of hungry attendees, featuring amazing food/drink vendors, and raising $215,000 in support of The Stop’s critical food access and community-building programs. If you missed out this year, follow The Stop on social media to be updated on next year’s event.
Two points we’re going to keep in mind for next year:
Come hungry.
Minimize the bulk. Since there was a lot of juggling this year (food, drinks, utensils, etc.), it’s best to come with as few items as possible.
Wear close-toed shoes that we don’t mind getting a little dirty. The event is on gravel, so there are a lot of rocks and sand which can hurt. ?
Reading Week and Family Day are just around the corner. If you’re ditching the books for a week or have nothing planned yet, there are a lot of things you can do around York Region!
Board Games & Chill
There are a handful of board game cafés in the Markham area where you can enjoy light snacks, a beverage, and play any board game you like . Here are three places, but feel free to chime in if you know of a few others in the York Region area!
Have you been glow-in-the-dark mini putting? Putting Edge has locations in both Vaughan and Richmond Hill. You can also go to Laserquest (actually beside Putting Edge) in Richmond Hill or go outdoor skating at the Markham Civic Centre. By now, there are also many escape rooms to choose from in the York Region. Here are a few:
If you want to get in touch with your inner artist or just relieve some stress, try your hand at one of these activities.
PaintLounge Markham
PaintLounge is a fun place to get together with a few friends to paint. You can either freestyle or choose something from one of their sample books to draw inspiration from. Check out these deals:
February 12 to 14 – ART & WINE WITH YOUR VALENTINE Enjoy an art date in style with two 16×20” freestyle sessions & two glasses of wine, beer, tea or coffee, $70 per couple. More details at paintlounge.ca/valentines.
February 15 – FAMILY PAINT DAY This Family Day, come as a family for our “Up, Up, and Away” Family Workshop and explore colours, paints, and painting techniques and create collaborative art on a big canvas together. $50 per family for a 24×30” canvas. More details at paintlounge.ca/events/family-day.
Now to February 29 Register with promo code BLOGGERPARTY2016, and your followers will get 45% off adult workshops, valid at all locations. Sign up at paintlounge.ca/adult-workshops.
Colour Me Mine is another painting place, but not on a canvas! They have a variety of ceramic pieces you can choose from including mugs, décor, and bowls. Here are a few of their deals:
Family Fridays One painting adult gets up to two free studio fees for kids (13 years old and under). Adult must paint their own item and pay a studio fee.
Two-for-Tuesday Two people paint for one studio fee.
Ladies Night On Wednesday evenings (starting at 4pm) ladies of all ages receive half price studio fees.
February 15 – Visit the Markham Museum for Winterfest! There’s a $3 fee per person, but the whole family can experience activities such as ice block building, crafts, music, and snow-shoeing. They’re also running a few other events this month that your whole family can enjoy.
February 23 – As cat lovers, we can’t help but mention the grand opening of Markham’s Cat Adoption and Education Centre (CAEC) (even though this technically takes place after Reading Week). Beginning at 10:30am, you can join in on the grand opening festivities by skating, doing fun activities, and enjoying some refreshments.
Head Downtown
Don’t wanna stay uptown this break? You can always head down to the seventh-best city in the world, Toronto! There are many ways to get across the city including the YRT/Viva, TTC, or GO Transit. Here are some things you can check out:
Shangri-La Toronto’s Chinese New Year High Tea Set
With over 100 people in attendance at on October 4, this was the biggest food event that the Markham Food team has organized so far! We co-hosted and co-organized this event with Patrick from Feed My Phone to give back to the amazing food community on Instagram and beyond. The crew at Me.n.u Food Truck made this special event happen thanks to their donation of a venue and delicious food. We had 10 sponsors who generously donated their products for our giveaways at the event, so everyone who was still present by the end of the event was able to bring at least one thing home.
One of the food highlights from this event was the “Decorate Your Own Me.N.U Rice Ball” station. Attendees were able to choose from various sauces and toppings to build their own unique (and delicious) rice ball.
… and above is our finished rice ball! Check out this pic to see some of the other results from this station. Besides the rice balls, Me.n.u also served kimchi poutine (below) and Nutella green tea crème brûlée (this was too good and we forgot to snap a pic before eating it, but here’s a close-upby one of our followers).
Special thanks to Daniel from Love Gelato for providing everyone with dessert! Even on a chilly afternoon, our attendees eagerly lined up to get a taste of the gelato. The flavours provided were coffee, hazelnut, pistachio, fig, mango, pear, and lemon. We highly recommend that you guys visit Love Gelato at their store at 75 Main St. North to try even more of their gelato, food, and coffee.
And of course, the event would not have been possible without the food and venue provided by Me.n.u Food Truck. Check out their website to see where they’ll be next!
