Festival season approaches! This exciting fact means that
the bums of serious moviegoers may soon grow larger. Not necessarily due to an
excess of sitting, mind you, but more because of the festival diet. There are
eleven days of movie-going bliss during the Toronto International Film
Festival; however, TIFF can be murder on a healthy diet. Proper and efficient
eating can greatly enhance one’s festival experience, though, so please
familiarize yourself with The Festival Diet in preparation for the event. In
TIFF speak, this advice is all about “Where Film meets Foodie.”
To make a long story short: if you aim to see more than
three films a day at the festival (as one should), you will eat poorly. I think
there was at least one day during TIFF’11 where I consumed nothing but three
Grande bolds and a bagel. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, I say, but
it’s best to be smart and pack a lunch.
Planning
Even though dinner is the most costly meal of the day, keep
in mind that lugging food around all day can be a chore. A helpful festival
attendee I once met in line said that she makes a stack of sandwiches before
the festival and puts them in the freezer, and then grabs one or two on her way
out the door. It’s a good idea, and one that saves some time and money. Last
year, I even cooked some chicken fingers before heading out to see We Need to Talk about Kevin at the
Winter Garden. I cooked some extra nuggets for Tilda, but she didn’t bite.
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| More nutritional value than a Booster Juice! |
If you can’t pack a dinner, just fill up early. Eat some
fruit for breakfast and maybe something else, too. Save the bagel for lunch
since it packs easily and is conducive to eating while on the go. In addition
to the bagel (you’ll eat lots of carbs these eleven days), pack some cereal
bars, plus some nuts/trail mix for protein and, if possible, some dried fruit.
Just pack anything that can be eaten in line or while en route to the venue.
It’s good to have a variety of carbs, protein, vitamins so that you can satisfy
whichever craving appears. Make sure to pack a large water bottle as well,
which will come in handy more often than you think. Lastly, a good way to get
your daily servings of fruit is to stop by Booster Juice when you’re near the
Visa Screening Room. Be careful when you time your visit, though: last year my
brother made a trip for a smoothie and it cost him a sighting of Brad and
Angelina. (I caught them!)
Eating Out
Food courts are a convenient way to eat a balanced meal
during the festival. They are also a better way to balance the budget. Eating
out can up the ante of your festival expenditure considerably, so visiting a
food court between films gives you good grub (ish) and it lets you avoid the
extra expenses of trendy food of tipping. (And beverages if you’re smart to bring
your own water!)
The best places for festival food courts includes the
Cineplex Young & Dundas, which has a decent range of fast food to
comparatively healthy options. Likewise, a trip to Roy Thomson Hall, the Princess
of Wales Theatre, or the TIFF Bell Lightbox could be combined with a pit stop
at the food court in the underground path/concourse. (It’s near the Festival
Box Office.) Plan carefully, though, since this food court is closed on weekends.
The best place to eat and run, however, is the Urban Eatery at the Eaton
Centre. Urban Eatery houses the widest menu of fast food joints, with options
from Thai, Chinese, and Cajun cooking, right down to the handy standby of Micky
D’s. This court is the best place to get a warm meal for under $8. It’s easily accessible
by the subway, too, so it’s hardly out of the way. This is an ideal stop for
festivalgoers who need to refuel before/after catching a screening at the Visa
Screening Room, the Winter Garden Theatre, Cineplex Yonge & Dundas, or
Ryerson Theatre. (Side note: attendees of daytime screenings at Ryerson can
also use the comparatively lesser College St. food court under Winners. If
you’re going here, I recommend Duck. [They serve duck.])
If you’re in the mood for a full sit down meal, however, it
might be best to do so whilst catching a film at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema.
Located in the heart of The Annex, The Bloor is in close proximity to plenty of
options for cheap eats of acceptable quality. The best bang for your buck near
The Bloor, I think, is Sushi on Bloor, which offers great sushi for unbeatable
prices. The service is usually pretty quick, so it’s an efficient choice. My
personal favorite eatery near The Bloor is Southern Accent. Southern Accent is located
on Markham St. just south of Honest Ed’s and it serves a sinful spread of
Louisiana-style Cajun cooking. They offer a great prix fixe that gives patrons
an appetizer, entrée, and dessert for $25. (Make sure to get the pecan pie.)
Among the tasty offerings at Southern Accent are Blackened Chicken Livers and
the occasional serving of alligator, and their Voodoo pasta is always a safe
bet. They also have a Tarot card reader on site for added novelty. Service is
usually a bit slower at Southern Accent (you can’t rush a good simmer), so this
is an ideal stop for an extended break or après-film meal.
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| O&B Canteen |
If you are eating in the Lightbox/RTH/PoW hub, Luma and the
Canteen at the Lightbox are always good options. Prices are a bit higher in
this district, but the quality usually is too. King St. W. also features a
strip of restaurants directly across from the Lightbox, and Hey Lucy! in particular offers a
good menu of sandwiches, wraps, and salads for festivalgoers in search of a
casual meal. Be careful in choosing restaurants in this strip, however, for some places survive on location alone and sling overpriced, sub-par slop in chintzy portions. (I'm looking at you, Kit Kat!)
Finally, it’s hard to say where to eat if celebrity
sightings are on your menu. Yorkville is historically the standby place for
sightings; however, the festival has since travelled to King St. as its main
hub, so a trip to Sassafraz may not be as worthwhile. Perhaps Ben and Jen will
be dining at Lee before Argo?
Coffee
Proper caffeine consumption can make or break a festival. A
car cannot run without fuel, nor can a film buff festival without coffee. Although I much prefer dark/bold coffee, a good strategy is to switch to mild stuff because it contains more caffeine than bold coffee. You
don’t want to be droopy-eyed when a hotly-buzzed film is about to start, but
you don’t want to be charging for the bathroom, either. Budget carefully: if a
thirteen-week course on Bollywood cinema taught me anything, it’s that one can
hold a Grande for three hours but a Venti is too much. (Anyone sampling TIFF’s
City to City spotlight on Mumbai may want to note this fact.)
Get your coffees while your friend grabs a spot in line and
all will be fine. A grab and go at Starbucks is an ideal way to have breakfast
if you want to get a few more minutes of sleep. Avoid the over-priced
McMuffins. I find that adding a pumpkin scone to the coffee order is a good way
to start the day since it contains at least three essential food groups: fruit,
carbs, and icing. Additionally, make sure to note the locations of coffee
merchants beforehand. Most theatre venues are in close proximity to several
Starbi and there’s often a Second Cup, or even a Tim Horton’s nearby in case of
emergency. Please use this handy map of the festival quarters: each TIFF marks a venue and each pink dot represents a Starbucks (the ones with letters seem to be top recommendations from Google Maps) .
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| The Main Hub |
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| The Bloor/Bader Hub |
The Venues
It’s important to know your battlefields in order to manage
food smuggling. The most food-friendly theatre is easily TIFF Bell Lightbox. TBLB
is probably the most lenient in terms of outside food and drink, but don’t
quote me on that. (I’ve never had a problem sneaking something in.) In addition
to the aforementioned Canteen, TBLB offers a grab-and-go sandwich bar, and it
has the Blackberry Lounge if you want a drink to freshen up. Last year, a
heinous screening of That Summer
drove me to drink, so the Blackberry Lounge is a most convenient
spot to sip a cocktail while you chat/laugh about a film and watch the tweets
of other TIFFers. (I recommend the Lazy Caprese at the
Lightbox. It’s a tasty Caesar with bocconcini instead of celery.)
The worst venue for foodstuff is, without question, the
Isabel Bader. One probably has a better chance of bringing an AK-47 onto an
American airplane than of bringing a muffin into the Bader. Aside from water,
the staff will tackle you if you try to slip one by. (Where Film meets
Football?) The crew at the Bader rarely lets patrons inside more than fifteen
minutes before the film starts – what with all the technical hiccups and gaffs
that always happen there – so one can simply eat in line. Plan well and all
will be well.
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| The popcorn fork: key to avoiding buttery fingers at #TIFF12 |
Popcorn
Ah, popcorn. It’s my favourite food, and festival season brings out the worst in me. I’ll admit that most years at the festival include at least one day where I eat popcorn for both lunch and dinner. I have never tried it for breakfast, but maybe that will be my task for TIFF’12. (It’s at least two food groups, mom!) Most venues serve popcorn, except for the Bader (obviously) and Ryerson. The best popcorn both in terms of taste and in terms of value can be found at the Lightbox. TBLB serves cheap kernels and in modest sizes. There are no garbage bags of snacks here! Butter is also free, if memory serves correct, so the popcorn at the Lightbox will sate your craving for cinematic cuisine, but it won’t make much of a dent in your budget.
The runner-up for popcorn goes to the Visa Screening Room,
which offers popcorn of average taste, but serves the snack in vintage
cartons. At $4, it’s worth the novelty. It makes for a fun souvenir, too,
especially if a celebrity owned it. (A friend once nabbed a discarded popcorn
bag that was enjoyed by Clive Owen.)
Finally, what is everyone’s opinion on the popcorn fork? I
received this tool as a gift last Christmas and I only mastered the art of the
fork recently. This convenient tool lets film buffs snack without worrying
about the stigma of greasy, buttery fingers. The popcorn fork also hosts a
built in saltshaker if your daily intake of sodium is low. The fork likewise
doubles as a pair of chopsticks if you sneak Chinese food or pad Thai into the
theatre.
Street meat
Overall, though, I hope this advice provides some strategy. Top up that Starbucks card and make some baggies of snacks. The festival is
always a fun event, so maximizing your efficiency will surely enhance your
experience. Just think: there is always the chance that Penelope Cruz might be grabbing coffee too!
Are there any festival diet tips you’d like to share?
