Hamilton Food and Drink Show

The Hamilton Food and Drink Show is a Rose family tradition, so as per usual, my dad and I headed to the Hamilton Convention Centre for some wining and dining (but mostly dining). Here our just a few of our favourite picks!

Pokeh Bar (Hamilton Farmer's Market — Real Food Court)

Hamilton is home to Canada's first pokeh bar. How lucky does that make us? I visited Pokeh Bar at the Hamilton's Farmer's Market just two weeks ago, and I'm hooked. If you're not familiar with it, pokeh is a fresh and nutritious combination of rice, raw fish, and many premium toppings to choose from. Pokeh Bar is brought to us by the same team behind Meat Ventures. 

Ora Italian Kitchen and Bar (18 Hess Street South)

Full disclosure: I don't eat meat. Well, most meat. I'm one of those pretentious-sounding pescatarians. This means, Ora Italian Kitchen and Bar's sliders topped with chocolate-covered bacon were off the table for me; they weren't however off the table for my dad, so I couldn't help but snap this picture while he ordered one of these.

YWCA Hamilton's At the Table Catering Company (75 MacNab Street South)

As an employee of YWCA Hamilton, I'm biased on this one, but I don't think I'm exaggerating: YWCA Hamilton's At the Table Catering Company is one of the city's best-kept secrets. It's a social enterprise catering initiative that uses fresh local and seasonal ingredients while providing healthy meals and training opportunities to women who live at YWCA Hamilton in our Transitional Living Program. Chef Chris Beltrano was serving up antipasto plates, quinoa salad, and ginger cookies made with Nickelbrook's maple porter. To learn more about At the Table, or to learn how you can Be the Recipe for Change, visit YWCA Hamilton's website. 

Eat Industries (Hamilton Farmer's Market — Real Food Court)
After a week in Mexico, I thought I wouldn't be able to look at another taco, but how could I resist Eat Industries roasted cauliflower taco? I couldn't. Read more about Eat Industries, which along with Pokeh Bar is another recent edition to the lower level of the Hamilton Farmer's Market, over at People of Hamilton.

#gritLIT2016: grit LIT Live

gritLIT kicked off on Sunday with a partnership event between gritLIT and the Lit Live Readings series. The event, at one of my favourite spots in the city — Homegrown Hamilton — featured Janet Turpin Myers (The Last Year of Confusion), Daniel Scott Tysdal (Fauxccasional Poems), Brent van Staalduinen (Saints, Unexpected), Duana Taha (The Name Therapist), Lydia Perović (All That Sang), and Jon Chan Simpson (Chinkstar). Despite an April snow storm, we launched the festival with a capacity crowd.

gritLIT Festival Weekend begins tomorrow, and runs April 7-10 at the Art Gallery of Hamilton. It features readings from Anakana Schofield, George Elliott Clarke, and tons of local talent! Check out the complete line-up at www.gritlit.ca. 

gritLIT 2016: Complete Schedule

My favourite week is upon us! #gritLIT2016 happens April 7-10 at the Art Gallery of Hamilton, with a pre-festival event taking place Sunday, April 3 at Homegrown Hamilton in partnership with Lit Live. Here's the complete schedule, along with a few photo highlights from gritLIT 2015.

April 3, 2016

7:30pm – grit/LIT/Live at Homegrown Hamilton
Festival week opens with our annual partner event with LitLive, featuring Jon Chan Simpson (Chinkstar), Lydia Perović (All That Sang), Janet Turpin Myers (The Last Year of Confusion), Daniel Scott Tysdal (Fauxccasional Poems), Duana Taha (The Name Therapist) and Brent van Staalduinen (Saints, Unexpected).

This is a free event. Readings take place at Homegrown Hamilton (27 King William St)

Thursday, April 7, 2016

7:00pm – Poetry with the Hamilton Poetry Centre
gritLIT partners with the HPC to present Joanna Lilley (The Fleece Era) and Bernadette Rule (Earth Day in Leith Churchyard). Buy Tickets

8:30pm – Outside and Inside Landscapes
Plum Johnson (They Left Us Everything), Helen Humphreys (The Evening Chorus) and Cordelia Strube (On the Shores of Darkness, There Is Light) share powerful stories examining the impact of outer environments on inner lives. Buy Tickets

Friday, April 8, 2016

7:00pm – Culture of the Gun
A.J. Somerset (Arms: The Culture and Credo of the Gun) joins us for a frank and timely discussion about gun violence, the NRA and the radicalization of gun culture. Buy Tickets

8:30pm – The Uneasy Mind
Let Nino Ricci (Sleep), Giles Blunt (The Hesitation Cut) and Anakana Schofield (Martin John) introduce you to some of CanLit’s most intriguing – and disturbing – characters. Buy Tickets

Saturday, April 9, 2016

10:00am – Writing Workshop: The Short Story with Russell Smith
In 2015, Russell Smith’s story collection Confidence was nominated for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and short-listed for the Rogers Writers Trust Award. Join this master of the craft for a tips and techniques on the art of short story writing. Buy Tickets

11:30am – Writing Workshop: Technique and Style with Kim Echlin
Award-winning author Kim Echlin talks about rhythm, word choice, sentence patterns, images, and how to apply them to your own writing. Bring a notebook and pen for lots of fun, hands-on exercises. Buy Tickets

11:30am – Writing Workshop: Setting the Scene with Rachael Preston
In this engaging workshop, novelist and Hamilton Arts Award Winner Rachael Preston examines the vital role setting plays in creating mood and meaning in fiction. Buy Tickets

1:00pm – Writing Workshop: Reality into Fiction with Michael Winter
Special guest author Michael Winter leads this workshop discussion about how to incorporate real people and events into your fictional stories. Buy Tickets

1:00pm – Chapbook Launch
gritLIT is proud to present the winners of our 2015 Writing Competition at the official launch of the annual gritLIT Anthology.

This is a free event.

Special Offer: Saturday Afternoon Pass. Get three Saturday afternoon readings for the price of two. Buy Pass

2:00pm – Where Everybody Knows Your Name
Sabrina Ramnanan (Nothing Like Love) and Corinne Wasilewski (Live from the Underground) present humorous and touching accounts of small town life. Buy Tickets

3:30pm – I’ve Got a Secret
Gripping tales of past secrets and present consequences from Danila Botha (Too Much on the Inside), Russell Smith (Confidence) and Amy Stuart (Still Mine). Buy Tickets

5:30pm – The Quest Is All
Stories of discovery and adventure from Nazneen Sheikh (The Place of Shining Light) and Wasela Hiyate (Travel Is So Broadening). Buy Tickets

7:00pm – Real Life, Interrupted
Camilla Gibb (This Is Happy) and Emily Urquhart (Beyond the Pale) share courageous, true-life accounts of perseverance and triumph in the face of unforeseen challenges. Buy Tickets

8:30pm – What Makes a Man?
Join us for a fascinating examination of the male psyche with novelists George Elliott Clarke (The Motorcyclist), Trevor Cole (Hope Makes Love) and Terry Fallis (Poles Apart). Buy Tickets

Sunday, April 10, 2016

10:00am – Writing Workshop: Outlining Your Novel with Terry Fallis
Best-selling and award-winning authors Terry Fallis shares a secret of his success in this workshop on how to build the framework for a great novel. Buy Tickets

11:30am – Writing Workshop: How to Be Your Own Editor with Farzana Doctor
Novelist Farzana Doctor’s workshop discusses editing vs revision, techniques to look at your writing with fresh eyes and how to get feedback from others. A great workshop for new or self-published authors. Buy Tickets

11:30am – The Literary Salon with George Elliott Clarke
Canada’s Poet Laureate and novelist George Elliott Clarke leads a discussion about writing and the arts in Canada in this relaxed, conversational setting. Tea, coffee and light refreshments are included. This event takes place at the Hamilton Sheraton Hotel, Ferguson Room, 2nd Floor Buy Tickets

Special Offer: All About Hamilton Afternoon Pass. Get three All About Hamilton Events for the price of two. Buy Pass

1:00pm – All About Hamilton: Humour from the Hammer
Fast-paced, innovative and hilarious tales from Hamilton writers Gary Barwin (Yiddish for Pirates) and Showey Yazdanian (Loopholes) Buy tickets

2:30pm – All About Hamilton: Outside Looking In
Hamilton serves at setting for two stunning narratives from Kim Echlin (Under the Visible Life) and Rachael Preston (The Fishers of Paradise). Buy Tickets

4:00pm – All About Hamilton: Writing the City
gritLIT is pleased to host a lively panel discussion about writing the gritty city. Featuring Kim Echlin, David Lee, Rachael Preston, John Terpstra and Brent van Staalduinen. Buy Tickets

7:30pm – Closing Night with Steel City Stories
For the second year in a row, gritLIT closes the festival with our partner event with Steel City Stories. Join some of Hamilton’s best storytellers for stories from their own lives around the theme Excuses. To learn more about Steel City Stories, visit their website.

This event is pay-what-you-can.