There are many things I will do to help a good cause. But if you tell me I can eat and drink to support the prostate of someone I love; I am in. Cheers to the health of your prostate! Pass me another canapé. There’s still time to take part in the first Movember Toronto Food Week. 5 nights of food-related events in the city with proceeds going to Movember. The three events left this week cost $5 or $25 and are a great price to share an evening with some like-minded (and possibly moustached) people while sampling some food or adult beverages. 

I checked out the first MOTOFO on Monday night — a cooking demo with Chef Amanda Ford of City Girl Catering. The series of events are organized by Uniiverse, an online marketplace offering people unique experiences in their community, and Joel Solish who runs Death Row Meals. 

A group of over a dozen hungry event participants mingled as Amanda explained her red tail deer braised with red wine, marsala, her own BBQ sauce and her City Girl honey (more on that later). Served with celeriac mash and beet mash, caramelized chipolini onions with Pedro Ximenez and double-smoked bacon, it was less a demo than it was an opportunity to try great food with new people.

Oh, honey. Amanda has her own hive in town and here’s the thing…YOU CAN TOO! The highlight of the night for me was having her talk about how she prepared the food and learning about the rooftop hives downtown Toronto that you can purchase shares of and collect your own sweet, unique, pesticide-free raw honey. And by “collect”, I mean the bee man, Fred from Fred D’s Bees takes care of your hives for you and brings you your honey twice a year. But if you’re looking for that great Instagram photo of you wearing a beekeepers outfit and tending to your hive, Fred welcomes people to get suited up and visit their busy little workers. You purchase shares, Fred and the bees do the work, he delivers you honey from your hive. It’s a sweet arrangement.

Jaclyn Klein from Uniiverse says the goal of Movember Food Week is to align meaningful experiences with a meaningful cause. The hope is to grow the series of events next year and continue to offer unique and affordable experiences. Tonight’s event is a hands-on fermentation workshop with David Ort and a steal at $5. Thursday’s event allows you to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Fidel Gastro’s and Friday evening you can discover and learn about the world of VQA wines with sommelier Allison Slute.

There’s still time to enjoy MOTOFO before the ‘staches come off. 

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