It’s entirely possible that an early work by the next Atom Egoyan or David Cronenberg will screen on Wednesday night at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. With the 2013 Student Film Showcase featuring the best from post-secondary schools around the country and the Jump Cuts Young Filmmakers Showcase kicking off the evening with Toronto-area high-school students’ films, the night will be a coming-out party for a new crop of talent. Judging by the polished creativity of some of the entries, it’s safe to say that young people are more prepared than ever to start telling stories on film from an early age.

According to CBC’s Chris Boyce, the goal of this weekend’s CBCMusic.ca Festival is twofold. First and foremost, the CBC wants to celebrate Canadian music. Second, it wants to celebrate CBC Music, the broadcaster’s online music service, which launched a little over a year ago.

The Delicious Food Show
Better Living Centre (195 Princes’ Boulevard)
October 20–23
$18 in advance, $20 at the door; Students/Seniors $10

Everyone has their own tastes, it’s true. One might prefer a savoury, sweet, or salty treat over another, and in today’s society, so be it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But surely someone, or something, somewhere, is the arbiter of the palate. The final say on the finest flavours. Well, thank the heavens for The Food Network Delicious Food Show, for taking out all of the guesswork in what is, or what isn’t, delicious.

Kicking off last night at the Better Living Centre in the Exhibition Place, the first ever Delicious Food Show brings together hundreds of exhibitors, and even a couple of food trucks, for four days of tastings, demonstrations, and seminars with local chefs and some of the Food Network’s cuisine connoisseurs, like Padma Lakshmi, Mark McEwan, and Lynn Crawford.

Decked out in pink carpets, black drapes, and white leather plush booths, studded with plenty of macaron-decorated trees and tied together with an appropriate Alice in Wonderland theme, the show turns the Better Living Centre into a dreamworld of shiny, sparkly, decadence: a celebration of desserts, drinks, specialty appliances (who knew we were missing a personal pie-maker all along?), kitchen design, and, you guessed it, deliciousness.

And we have to admit, the gastronomical geniuses of the Food Network must know what they’re doing. The very first culinary concoction that greeted us at the entrance of the centre was a freshly scooped blob of ice cream made in front of our eyes from orange juice and liquid nitrogen, topped with Prosecco and bacon jam. It was, in fact, delicious. Roasted butternut squash soup garnished with sour cream, apple, and pumpkin brittle from Brassaii? Also delicious. A salad of endives, pear, walnuts, blue cheese, and blackberry dressing, with a cup of rich peppermint hot chocolate from Wildly Delicious Fine Foods? Their name says it all—delicious. Gourmet chocolate marshmallows from Bobbette & Belle were delicious, as was the red velvet fudge from The Nutty Chocolatier and we can only assume that the wasabi, balsamic vinegar, and cream cheese orange macarons from Ruelo Patisserie were also delish.

We now know for sure that the words all-natural, gluten-free, organic, local, eco-friendly, and biodegradable up a product’s deliciousness considerably, like they do for Teaopia and Fit Organix. However, we were left with one question—is the chocolate from Chocostyle even more delicious when it’s shaped as a purse, iPhone, champagne bottle, or oversized high heel shoe?

At one point, either as we bit into another mini red velvet cupcake (delicious) or as we waited behind the luxury bags and suit jackets of the attendees in front of us, beside stainless steel and mother of pearl serving utensils, in line to try a taste of sustainable caviar from New Brunswick on top of a Russian blini (also delicious), suddenly we thought we experienced what it must be like to be in that infamous one per cent. For a fleeting moment, the excess of the Delicious Food Show seemed vacant and guilt-inducing. Then out came the quail eggs and, well, we got distracted.

Inside the Better Living Centre, there was nary a frown or furrowed brow. Customers happily gobbled and sipped their samples, handed over by vendors only too thrilled to serve them. The evening’s host, Miss Conception, dressed as a cross between Julia Child and the Queen of Hearts, was less interested in chopping off heads than in bobbing her own to the jazzy music that played at the entrance. Even the So You Think You Can Cook dancers (actually from the Conteur Dance Company) were positively beaming as they fan-kicked and chasséd in Food Network aprons and little else—even though they probably didn’t (or couldn’t) eat any of the delicious food themselves. For both the attendees and exhibitors, making and consuming delicious food is their passion. For us, the pleasure that began on our tastebuds became deeper, and soon the whole space sparkled and shone like the drool that formed on our lips.

Call it what you will—scrumptious, tasty, ambrosial, delectable, piquant, or even titillating—the Delicious Food Show is an extravaganza in gourmet glamour. And every once in a while, it never hurts to add a little deliciousness to one’s day.

What To Watch This Week:

Tonight: George W. Bush – Dubya unleashes his plan for Iraq. Since the details of his expected decision to send 20,000 more troops to the troubled region have been leaking since yesterday, you won’t learn anything new here. Recommended purely for the comedic value of watching him stumble through yet another “everything is going to be okay” address to his nation. Bonus drinking game – do a shot every time he gets that “I-know-more-than-you” grin on his face and bobs his head like a chicken, and see if you can get through his speech before alcohol poisoning sets in. All of the American networks, 9 PM
Thursday: End Of The Century – Truly excellent, revealing documentary about punk rock founding fathers The Ramones, from their inauspicious beginning in Queens to their eventual demise more than 20 years later, and all of the turmoil in between. Includes interviews with late founding members Joey, Johnny and Dee Dee, as well as the various others who wore the surname Ramone, contemporaries like Debbie Harry, Iggy Pop and John Lydon, and a host of current rock stars. Documentary, 8 PM
Friday: Radio Days – Once upon a time, before he married his daughter and lost touch with the times, Woody Allen was a very talented writer and director. Anyone under the age of 25 might have a difficult time believing this, but we swear it’s true. If you want proof, watch this 1987 nostalgia piece about the golden age of radio, which is a far cry from the hacky, paranoid, unfunny drivel he’s put out recently. Bravo!, 9 PM
Saturday: Hockey Day In Canada – If all of those Canadian Heritage commercials had sex with each other, Hockey Day In Canada could very well be their love child. For 13 hours on Saturday, CBC will be making love with all things hockey and Canada. Broadcasting out of tiny Nelson, British Columbia, the festivities include dispatches from high-level CBC Sports employees from such outposts as Regina, Whitehorse, and Tignish, Prince Edward Island; a build-your-own-backyard-rink contest; and of course an all-Canadian triple-header, with Montreal at Ottawa at 2, Vancouver at Toronto at 7, and Edmonton at Calgary at 10. If you’re not in a tattoo parlour getting the Maple Leaf tattooed on your chest by midnight after watching all of this, you have a heart of stone! CBC, Noon
Sunday: 24 – The first half of the four-hour season premiere of the most badass show on television (the second half of the marathon opener airs at the same time Monday night). Season six starts with terrorist attacks, lots of stress, and Jack Bauer doing really terrible things in the name of national security. So what else is new? With Bauer you really never know. Every season of 24 is like the best action movie you’ve ever seen extended over a 24-hour period. Global, 8 PM
Monday: Ultimate Super Heroes – If you’ve just finished watching the second half of 24′s four-hour season premiere, you’re going to want something a little lighter to prevent having a coronary due to the inevitable cliffhanger. You’re in luck, because starting Monday Space is airing this 2005 miniseries featuring a top-20 countdown of the greatest superheroes of them all, and it’s narrated by the one and only Adam West (he of the all-natural, un-rubberized pecs and fantastic dance skills). Space, 10 PM
Tuesday: American Idol – Okay, by week four this show always really, really sucks. But the early episodes are great for a laugh as Randy, Paula and Simon (you know, the guy behind Il Divo) rip into some of the worst singing you’re ever likely to hear on a major network. This has become doubly entertaining since William Hung had his 15 minutes and a slew of auditioners all decided to try and be so horrid that they’d be chosen to sing at Blue Jays games too. Warning: This is another two-day, four-hour premiere (Fox really likes milking that concept), with the second half airing at the same time Wednesday. CTV, 8 PM