Posts Tagged ‘gastropost’

Jun
06


My Dad lives in Ottawa so I will be visiting next week  in order to celebrate Father’s Day with him.

dad - family

BUT if he was in Toronto,  this is what I would be doing with him!

1. We would head to Yorkdale Shopping Centre to visit L’OCCITANE En Provence so my dad could have one of those old-school shaves. (errr…hot towel, shaving cream, brush, etc). I know he would love it.  They are actually offering this service for FREE this coming weekend. Make sure you call (416) 782-0005 to RSVP. PS saw on their facebook page that there’s mini facials for women too!!

This service is being offered: Friday, June 7th, 7-9pm, Saturday  June 8th 1-5 pm, and Sunday June 9th 1-5 pm!!

While you are in the store, take a peek at their selection of gift sets for Father’s Day in the Cade and Verdon lines! #justsayin’

L'OCCITANE Yorkdale event (7)

  1. We would also head to Montreal Deli & Greek Grill (115 York Blvd, Unit #7, Richmond Hill, ON) for a freakin’ unbelievable (yes – Freakin’ UNBELIEVABLE) smoked meat sandwich. I’ve just discovered this restaurant (thanks M!) and I was blown away. I even asked for a tape measure to measure this sandwich. PS I submitted this photo to Gastropost as they are hosting a Fathers Day Mission and my dad taught me all about good smoked meat!!

dad - montreal

3.  We would end the day with a trip to Holy Chuck (1450 Yonge St)  to try one of their epic milkshakes. We both like flavour and unusual combinations so I know he would love the milkshakes here.

dad - milkshakes

Can you tell my Dad is a bit of a foodie and a shopper too? I am so lucky to have a Dad like him. I’m sure we will find foodie adventures in Ottawa too. Stay tuned!!

What have you planned for Father’s Day?

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Jan
17


As you know I’m a huge fan of the National Post Gastropost missions. I’m such a fan that not only do I participate on a regular basis, but I decided I wanted to interview them too! For those of you who might not know what Gastropost is all about – I will explain: Every week Gastropost posts a mission (i.e a cookie mission) and people (like me and many many others) submits a photo thru Twitter, Facebook, email or Instagram. It’s as simple as that. On Saturday – the cookie photo that you submitted might be included in the Gastropost section.

Gastropost staff chat with a George Brown Culinary Arts student!

Here’s the interview:

a) Who initiated the initial idea to have a Gastropost feature in the
National Post?

There were a few people involved. In early 2012 National Post and
Postmedia Network Inc. (which owns National Post as well as a number of
other well-known newspapers like Ottawa Citizen, Calgary Herald, Vancouver
Sun, etc) started working on a plan to be more directly engaged with
readers in a different way. We recognized that Toronto was in the middle
of a food renaissance and that there were lots of food lovers who were not
only passionate about food and their city, but also had a lot of expertise
to share. In mid-May we came up with the Gastropost concept of weekly food
missions, then worked with the excellent National Post design and
editorial teams to launch it just two weeks later. We move fast!

b) I’m assuming everyone is a “foodie” who works on Gastropost… True of
False?

We love food, yes! But honestly, we’ve always believed that Gastroposters
themselves are the experts. Even before we launched we made sure to
connect and involve a few of the community’s leading voices, and now we’re
learning new things from our members every day. (Incidentally, we also
discovered early on that even some hard-core food people don’t consider
themselves “foodies,” which is why we talk about “food lovers” instead. We
try to make room for diehard foodies and more casual food lovers alike.)

c) Have you ever received a food photo and found yourself going out later
that day to purchase that item?

You have no idea how difficult it can be to watch all of your delicious
food photos roll in all day! Our office collectively gains a few pounds
every time we host one of the more decadent or indulgent missions. So yes,
we for sure look to Gastroposters for both home cooking and dining out
inspiration.

d) When was Gastropost launched?

In late May 2012 we sent our first mission ‹ simply, “Eat something
delicious!” ‹ to a small handful of Gastropost pioneers, the results of
which were in National Post for the first time on June 2nd. We’ve been in
the paper every Saturday since, and a few weekdays as well, meaning this
week’s salad mission is mission number 35!

e) How many submissions do you normally receive a week?

As you might expect it varies a bit from week to week. We’ve had as many
as 300 different people complete a single mission, and often some people
complete the mission multiple times, meaning we would have received even
more than 300 individual missions. Since we’re growing, more missions are
being completed each week.

f) What’s been the most successful social media platform for
Gastropost…twitter, instagram or Facebook

That depends. Twitter is great for following and chatting with members,
which we love to do, and probably explains why we currently have more
followers on Twitter than anywhere else. Because it’s more visual we love
using Facebook to feature posts and announce new missions, and Facebook
polls do very well for us too. We only started posting mission
announcements to Instagram a couple months ago and we had a few hundred
followers before posing our first image, so there’s obviously a lot of
potential there. As far as how people complete missions, Instagram is
number one.

g) What’s the feedback been like?

Overwhelming and humbling. It’s so amazing how much people love Gastropost
and how expertly missions get completed. It’s motivating, inspiring and a
big part of why we love our jobs.

Congratulations to the entire team at Gastropost. What a great concept!!

 

 

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Sep
13


Once again, I discovered something fun on Twitter. It’s called Gastropost and it’s a brilliant concept for foodies like me. Every week they post a mission and every week I am addicted to accomplishing this mission (I know I know – I have too much spare time on my hands). One week, the mission was “basil vs mint”  and another week the mission was called “we love tomatoes” and guess who tries to complete most missions? moi.

In August,  I completed a mission that was called “food on a stick”. I was thrilled when I opened up the the National Post on a Saturday to discover that I was featured in the Gastropost column. (see bel0w….I’m the Gastroposter eating deep fried goodies at the CNE!!)

I love when companies embrace social media, and use it to create  a community. Gastropost is a classic example of this. I’m thrilled to be part of this and you can too. It’s just a click away …..so feel free to subscribe here.

Congratulations to the National Post for initiating this brilliant feature in your Saturday edition.

PS Not only do I think that Gastropost is fun but IT’S EASY TO USE. No downloading widgets, no uploading recipes, no linking …it’s so easy it’s not funny. Now go subscribe and complete a mission!!

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Aug
16


As you know, I try to eat “healthy”  (see previous blog posts about Kale Chips and Peanut-y Tofu). However that doesn’t mean that I can’t dream about eating deep fried fudge or deep fried marshmallow treats. Well, all my dreams came true as I was invited to the the CNE media preview on Wednesday. Here is proof!!

Thats an AUTHENTIC smile!!

In the above photo, I am about to bite into deep fried fudge from the Northwest Fudge Factory. In fact I am so proud of this photo that I submitted it to GastroPost!

I also took a bite (or two) of these deep fried marshmallow treats by Sweet Treats.

More Deep Fried Goodness!

There is no question that food is a major attraction attraction at the CNE.  One might think that unique means “deep fried” but that’s not necessarily true.  It could be triple layer red velvet pancakes loaded with slow roasted and smoked pork, and topped with Jack Daniels infused maple syrup. Now that is unique….in a big way!!

You can find this at: PULL’D

Or what about this idea by the good people at Just Cone It.…CONES filled with Nutella bacon, or pizza or philly steak or shepherds pie!

Love the name of this vendor!

Clearly there is an abundance of “unique’ and there is those items that will always be around like candy floss, candy apples, Tiny Tims and fresh squeezed lemonade.

I am definitely attracted to “unique” food items but I certainly wouldn’t say no to a candy apple either!!

What will you be eating when you visit the Ex?

Here’s more info about the 2012 CNE:

  1. 2012 CNE runs from Aug 17 to Sept 3
  2. The CNE is located at the Toronto Exhibition Place
  3. To learn more about the Xx and special discount prices please visit THEEX.COM or call 416 393 6300

 

 

 

 

 

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