With new Toronto restaurant openings and food trends that come and go like the breeze, things move fast — and it can be hard to know who’s actually worth following. Toronto is blessed with some of the most talented gourmands ever to hold a smartphone, but if you don’t know where to look, the algorithm can easily steer you wrong.
Luckily, we’re here to point your heads, bellies and wanderlust in the right direction. We're sharing the local voices serving up some of the most on-the-pulse restaurant finds, recipes, drinks intel and travel inspiration in the city.
In fact, we’re such fans that we’ve teamed up with six of them for foodism’s new Creator Program, a curated roster of Toronto creators spanning our core food, drink, travel and lifestyle pillars. Each brings their own point of view, expertise and audience — and you may start spotting them a little more often across foodism’s feeds as we collaborate on select campaigns, experiences and stories.
Consider this your cheat sheet for who to follow now — including, shamelessly, ourselves.
7 Toronto food and drink creators you need on your feed
1. Romain Avril
Why follow: Growing up in France, chef Romain Avril developed an appreciation for great food from an early age. The Michelin-trained chef, recipe developer and creator shares everything from easy-to-follow tutorials for velvety-soft pavlova to behind-the-scenes vlogs of the private dinners he creates for clients. Always real and never easy on the butter, Avril is the crème de la crème.
2. Ryan Hinkson
Why follow: You might recognize Ryan Hinkson from TV or the internet, where he’s often tapped for his take on what’s happening across Toronto, from Black-owned food crawls to the city’s oldest institutions. On his own feed, he turns that same curiosity toward restaurants, neighbourhood gems and must-try dishes, making @eatfamous a trusted source for figuring out where — and what — to eat next.
3. Solmaz Khosrowshahian
Why follow: Curious by name, curious by nature, Solmaz has an insatiable lust for all things food and travel. The full-time blogger was born in Iran before moving to Canada, but has been a Torontonian for the past two decades. Whether she's eating in Marrakesh markets or enjoying Taste of the Danforth with her family, she's the first to know what to eat — after the camera, of course.
4. Quentin Meloff
Why follow: If you want to know what’s happening behind the scenes in Toronto’s restaurant world, Quentin Meloff is your guy. The hospitality insider shares everything from new openings and industry intel to the people and personalities shaping the city’s food scene. Plugged-in and entertaining, his feed feels like getting the scoop from a foodie on the inside.
5. Renée Sferrazza
Why follow: Wine can quickly become an encyclopedia of nerdy terms that take all the fun out of sipping. Certified sommelier Renée Sferrazza takes the whine out of wine, making everything from regions and grapes to pairings feel approachable. Whether she’s inspiring a wine-fuelled getaway or the perfect bottle for dinner, Sferrazza makes learning about wine go down easy.
6. Brenton Mowforth
Why follow: Brenton makes cocktails that even novice bartenders will want to dust off their bar carts to attempt. Whether he’s travelling to New Orleans for a cocktail competition, chatting with global mixologists, creating guides to the city’s best watering holes or batching a homemade liqueur, Cheers to Happy Hour is an intoxicating place to have on your feed.
7. foodism
Ashley van der Laan
Why follow: Yes, we’re including ourselves. foodism may have started as a print magazine more than a decade ago, but we’ve been serving up dining inspiration on Instagram for almost as long. Follow @foodismca for new openings; behind-the-scenes peeks at the city’s bars and restaurants; and the chefs, bartenders and creatives shaping Toronto’s food scene — plus plenty of reasons to make your next reservation.
