Soupalious

Bruce and I headed off to Soupalicious this Saturday. I've never been before, I know they have an event like this in Hamilton that my parents have attended, my Dad was a bit of a soup officianado! They had had a blast, we had some wiggle room on Saturday, so off we went!

It was in the building just north of the Direct Energy building at the Ex. I love that area, it's like a little community unto itself! It seems so underutilized though. Every time I end up in there I try and think up a reason why I should be holding some kind of event! There was a Marlies game going on, and I'm sure so much more! Parking was $13 for eternity, so we were able to pass on our ticket to someone else, that feels so neighbourly! I love doing that! Don't tell the green P people though, I'm pretty sure they would frown upon it!


It was great to see the ladies from Hall's Kitchen there, and Cowbell restaurant too. We met a ton of potential vendors that I can't wait to get on the site. Marben restaurant was there and Veritas too! There are a ton of small local operations making fantastic soups available for sale.

100 mile finds is different things to different people. I mention this only because as far as restaurants go there are a ton of local directories that do a great job of letting the public know about what is out there. We list a few of the real pioneers and champions of local food, because really, they are our kind of people and we think they will appeal to our customer. Food is hard to sell on-line, it is heavy, therefor expensive to ship  and  often perishable, and they can be heat sensitive.  That is why having a local site is so great. You can see what is available locally AND the vendors can offer pick up, let the customer know shows that they are attending and list stores where there wares can be purchased. Really more of a directory than an on-line store in the case of many food vendors. We are all about letting the local customer know what is available. Enough about that!

The 'piece de resistance" as far as I was concerned, other than all the fabulous soup, of course,  was the taste test down by Local Food Plus. They made two soups with the identical recipe, one organic and locally sourced and the other from lands far away! The second you brought the local soup up to your mouth you could smell the pears, the other one, nothing, nadda, zip, zilch. I knew the local soup would win, but I had no idea how profound the difference would be!

I can not neglect to mention the butter tarts by Marty's World. OMG! The pastry was perfectly crumbly and the filling, not too sugary, but sugary enough! What a great way to finish off Soupalicious!

Have a great short week everyone!