September – TUM’s 1st Birthday

When my friend Diona Joyce of Kanto told me that the September TUM would be a celebration of its first year, I was taken aback of how fast time flies.  I still remember that time when I first saw the tweets for the first and the second events last year and how frustrated I was about conflicts on my schedule.  Now a year later, I could say that I am somewhat of a TUM veteran, having attended several of them in different capacities too.  I was a foodie fan, a blogger,  a volunteer, a gopher, a butter-spreader for grilled cheesers and of course, my most favorite, a photographer.  Time indeed just flew by.

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This time around I indulged in one too many TUM favorites.  I made sure I lined up for La Carnita’s Mexican Street Corn to start.  I am proud to say I was literally first in line (WOOOHOOO!).  Another crowd favorite we visited next was West Side Beef slider and Babi & Co.’s Tahu Goreng.  Fifteen minutes into TUM, I want to give myself and my EyeCandyTO partner, Abraham Wornovitzky, a pat-in-the-back to have tasted three TUM heavy weights in a short amount of time.  We then loitered further in to the inner hawker stands and we followed it up with HotBunzz’s Thai Basil Beef, Esé Angeleno street food’s Huitlacoche, Thistletown High School Chefs’ Wild Mushroom Arancini, Dough by Rachelle’s Apple Fritter and Maple Bacon Donut, Keo Confiserie’s Salted Caramels, Little Tomato Catering’s Fried Lasagna, Fidel Gastro’s Short Rib Sandwich and TitaFlips Sisig Fries.  Whew, even now I get exhausted at seeing this list.  LOL.  At this point, I must confess, I was having a hard time balancing and finding room to focus my big camera to what we were eating.  Not enough light, not enough elbow room were excuses I can use for some of my less desirable images.  But I would come clean and say it must be me not fast enough to eat, digest the food and take pictures all at the same time.  LOL.

Congratulations again for the successful first year of the Toronto Underground Market.  Here’s looking ahead to another year of finding new foodie entrepreneurs to pacify Toronto’s never-ceasing hunger for gourmet food. :)