Hey, I'm Jordan, co-founder of Plant Curious 👋🌱 Welcome to the very first edition of The Curious!

Toronto has one of the most exciting plant-based scenes around, and the variety here is impressive. Incredible food across every cuisine, price point, and craving. 

Chefs are making dishes that would've been unimaginable a decade ago. Small bakeries are turning out insane vegan pastries, local brands are getting their plant-based products across Canadian stores, and vegan events have been popping up all summer long!

Of course, it's not all sunshine and rainbows... Just this week, one of Toronto’s original vegan mainstays announced it’s closing 😔 (more below).

Honestly, there is a lot to keep tabs on, which is exactly why we're launching The Curious. We'd rather help places thrive while they’re here, than write about them closing.

So, if it's plant-based, happening in Toronto, and worth knowing about, we hope you'll find it here!

To do this right, we brought in someone who lives and breathes plant-based food and culture in Toronto: our friend Jonathan, aka VeggieInThe6ix.

Every other Thursday, he'll be your guide to the best of what's happening in the city.

We kicked things off, but from here, he's got you. Take it away, Jonathan 👇

Hello all, I’m Jonathan, founder of VeggieInThe6ix, and I’ll be your editor and guide for The Curious.

Born and raised in Toronto, I’ve been writing about the city’s plant-based scene since 2019, when I started VeggieInThe6ix (a vegan blog). More recently, I wrote The Toronto Vegan Insider, a weekly newsletter covering the restaurants, food, events, and ideas shaping Toronto’s vegan community, which I’ve recently wrapped up. I’m thrilled to now join the Plant Curious team and bring you The Curious every other Thursday.

Thanks for being here at the beginning. I’m excited to share what’s ahead and help The Curious grow into a useful, welcoming, and dynamic resource for Toronto's vegan and veg-curious community, and a way to amplify all things plant-based in the city.

Let’s get to it 👇

📅 Friday, September 18
🕒 6 p.m.–8 p.m.
📍 The Lab, 108 Dundas Street West, 2nd Floor
🎟️ $55

VegTO is hosting a dinner with Toronto chef Lauren Toyota. The listed menu includes fattoush, mushroom skewers, roasted potato salad, and crumble. It has been sold out for some time now but they just added more tickets!

📅 Saturday, September 19
🕒 7 p.m.–10 p.m.
📍 The Lab, 108 Dundas Street West, 2nd Floor
🎟️ $5.65

VegTO’s Starry Summer Singalong is a karaoke event hosted by Mike and Priya.

📅 September 18–20
🕒 Friday, 5–9 p.m.; Saturday, 1–6 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.
📍 Yonge & Eglinton; High Park North Gate; Yonge & Gerrard
A three-day Cube of Truth animal-rights outreach event organised by AV Toronto with groups from Québec, Montreal, and Ottawa. Carpooling and accommodation coordination are available through the Facebook event page.

📅 Friday, September 25
🕒 6 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
📍 Centre for Social Innovation (CSI)
🎟️ $5.65

A two-hour vegan health and fitness session featuring Jim O’Quinn, a performance coach and certified personal trainer, and Dr. Kelli Qi, a naturopathic doctor.

📅 Friday, September 25, 2026
🕒 6:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
📍 Thien Tam Asia, 2907 Dundas St W.
🎟️ Free

Toronto Vegan Drinks is a welcoming last-Friday-of-the-month meetup for people looking to make new friends, connect over vegan food and drinks, and ease into the autumn season. This month’s gathering is at Thien Tam in the Junction, with Pan-Asian vegan dishes plus cocktails and mocktails in a cosy, inclusive setting.

After 15 years of serving our community, The Hogtown Vegan has announced that it will close at the end of September, with its final day of service on September 27. The restaurant cited ongoing challenges facing the restaurant industry and expressed gratitude to its team and community, while leaving open the possibility of returning in another form in the future. Reservations are recommended before closing. This is another tough loss for the city.

After the sad news about Hogtown Vegan’s upcoming closure, there’s a little good news from Portobello Road: the supper club will continue operating in Whitby while expanding to a new Leslieville location. Whitby service is planned for Saturdays, with Leslieville operating throughout the rest of the week. Details, including the Leslieville opening date and address, could not be verified at this time.

The Dish: Smoked Salmon Benny
Location: Stefano’s Diner
Price: $26.00

This weekend brunch dish features mung bean eggs and smoked salmon on English muffins, topped with béarnaise, lemon caviar, and dill, and served with fried potatoes. The smoked salmon was particularly impressive and unlike any other vegan salmon I’ve tried in the past, this was levels above marinated carrots (although I do also love marinated carrots 😂, it’s the vegan in me). Available Saturdays and Sundays, it’s a satisfying, well-balanced plate that we rate 8.2/10.

4,000+ Plant Curious members are enjoying an exclusive BOGO scoop deal at Honey’s Plant-Based Premium Ice Cream until the end of September! The offer applies to all flavours, cups and regular wafer cones, and both scoops can be combined in one serving; waffle-cone upgrades are available for an additional $2 per cone.

Join Plant Curious to unlock vegan deals across Toronto!

Food Forward Summit
📅 Thursday, October 8, 2026
🕒 9 a.m.–7 p.m.
📍 The International Centre, 6900 Airport Road, Mississauga
🎟️ $299 General Admission.
The Food Forward Summit is an agri-food innovation and trade event bringing together industry leaders, policymakers, and innovators to discuss food-systems innovation, AI, global trade, food policy, food security, and Indigenous food sovereignty. The event’s VEGPRENEUR pavilion may be of interest, though the summit is primarily geared towards food-industry professionals since it is rather expensive.