STORY BY CAIT CARTER
Instagram is more than just a place to look at your friends’ selfies these days.
It’s more than memes and videos: it’s a place to connect the things you love, and for most people that includes food.
We’re not talking about the lame food pictures you see from friends. No one cares about what your sister ate for breakfast, we know.
But there’s a special beauty in food instagrammers – something that makes them a little more special.
Maybe it’s the high quality photos, or maybe it’s just that what they show you looks so damn good.
But these Toronto food instagrammers? They have something super special going on. There’s one of them for every person’s needs, the vegan looking for something new or the person just wanting to stare at something yummy.
The Local
The best part about @katdalesio isn’t that she’s making organic, wholesome meals for the internet- it’s that she’s a local instagrammer.
Kat, otherwise known as Katrina, lives in both Oakville and Hamilton and gets all of her ingredients from the area.
D’Alesio is inspired by her family’s positive influence, as well as healthy eating.
She aims to cook at home as much as possible, and tries to inspire others to do the same by adding links to her blog, Katrina’s Organic Kitchen, to her posts. She also posts the recipes in her images from time to time.
D’Alesio has a post for everyone – the classic omnivore to the rising vegan.
She shares recipes for people of all sorts of budgets as well, varying from expensive treats likes oysters Rockefeller, a type of oyster served with a mixture of spinach, parmesan cheese, fennel and anise, to braised chicken thighs served with sweet potato, a more affordable dish.
D’Alesio understands what people want, and provides seasonal dishes for everyone.
The Clean Eater
The Healthy Maven, otherwise known as Davida, is the kind of instagrammer you turn to after you hit the scale.
There they are – those shocking numbers, and you want to drop them fast.
What better way to start losing weight than to start following a food and wellness blogger who actually gives you information, not just an ad for the new and exciting “detox tea” everyone and their mother seems to be posting about?
Picture by @thehealthymaven.
Davida shares recipes and information with her followers that you’ll be hard pressed to find from other instagrammers.
She connects to her blog and provides recipes for almost everything she posts, which means you have a chance of actually creating what she’s posted.
Be not afraid, however. Healthy eating with @thehealthymaven doesn’t stop at granola and hemp seed smoothies. This instagram posts things like vegan butternut squash “mac and cheese”, pumpkin pancakes and bacon and brussels sprout slaw.
Following these recipes is going to make you feel better, as well as eat better.
Pounds are going to slip off, and you’re going to be happy if you follow Davida’s ways.
The Vegan
It’s time to accept it world: vegans exist, and they’re starting to take over. It’s not a bad thing, either.
People are coming up with new and exciting ways to eat their way to happiness, and that includes @vegangirlfriend.
Picture by @vegangirlfriend.
An instagram shared by friends, @vegangirlfriend shares recipes, tips and restaurant suggestions for people looking for new ways to remove animals from their diet.
Suggestions include restaurants all over Toronto, but also local spots like Whole Foods and The Works.
They also share creations they’ve made, including different types of “nice-creams”, a blend of bananas to make an ice cream alternative, and raw raspberry mousse tarts.
@vegangirlfriend doesn’t offer any recipes, but includes the ingredients they use. A little bit of google-ing and any vegan chef-to-be can find inspiration in this Toronto blog’s insta-hits.
The Indulgent
When you hear ‘Fat Girl Food Squad’ you can’t help but laugh at the charming title, but @fatgrlfoodsquad has it made in the food department.
The Instagram, a connection to their blog, posts all sorts of tantalizing meals, created by members of the blog and also from restaurants.
The site shares a few connections with New York City, so there’s a bit of the Big Apple vibe going on in a few posts, but most of them come from the Toronto and Hamilton area.
These ladies love food festivals too, and hit up as many food-related events as they can, happily sharing their finds with followers.
Head over to @fatgrlfoodsquad to stare gratuitously at pictures of doughnuts the size of your hand, ramen bowls the size of your face and for those looking for something a little fancy, even octopus carpaccio.
Prepare to meet your maker after trying what these ladies are offering up on their Instagram.
The Burger
There comes a time in every person’s life where you accept certain inalienable truths.
One, that you love food, and two, that you really love burgers.
It doesn’t matter how you eat: vegan, vegetarian, carnivore – burgers are delicious, and massive, and sexy in a totally disgusting, “I can’t believe the size of that” way.
@burgersTO has figured that out, and they’ve created the perfect way to indulge our senses.
Each post by @burgersTO features a burger from a different restaurant.
Each burger has something that makes it special.
Each burger looks delicious.
This blog had it made during the Canadian National Exhibition, featuring all of the weird, exciting burgers the event had to offer including the donut burger, which, you guessed it, is a burger served on two Dunkin’ Donuts.
They’ve posted creations by The Works, Burger Priest and Hero Burger – all of which accessible in some form in the area.
But if you’re feeling particularly creative, you can head to Toronto and try the others burgers they’ve shared – the brunch burger from Momofuku or the impressive burger burrito from Burger Stomper.
The best part of @burgersTO however is that you don’t need to be heading over to the city to admire the flavours. All you have to do is stop and stare.
