The smell of smoked meat filled the air at the Stackt Market in Toronto, as the summer of 2025 witnessed the launch of a new food festival called Smoked.
“The idea was that the world didn’t need another food festival,” said event organizer Luca Del Rosso. “But if we were to do one, it was going to be different and unique!”
Featuring top chefs and pitmasters from across Canada, this live-fire cooking festival brought people together for a unique and memorable culinary experience.
“We created great relationships with some really great chefs, who created mouthwatering dishes and the result is a great festival,” said Luca.
Among the featured chefs were Matt Basile, Lawrence LaPinta and Trevor Lui. These skilled chefs each choosing to cook with Ontario-raised pork and drawing high praise for their tantalizing dishes.
“We’re using beautiful Ontario pork belly,” said Chef Trevor Lui. “We treated the pork with a South Indian marinade, curry, tamarin, ginger, and grilled it to perfection.”
“I’m using high-quality Ontario-raised pork shoulder, making a mole smoked pork sandwich,” said Chef Matt Basile. “Its smoked, its braised, its got a tonne of flavour, I love cooking with pork.”
“We did a play on a sausage where we did a sausage farce as a smash burger, they are delicious,” said Chef Lawrence LaPinta.
According to Chef Lawrence, this event is exactly what Toronto needed.
“Smoke is in the air, fires are burning, it’s kind of perfect.”
During the two-day festival proceeds from every dish served was donated to food rescue organizations Second Harvest and Feed Ontario. According to Luca Del Rosso the event was created to not only feature amazing, barbecued dishes, but also give back to those in need.
“Ultimately it’s about creating an environment where foodies can try some of the best barbecue in the city,” said Luca. “While also enjoying the fact that those in attendance are helping give back and doing something good for the community.”
With a heightened emphasis on buying local, organizers say this event is a great way to showcase Ontario-raised food in front of a large urban audience.
“Knowing where your food comes from is so important,” said Chef Lawrence. “With the help of Ontario Pork I’ve gotten introduced to a variety of farms and farmers and got to know them better. There’s a lot of people out there who do great work and care a lot about producing good food.”
“What I love about cooking with Ontario pork is that by using this great tasting product, it’s creating local jobs and putting money back in the pockets of local communities,” said Chef Matt.
Source : Ontario Pork