Lights Out for Earth Day

This coming Monday is Earth Day and Pioneer has decided to commemorate this day of action with just a little bit of inaction (in a good way!). What could be better than walking somewhere local for a candlelight dinner made with locally sourced food inspired by local hops?

Two of our favourite people have joined forces to create an Earth Day event everyone will want to attend. Anne Sorrenti, executive chef at Morgan's and Troy Burtch at Great Lakes Brewery, teamed up for Lights Out - an candlelight evening of local beer and local food.

Great Lakes Brewery is Toronto's original craft brewery, and so Sorrenti has created a four-course local menu that integrates their famous ales - including dessert (think coffee and cake...mmmm). The four courses will be paired, of course, with tasters of some new brews and old classics. If you've never been to a beer dinner before, they are great fun.

Tickets are a measly $50 - which is great value for a four course dinner with drinks especially from the Morgan's kitchen. Event starts at 6:30 with some apps and a pint.

For more info, there are lots of options! Call Morgan's and make a reservation (416 461-3020), check out details on Facebook here, or head to GLB's website here.

See you there!

Trip to the Big House

Okay, got you there! Pioneer has not had a run in with the law, just a run in with some good law-abiding pizza. That's right, we couldn't resist trying out a hot juicy slice from Big House Pizza, the hot new kid in town at 962 Danforth. We always call Fridays 'pizza day' and even though it was Good Friday, we didn't quite feel like the requisite fish dinner since we were entertaining small children pre-wired to throw fish sticks at the wall. A good excuse for take out!

Perusing the online menu, we had to laugh at the creative naming protocol they've used: Rob 'the jerk' Ford for a spicy jerk chicken pie, the John A. Macdonald (think a Big Mac with pickles) and the I'm Watching My Weight So I'll Just Have the Veggie Pizza. We ordered a small cheese pizza for the young 'uns from the Penny Pinchin Menu and a large Hot Pig In The City for the adult kids.

We're not going to lie - the prices are higher than your standard takeout, but guess what?

One a penny, two a penny.....

One of Pioneer's favourite places on Danforth is Morgans and so we jumped at the opportunity to keep the shine on the bar this week when an invitation came from Great Lakes Brewery to chat about an upcoming @DanforthEast event. We'll get to that in a second, but while we were there we got to chatting with Executive Chef Anne Sorrenti about what's up for Easter and it had our mouths watering!

First thing first: put down the oven mitts and the frozen Pillsbury crescent rolls. If you call Morgans and order by Saturday, you can have fresh baked hot cross buns for your Easter feast. Forget the orange currant-y spiced variety of old. Sorrenti has come up with two delectable flavours to choose from: white chocolate apricot, and chocolate nutmeg spice. Delicious and one more item you can cross off your list of things to prep. The phone number is 416.461.3020, so call and order some now!

If you're not locked into family festivities on Sunday, Morgans has an Easter brunch with live

Shiny and New

Pioneer was waltzing down Danforth, just west of Woodbine on the south side, when a beautiful window display leapt out at us. A few steps on, this was followed by a wave from two friendly faces lounging in the window of the brand new community hub Artisans At Work (2071 Danforth Ave). It was local jeweller Tara Shelton and neighbourhood event planner Susan, ensconced in the cozy nook at the front of the shop that we quickly discovered is the best place in the neighbourhood for people watching. It was our first visit to the art space, but it won’t be our last.

This endeavor is a fine addition to the ground swell happening around Danforth East – to get people shopping local. Shelton is the proprietor of the ethereal space, which takes pride of place as the first community art studio and artisan market in this neck of the woods. She says that it's a dream come true for her to provide exhibit space, work space, and retail space for local artisans in the Danforth East area – and a place for affordable, unique gifts.