Toronto's Crescendo - Oil, Vinegar, and Heaven!

Update! Unfortunately, Crescendo is no longer in operation. Please enjoy this post as an example of the tremendous foodie culture you'll find in Toronto.

Crescendo Oils - Distillery District - Toronto

It will come as no surprise to many of you when I say that I love to eat! Reading between the lines of this blog will no doubt have showed the TurnipSeedTravel community that I adore local foods, am fascinated with coffee, will do just about anything for hot buttered bread, a good Brie, and consider nachos the greatest culinary adventure of our time. And, of course, I consider brownies a form of currency.

It was therefore a great treat for me to discover something entirely new to add to my culinary love list when I joined the City of Toronto for a TBEX tour of the distillery district. We were fortunate to drop into many fine food shops, but one in particular really stood out.

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Inside Crescendo Oil and Vinegar.

Crescendo is a tiny shop that sells high quality, rare, and unique oils (olive, avocado, pumpkin seed), along with cream vinegars and balsamics. 

To say I've never had a tasting experience quite like it would be an understatement!I don't know if I've ever really taken the time to really taste and experience a real, pure, high quality oil before. I'm not talking the stuff from fancy bottles in the average supermarket, but the kind that comes from small, family run estates with heritage designations and old fashioned equipment that produces small batches and has limited distribution. The flavours were fresh and vibrant and unique.

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Barrels of flavored balsamic vinegar.

I loved the cream vinegars and the aged balsamics were even more to my taste. The creme vinegars were almost as thick as molasses and every bit as sweet and tangy. We had so much fun mixing and matching different oil and vinegar combinations.  The pumpkin seed oil with a mango vinegar was incredible!

Crescendo would be the perfect place to pick up a great gift for a foodie or a blogger or to bring a housewarming gift that's a bit more creative than a bottle of wine. It would also be a perfect stop on an afternoon trip through the distillery district and the knowledge and friendliness of the staff means you will have as much fun sampling as you will shopping.