My First Ribfest

Tuesday July 3, 11:54 p.m.

Well, as promised, The Anime King took me over to Centennial Park on Canada Day. The park is over in the west end of Toronto, the area known as Etobicoke. Pretty huge park, so pretty huge setup for Toronto's tribute to all that is meaty and drippy.

The Anime Court got there about 11 a.m. so we were very early and therefore we could get finger-lickin' spareribs without having to wait in the relentless sun. Sure enough, an hour later, the crowds started surging into the area.

Do not lick the screen!

This was my very first Ribfest. Before I'd left for Japan, such festivals didn't exist. Now, it's a Toronto gastronomic institution. The members of the Court and I planned it out and we all went to different rib joints so that we could share the whole kit n' kaboodle at our table. I could see the grilling philosophy of low n' slow being carried out.

My contribution came from Sticky Fingers. I went for the whole rack at $22. Nope, not exactly a Dollarama deal but this was a special occasion. And it was well worth the money since the meat was literally falling off the bone. Neat freaks can just pass by this festival. You only eat ribs one way, and that is messily!

And what is a Ribfest without a free computerized spinal scan? I could only imagine that the service is provided to find out whether ingesting kilos of rib meat could induce curvature of the spine. Didn't see too many hunched-over foodies, but isn't it comforting to know that the scanning technology is mere metres away?