If you haven’t been attending Spotlight Toronto Events (remember #YumchaTO a few months back?), you are truly missing out.

This past Sunday, I attended #PintxosTO, a celebration of Spanish food and wine. Inspired by “the small plates style of eating” (popular not only around the world, but transforming Toronto menus left and right), Toronto’s top chefs were to take Spanish snacks and tapas, and impart their own style and creativity into the dishes. 

Presented in part by Estrella Damm (a lager brewed in Barcelona, with 100% natural local Mediterranean ingredients since 1876), the event boasted ten epic vendors showing off their mad skills (and beautifully decorated booths). Here’s who served what:

Bar Buca
Charcoal Grilled Octopus and Sopressata finished with agliata

Bar Isabel
Grilled Iberico Ribs
Grilled Octopus
Grilled Chorizo Verde & Shrimp
Pork Tuna Bocadillo
Fresh Tomato , boquerone, and olive
Morcilla and quail egg escabeche

Barsa Taberna
Chistorra sausage on a bun with house made sauerkraut and Kozliks mustard

Cava
Supergilda and Ajo Blanco Soup made with garlic scapes and marcona almonds

Marben
Grilled Octopus pintxo w/chorizo, passionfruit & piquillo pepper
Watermelon Gazpacho w/manchego wrapped in 2 year Serrano Ham

Patria 
Salt cod tortilla + romesco + house bread
Fried goat cheese + hand sliced Serrano ham + house bread
Idiazabal cheese + stuffed olive + chorizo + quindilla pepper + boquerones

Portland Variety
Jamon Iberico de Bellota Picoteo

Salt Wine Bar
Spanish Tenderloin Slider
Tenderloin, bib lettuce, paprika aioli, crisp Spanish Serrano ham

Torito
Watermelon With sangria and strawberry paper
Ribeye Pintxos with tomatoes and pearl onions
Pintxos of Boquerones with a citrus aioli
Pork Tenderloin with quince and manchego

The show was two years in the making, but considering the lineup just 10 minutes after doors opened for Bar Isabel’s fare, as well as their neighbours, I think all that hard work paid off.

Check out all of my photos from the event on our Facebook page. 

And be sure to get to the next event. You’ll be glad you did.