The Takeover: Slow Food Sunday Market and Food Truck Eats! in Market Square!

This past Sunday, Market Square in Stratford was the place to be for two reasons. First, for the return of the Slow Food Sunday Market, which will run every Sunday from 10am to 2pm until October 28...

...and second, because of Food Truck Eats Stratford!

Alan from Downie Street Bakehouse kicked off the outdoor season with heaping baskets of fresh, crusty loaves to supply the throngs of people who filled Market Square.

In addition to five food trucks that traveled to Stratford just for this event, some of our local businesses operated 'pop-ups'. Karen Hartwick of Tea Leaves ran her pop-up out of her Honey-I-Shrunk-The-Food-Truck custom Mini (above). Other local pop-ups included Molly Blooms (who served whistle dogs with Perth Pork Products bacon), Revel Caffe, Pazzo (who featured Loco Dogs with housemade condiments), and the soon-to-open-hotspot Mercer Hall (along with cheesecake-on-a-stick their chefs were also spinning Foie Gras cotton candy)!

The lads from Caveman Crops were ready for the crowds with their preserves and piles of fresh wild leeks.

When it was time for me to grab some street eats I headed over to the Blue Donkey Streatery. I love Greek food and the Blue Donkey was serving an absolutely killer Fried Calamari Pita with French Fries (that would be French Fries in the pita!) and Garlic Mayo. I hate to admit it but it was so good I went back for a second later in the afternoon!

It's been an early growing season so Ryan from Loco Fields was ready with some early radishes, greens and wintered leeks.

Caplansky's Deli was swarmed for the whole day... this family feast included Brisket Poutine, Brisket on a Bun, Asparagus Poutine (wow there's two words I never thought I'd see together!), and Bacon Donuts.

 

Food Truck Eats! is the brainchild of Suresh Doss (the Globe and Mail had a great piece on him and the phenomenon he's created a couple of weeks ago). He's all over the Toronto food scene and he wanted to bring the hot trend for food trucks that's happening across the States (Eat Street is one of the most popular Food Network shows these days) to our country. Rather than trying to change the strict laws preventing food trucks from operating on every corner (I believe that's his next challenge) he created a traveling event. Stratford is the first place this edible caravan has happened outside of Toronto! 

It was a stunningly beautiful day and happy people were everywhere trying incredible street food. When they were done with lunch, most of them wandered over to the market and loaded up on Good, Clean and Fair products from our local vendors! That's what I call win-win!