Periods of heavy rain were not enough to douse the enthusiasm for this year’s “Thrill of the Grill Presented by Metro” on the Danforth, an annual rib cook off between some of the street’s finest restaurants and a high end butcher shop. The 5th edition of Thrill sold more tickets, served more ribs and made more money for kidney cancer research at Sunnybrook’s Odette Cancer Centre, than in any previous year, securing its spot as one of Toronto’s most popular summer street festivals.
“Toronto’s summer street festival season is very short so there is a lot happening on any given weekend. We were in tough this year with some excellent street festivals, some bad weather and the Honda Indy. With so much to choose from, 2,000 people chose us,” said Susan Puff, executive director of the Danforth Business Improvement Area (BIA), an association of 350 shops, restaurants and services that host the annual rib-fest.
And, what a choice. Five top Danforth chefs from Allen’s, The Combine Eatery, Das Gasthaus, Factory Girl, Globe Bistro and the local butcher from the Meat Department were fired up and ready to fight to the ‘picked clean’ bone for one of two coveted Silver Tong Trophies in the Judges category (selected by a panel of celebrity judges) and People’s Choice, voted on by 2,000 hungry Thrill of the Grillers, christened ‘Grill Friends’ by HGTV’s style guru, Tommy Smythe, co-host of this year’s event along with popular Food Network’s celebrity chef, Lynn Crawford, who is also co-chair of Thrill of the Grill.
2014 recipients of the Silver Tong Trophies are The Combine Eatery (Judges Choice) and Allen's (People’s Choice). New this year was the Corn on the Cob Throw Down between Pfizer Oncology/Kidney Cancer Canada (KCC) and Global TV/Shaw. Pfizer Oncology/KCC won the Judges' Choice and Global TV/Shaw Media won the People's Choice.
“The trophies are fun, but they are not what Thrill is all about,” says Albert Stortchak, BIA chair. “We left a pretty good taste in the mouths of our guests this year, which has left them hungry for more. This is good for our restaurants, shops and many services we offer along the Danforth. We are looking forward to seeing them back.”
Over 10,000 pounds of succulent baby back ribs from Berreta Farms were sauced and consumed while SteamWhistle Brewery kept the taps flowing, Gnarly Head Winery kept the corks popping (screw tops actually, but you get the picture) and Eska kept the water stations filled with ice cold bottles of water.
The organizers would also like to thank Metro, Pfizer Oncology, RBC Royal Bank, Global Toronto, Now, The Toronto Star, Beretta, The BIA Group, Car2Go, Clarins, Danel et Daniel, ESKA, Gnarly Head, Higgins Event Rentals, KitchenAid, Scotties, Sponge Towels, Steam Whistle, Kidney Cancer Canada, and the Sunnybrook Foundation for their generous time and support. Plans are already underway for the 2015 Thrill of the Grill, where organizers are promising to really light it up. Keep tuning in to this space for more mouth-watering details.
Danforth Dollars Draw
Congratulations to our five winners for the $100 Danforth Dollars Draw. The winning ticket numbers are:
384360, 384463, 384380, 382165, 382047
If any of the above ticket number go unclaimed by August 20, 2014, the following backup ticket numbers will be eligible (in order):
382087, 384396, 384161
If you have the matching ticket number (or backup ticket number), email our webmaster, Keven at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your full name, phone number, email address, mailing address, and a photo of your matching ticket number.
