Top Canadian Chefs are giving cooking demos at St. Lawrence Market on Sundays

TORONTO, August 8, 2022 – Now here is a brilliant idea. Let’s have Canadian top chefs ply their craft at one of the country’s most popular marketplaces. Bring the top chefs right to where the freshest vegetables, meats, fruits, cheeses and breads are sold. In celebration of St. Lawrence Market’s newly expanded hours of operation, the Market has launched the Sunday Chef Series of live cooking demonstrations featuring celebrated Canadian chefs and market fresh recipes.

This past Sunday, July 31 was first Sunday opening and the Market hosted the first Sunday Chef Series event with Chef Victor Barry of Toronto’s PIANO PIANO. Chef Victor and his family served wood-fire baked pizzas using Market fresh ingredients for hundreds of hungry Market visitors.

Over the next three months, St. Lawrence Market is continuing the Sunday Chef Series with 12 chefs, offering free cooking demonstrations and samples of Market fresh dishes. The events will be held on the pedestrianized Market Street, until cooler weather arrives in October and the events move inside the South Market.

“For me, the magic of a great meal comes from sharing the experience with friends, family and loved ones. It was great to be able to share the flavours of St. Lawrence Market with everyone this past Sunday,” said Chef Victor Barry. “I’m so happy that food lovers from Toronto and beyond now have even more opportunity to savour the Market experience with the expanded hours of operation,” said Barry.

St. Lawrence Market Sunday Chef Series events schedule from approx. noon to 2 p.m.:

• August 7 – Mexican Street Food
  Chef Elia Herrera (executive chef & co-owner of Colibri Toronto and Tecolote, television personality, Top Chef Canada and culinary brand ambassador)
• August 14 – Bollywood Barbecue
  Chef Vikram Vij (co-owner Vij’s Group of Restaurants Vancouver, Food Network & Dragon’s Den personality, cookbook author and Gastronaut)
• August 21 – Fun Family Cooking
  Chef Lynn Crawford (chef, cookbook author, Food Network judge and television host)
• August 28 – Dining Al Fresco
  Chef Claudio Aprile (chef, television personality, judge MasterChef Canada)
• September 4 – Seafood Palace
  Chef Charlotte Langley (chef, culinary director, Marine Stewardship Council ambassador, co-founder and Chief Culinary Officer at Scout Canning)
• September 11 – Seafood Supper
  Chef Matt Dean Pettit (chef, entrepreneur, cookbook author and radio and television personality)
• September 18 – Get Ready to Grill
  Chef Ted Reader (chef, cookbook author, television personality)
• September 25 – Asian Meets Caribbean Soul Food
  Chef Craig Wong (chef-owner of Patois and Bar Mignonette Toronto, executive chef of Ting Irie Dubai, television host and personality)
• October 2 – Get Ready for Thanksgiving
  Chef David Adjey (celebrity chef, owner BOUFFE Toronto, Food Network personality, cookbook author and world traveler)
• October 16 – Couples: In the Kitchen Together
  Chef Ivana Raca (chef, gourmet caterer, personality on Food Network, and Beat Bobby Flay where she beat Bobby Flay with her signature ricotta gnocchi)
• October 23 – Finding Home in the Kitchen
  Chef Suzanne Barr (chef, author, social advocate, television personality)
• October 30 – Fall Flavours
  Cookbook author and television host Mary Berg (Mary Makes It Easy, Mary’s Kitchen Crush and winner MasterChef Canada)

“St. Lawrence Market has everything you need to host an incredible barbecue. I can’t wait to share fresh grilling tips with Market visitors in the Sunday Chef Series,” said Chef Ted Reader. “With so many different fresh foods to try, it’s great to hear that the Market now has expanded hours so that customers have more time to take it all in,” added Reader.

“The diversity of flavours at St. Lawrence Market is unmatched! I’m looking forward to sharing these flavours with Market visitors at my upcoming Sunday Chef Series event,” said Chef Vikram Vij. “I know that having expanded hours for the Market will give even more people the ability to experience the sights, scents and flavours of the Market for themselves,” said Vij.

Those visiting the Market this Sunday for the next Sunday Chef Series event with Chef Elia Herrera will learn how to make Elia’s authentic guacamole and traditional Mexican street corn. Customers are encouraged to make a day of it with shopping inside the South Market building and live jazz music with the Soul Pop Trio by Bongo & B Entertainment on Market Street throughout the day.

“I’m looking forward to sharing some authentic Mexican flavours with Market visitors this Sunday. Sundays are a great day to explore the city with friends and family and St. Lawrence Market is the perfect place to go,” said Chef Elia Herrera.

St. Lawrence Market Hours of Operation

St. Lawrence Market’s new hours of operation are in effect. The South Market (main building, 91 to 95 Front St. E.) hours are:

• Tuesdays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Saturdays, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Closed on Mondays

The St. Lawrence Market Saturday Farmers Market continues to operate inside the Temporary Market building, 125 The Esplanade, from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekly.

As the Market transitions into the expanded hours of operation, Tuesdays will be a flexible day for South Market merchants for the first six weeks. Each Tuesday, up to and including Tuesday, September 6, some merchants may be closed to the public or operate with reduced hours. St. Lawrence Market will keep customers informed of modified merchant operations on Tuesdays here . All merchants will be open for the full duration of operating hours on all other days.

The Market’s new hours are a one-year pilot project that will inform a more permanent operating schedule for 2023 and beyond. The revised hours of operation will make the Market more accessible with service hours that meet visitors’ changing needs and preferences.

The change in hours include having the Market open on Sundays, as well as later morning opening times and later weekday evening closing times. Consumer feedback received in the recent public survey conducted by the City indicated that there was high demand for customers to be able to shop after regular office working hours and on Sundays as an additional weekend shopping day. Based on this feedback the expanded operating hours include two additional hours of operation each weekday evenings and a seven hour additional shopping day on Sundays.

More information about the hours of operation pilot project and the Sunday Chef Series is available on the St. Lawrence Market website .

SOURCE City of Toronto

lead photo Chef Victor Barry, @stlawrencemarket

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