Food Junkie Chronicles: BEAST ME

Organized my first ever Tweetup last Thursday at Beast Restaurant (BEAST ME was the name of the Tweetup, #BeastTO was the hashtag). It was a success as everyone had a good time (or I hope everybody did because I certainly did haha). I finally got to meet several foodies who I've interacted with on twitter for awhile now, so that was great =) and of course, it's always nice to see my usual group of foodies~ It was a night of great food, great company, and great conversation. Actually, to be honest, conversation could've been better; I didn't get to chat with a few tweeps as much as I wanted to. Our group of 13 was split into two tables - although the tables were side by side, it was hard for me to engage in conversation with people sitting at the other table. This is precisely when I miss those big round tables at Chinese restaurants.

#BeastTO wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for Chef Scott and Rachelle Vivian, owners of Beast (@BeastRestaurant on Twitter). Thanks for for taking the time to organize this Tweetup with me (believe me, there were plenty of emails going back and forth between us LOL). So thank you again =) And I also wanna say thanks to all the foodies that showed up at #BeastTO ^_^

You can probably tell from that picture below that Beast is a small place; our group alone took up almost half of the restaurant. From the left: Mack (@M3foods), Chris (@chrisim), and Sandon (@sandviper). Sorry about the blurry head >_<

From the far left, starting from below the window: Matt (@mattmark), Gizelle (@TorontoEats), John (@jchant), Alexa (@alexaclark), Jennifer (@jylui) and Sandon (better shot this time).

Happy Hour Menu - This ends at 7pm. My half of the table ordered one of everything to share (everything above the Beast Burger).

I missed pics of two dishes *sadface* - the Hushpuppies and the Poutine =( But here goes!

Marinated Olives and Spiced Almonds

Rachelle's Bread and Butter

House-Made Charcuterie - Rabbit and carrot terrine, pate de campagne, mortadella, duck bresaola, foie gras “pastrami”

Duck Hearts Risotto - Mushrooms, farro, scorn squash

Beet Salad - Fennel pickles, candied pecans

Fried Pig's Ears - bbq salt

Braised Pork Pasta

Dirty Rice Fritters

Tasso Ham Sliders

Lamb Ribs - Carolina bbq sauce, cornbread, coleslaw

After the happy hour appetizers, those that were still hungry (me included) ordered mains too.

Southern Fried Sweetbreads - Celery root, collard greens, hot sauce

Grilled Italian Sausage - Puy lentils, hazelnuts, gremolata, verjus

Cassoulet - Duck confit, chorizo sausage, poached duck egg

Oven-Roasted Bone Marrow - Parsley salad, paprika crust, grilled bread

Photo credit: @jchant

I was really full after all that food and was seriously contemplating about not getting dessert. I was also recovering from the flu so my appetite was not up to par that night. But surprise surprise, I couldn't resist at the end anyway *shakes head*

Before the desserts came, a few people ordered coffee. There were timers on all of them =)

Sticky Toffee Pudding - Toffee sauce, clotted cream <-- THIS IS TO DIE FOR!

Brownie - Chocolate sauce, salted peanut butter ice cream

Ice cream - Lemon verbena, chocolate buffalo, spiced butter pecan

This was an astronomic Tweetup and only possible with a big group of people. Why? Well it is not everyday that you can say the following at a restaurant:

"We will take one of everything on the menu"

Being able to say that is just soooo awesome! Then the anticipation of all the food, the waiting, and finally seeing the dishes being brought to the table, one after another after another, on and on and on...the feeling is... MARVELOUS!

Here are the tweeps that made it all possible! Pictures courtesy of Sandon~

Mack & Chris