Starving Foodie's guide to Best places to Eat during Tiff

Starving Foodie's guide to the best place to eat while at TIFF?  (Toronto International Film Festival 2015)

I compiled this list for my Starving Foodie Blog but I thought it would interest all the Film lovers attending the festival.

I have been doing Tiff for about 15 years and some years I hardly have time to get any food so sometimes you grab a bagel at Tim Horton's but other times you have an hour to wait in between screenings when you just want to sit down and have someone serve you a good meal and have a rest between running around to theatres or parties.

This list will help you if you are new to TIFF or just don't know where the best place to eat near a theatre is.

Now if you are looking for Celebrity Spotting you might only see a few here or there probably grabbing a Starbuck's coffee but mostly they are the high end places because if you are George Clooney or an A list celeb you can afford to go anywhere you want to and most of the time George and his pals go to restaurants you have never heard of or haven't even opened to the public yet  or are nowhere near where you would expect them to be because they have drivers that can drive them anywhere they need to go.   

So my suggestion is to forget about Celebrity Stalking and just go where you can get fast or great food depending on what you have time for and save your energy for seeing as many films as you can.

These are my choices for places I would recommend going to that are pretty close to each theatre.   There are thousands of restaurants in Toronto and I have curated it down to a few based on variety and proximity.  I have generally left out Food Courts because they close early.  
If I haven't added YOUR favourite place it's because I haven't been there or didn't think it was one I would recommend for various reasons.

LEGEND

*     Starving Artist
**    Gotta Job
***   A list Celebrity $$ 

TIFF CINEMA	RESTAURANT	LOCATION	STARS
1. TIFF Bell Lightbox	Ravi Soups Burrito Boyz Wahlbergers O&B Canteen Montecito	224 Adelaide St. W.  322 Adelaide St. W. 6 Blue Jay Way 350 King St. W, 299 Adelaide St. W.	* * ** *** ***
2.  Elgin/Wintergarden 189 Yonge Street	Richmond Station The Chase Foodwares	1 Richmond St. W. 10 Temperance St, 176 Queen St. W.	** *** **
3. Scotiabank Theatre 259 Richmond Street West	Melt Thoroughbred  Khao San Road Milestone’s	300 Richmond St. W, 304 Richmond St. W. 326 Adelaide St. W. 132 John St.	* *** ** **
4. Princess of Wales 300 King Street West	Tim Hortons PAI Byblos	322 King St. W. 18 Duncan St. 161 Pearl St.	* ** ***
5. Roy Thompson Hall 60 Simcoe Street	Ritz Carlton  Elephant & Castle Los Colibris  El Cabalito	181 Wellington St.W. 212 King St. West 220 King St. West	*** ** ***
6.  AGO 317 Dundas Street West	Mean Bao Frank Pizzaiolo Village by the Grange Food Court	275 Dundas St. W.  317 Dundas St. W. 281 Dundas St.  W. 109 McCaul St.	* *** * *
7.  Isabel Bader 93 Charles Street West	Slab Burgers La Societe The One Eighty	47 Charles St. W. 131 Bloor St. W.  55 Bloor St. W. 51st	* *** **
8.  Ryerson 43 Gerrard Street East	Banh Mi Boys Reds Midtown  Salad King	399 Yonge Street 382 Yonge Street 340 Yonge Street	* ** **
9.  Bloor Hot Docs 506 Bloor Street West	Ghazale  Aroma Espresso  Pauper’s Pub	504 Bloor St. W. 500 Bloor St. W. 539 Bloor St. W.	* * **

Wahlbergers

Richmond Station

Montecito

Banh Mi Boys

Pai

Aroma Espresso Bar

disclosure: The restaurants listed are my own choices and I have not received any compensation from any of the listed restaurants to appear on this list.

TIFF is 40 and fabulous

TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) celebrates it's 40th year as one of the biggest film festivals in the world.  This year TIFF15 is celebrating the past while looking into the future.

At the Tiff press conference they announced some of the galas and special presentations coming to the festival this year.

There will be approx 300 films at the festival this year and some free programming to celebrate their 40th anniversary as well.

They released some of the upcoming film presentations and I looked through the list and picked out some of the ones I am looking forward to seeing.

Will see how many I actually get to see.  It's always tough to see everything you want because of scheduling but I will try and see some of these if I can.

Opening Night Film

Demolition

Jean-Marc Vallée, USA World Premiere In Demolition, a successful investment banker, Davis (Jake Gyllenhaal), struggles after losing his wife in a tragic car crash. Despite pressure from his father-in-law (Chris Cooper) to pull it together, Davis continues to unravel. What starts as a complaint letter to a vending machine company turns into a series of letters revealing startling personal admissions. Davis’ letters catch the attention of customer service rep Karen (Naomi Watts) and, amidst emotional and financial burdens of her own, the two strangers form an unlikely connection. With the help of Karen and her son (Judah Lewis), Davis starts to rebuild, beginning with the demolition of the life he once knew.

The Dressmaker

 Jocelyn Moorhouse, Australia World Premiere Based on the best-selling novel by Rosalie Ham, The Dressmaker is a bittersweet, comedy-drama set in early 1950s Australia. After many years working as a dressmaker in exclusive Parisian fashion houses, Tilly Dunnage, a beautiful and talented misfit, returns home to the tiny middle-of-nowhere town of Dungatar to right the wrongs of the past. Not only does she reconcile with her ailing, eccentric mother Molly, and unexpectedly falls in love with the pure-hearted Teddy, but armed with her sewing machine and incredible sense of style, Tilly sets out to right the wrongs of the past and transforms the women of the town but encounters unexpected romance along the way. Starring Kate Winslet, Liam Hemsworth, Judy Davis and Hugo Weaving.

Freeheld

 Peter Sollett, USA World Premiere

Based on the Oscar-winning documentary and adapted by the writer of Philadelphia, Freeheld is the true love story of Laurel Hester and Stacie Andree and their fight for justice. A decorated New Jersey police detective, Laurel is diagnosed with cancer and wants to leave her hard-earned pension to her domestic partner, Stacie. However the county officials — the Freeholders — conspire to prevent Laurel from doing so. Hard-nosed detective Dane Wells and activist Steven Goldstein come together in Laurel and Stacie’s defense, rallying police officers and ordinary citizens to support their struggle for equality. Starring Julianne Moore, Ellen Page, Michael Shannon and Steve Carell.

The Martian

 Ridley Scott, USA World Premiere During a manned mission to Mars, astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Millions of miles away, NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring “the Martian” home, while his crewmates concurrently plot a daring, if not impossible rescue mission. Based on a best-selling novel, and helmed by master director Ridley Scott, The Martian features a star-studded cast that includes Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Pena, Kate Mara, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Donald Glover.

The Danish Girl

 Tom Hooper, United Kingdom North American Premiere The Danish Girl is the remarkable love story inspired by the lives of artists Lili Elbe and Gerda Wegener (portrayed by Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander), directed by Academy Award winner Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech, Les Misérables). Lili and Gerda’s marriage and work evolve as they navigate Lili’s groundbreaking journey as a transgender pioneer.

The Family Fang

 Jason Bateman, USA World Premiere Annie and Baxter Fang have spent most of their adult lives trying to distance themselves from their famous artist parents. But when both siblings find themselves stalled in life, they return home for the first time in a decade where they become entangled in a dark mystery surrounding their parents’ disappearance. Jason Bateman directs and stars, along with co-stars Nicole Kidman and Christopher Walken, in this film based on the New York Times bestseller.

The Lobster

 Yorgos Lanthimos, Ireland/United Kingdom/Greece/France/Netherlands North American Premiere In a dystopian near future, single people are obliged to find a matching mate in 45 days or are transformed into animals and released into the woods. Starring Colin Farrell, Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz, John C. Reilly, Léa Seydoux and Ben Whishaw.

Spotlight

Tom McCarthy, USA International Premiere

Spotlight tells the true story of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Globe investigation that would rock the city and cause a crisis in one of the world’s oldest and most trusted institutions. When the newspaper’s tenacious “Spotlight” team of reporters delves into allegations of abuse in the Catholic Church, their year-long investigation uncovers a decades-long cover-up at the highest levels of Boston's religious, legal, and government establishment, touching off a wave of revelations around the world. Starring Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, Stanley Tucci, Brian d’Arcy James and Billy Crudup.

Youth

 Paolo Sorrentino, Italy/France/United Kingdom/Switzerland North American Premiere Youth explores the lifelong bond between two friends vacationing in a luxury Swiss Alps lodge as they ponder retirement. While Fred (Michael Caine) has no plans to resume his musical career despite the urging of his daughter Lena (Rachel Weisz), Mick (Harvey Keitel) is intent on finishing the screenplay for what may be his last film for his muse Brenda (Jane Fonda). And where will inspiration lead their younger friend Jimmy (Paul Dano), an actor grasping to make sense of his next performance? From Italy’s Oscar-winning foreign language film writer and director Paolo Sorrentino, Youth asks if our most important and life-changing experiences can come at any time — even late — in life.

Purchase Festival ticket packages online 24 hours a day at tiff.net/festival, by phone from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET daily at 416.599.TIFF or 1.888.599.8433, or visit the Gupta Box Office at TIFF Bell Lightbox in person from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET daily at TIFF Bell Lightbox, Reitman Square, 350 King Street West, until August 26 while quantities last.

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