anadian winters of years gone past have been sorry sights. All the vitamin D deficient drones hustle the nine-to-five when they should be at home hibernating or basking in the sun south of the Equator. Toronto’s annual winter food festival, Winterlicious, occurs smack dab at the peak of this two month winter rut, spreading a bit of culinary joy throughout the barren winter wasteland. Thanks to the pleasures of global warming (a phenomenon us Canadians have been banking on for some time now), our “winter” seems to have become a strange version of spring with the occasional frost. This year’s January temperature pendulum swings from -5° to +15° while the warmest temperature ever reached in January previous to this year in Toronto was -2°. While this incident could be used to point out drastic changes in the northern parts of our country and the slow but sure onslaught of the next huge Noah style flood, hold off until suppertime. The warmer temperatures have everyone raring to go out and enjoy the uncanny southern breeze while it lasts and, as a result, this year’s Winterlicious might just be the best and busiest ever. There are culinary events, cheap prix-fixe menus and chef encounters galore. Read on to discover the tastiest picks festival wide.

130 of Toronto’s top restaurants are participating in Winterlicious (Jan. 25 - Feb. 2) this year and all of them have created a special prix-fixe menu for the event.

Winterlicious occurs at the peak of the two month winter rut, spreading a bit of culinary joy throughout the barren winter wasteland.

The prices range from $15 - $35 a meal including a starter, the main course and a dessert. The stand out deal is a three course dinner at the illustrious Yorkville eatery, Boba, for just $35. Boba hires on an extra team of staff just for the festival because patrons who normally couldn’t bear to drop a few bills over supper take advantage of the fair price during the festival. The restaurant is taking reservations by phone on January 8th and 9th between 10am and 9pm. Only American Express card holders are invited to this sponsored event so have yours ready when you ring them up at 416-961-2622.