Elite Event: Plump Fiction @ The Senator

Came for an Elite event!
VIBE
Retro diner with warm wood and polished surfaces. Great looking spot.
CRAB CAKES w/​cole slaw and tartar sauce —
No grumpy cats here (tartar sauce reference? No? Okay maybe that was a stretch.) Texture was slightly crisp on the outside with soft filling on the inside. No fishy after-​taste. Dug ‘em.
MAC N’ CHEESE — Hot, soft, creamy and yummy. Not over-​salted or processed tasting. Sprinkle of breadcrumbs on top was nice, but I wanted a little more texture – so I coursely mashed my crab cakes and tossed em on top. HOLY FORK DO THIS YOU WILL THANK ME. .
GUACAMOLE — Points for the in-​house fried chips and for making it fresh with visible chunks or tomatos and avacado. However, it had waaaaay too much onion and tasted like nothin but. Was not a fan.
HOT DOG w/​corn relish — Once again, we have classic gulity comfort dish that is, suprisinfly, not over-​salted or processed tasting. Has a soft and consistent texture compared to the typical tear-​into-​that-​sucker street meat fare.
SLIDERS w/​caramalized onion — The BEST. These were some darned tasty, tender and juicy lil burgs.
For me personally, this is not a location I frequent or a menu I would seek out, but if it were I’d give it a FOURTH STAR and highly recommend it!

This was the first Elite event I attended this year and it was worth every minute of the 3 hours it took me to get back home during the very memorable Toronto flood of 2013. ALL of the food was excellent! The crab cakes were phenomenal as were the oh-​so-​boozy milkshakes! Thank you so much to all the organizers and the staff at the Senator!

This was the WETTEST elite event ever.
Unilocalers? Wet.
Beer? Also wet.
Five stars!

I think it only rains on days when Evelyn throws a Unilocal party! But who cares?! Everything is better with Beau’s beer & lots of diner food. The staff at the Senator were great, very friendly and enthusiastic service!

This was my first Unilocal Elite event. Woohoo! I have to say, I was so excited that I was dressed and ready to go by 5pm (event started at 7pm and I live 15 minutes away)! AND I was also scheduled to work that evening, but I threatened and blackmailed colleagues so that they would cover for me (not really true – or is it?)
Just as I was getting ready to leave my apartment I found myself hitting a wall, otherwise known as rain. Like, A LOT of it! Are you kidding with me??? Why again??? And how is it that Evelyn manages to challenge us with crazy weather at almost every Unilocal event? (Ok, exaggerating; I have only been to 2 Unilocal events, but it rained BOTH times!) But hell if I was going to be derailed by water. Sure, I was wearing the wrong outfit while I bid my fate with the thunderstorm.
**Outfit: sandals, «thin» white top, mini skirt. And a useless umbrella that threatened to run away on more than one occasion.
Oh yeah, guess who won? Damn right! Sure, I looked like a wet dog. But whatever! I made it!
So now about the event itself. Mmm food. I will fight human nature for food. Clearly I got my priorities straight!
What I loved: the beer, the cocktail, the fries, the crab cakes. Meh were the hotdogs (I like mine plain not with a salad on top), did not eat the sliders because I hate onions, though I heard they were the best dish of the night, and I also did not eat the guacamole because… yeah you guessed it, it had onions. I did try to eat the tortilla chips but many were soft not crunchy and on the oily side. And the dessert was ok. The custard had curdled, but the taste was good.
If this is what EliteYelp events are like, I can’t wait for the next one! Thanks Unilocalers and The Senator staff for making it a great night. And thanks Evelyn for doing an amazing job planning it.

Had a blast at the Senator last night despite the rainy drive down! While I’m not an elite Unilocaler, my sister is and I was her plus one at this great event. I’ve known of the Senator but had never tried it. They’ve totally rebranded and are known for their local ingredients and tasty new dishes. The staff were really nice and super excited to have so many Unilocalers there. I was a big fan of the guacamole, sliders and crabcakes. The one dish I found a lil sub par was the kobe hotdog. To be fair, it’s hard to make hotdogs fancy, but I found them too salty. Beau’s is also one of my favourite beers and it’s hard to find in restaurants so that was a huge plus!

Those brave enough to come out in the weather, that did NOT get stuck on a highway or in the TTC somewhere were rewarded with a great event! The soggy guests were quickly warmed with some tasty drinks and delicious mac and cheesed.
Can’t wait to check out the Senator again!

Kudos to our CM for planning a great event at the Senator !
In spite of the terrible weather, a lot of people came — Unilocal Power. It was great to be served a variety of delicious dishes. I enjoyed all the dishes, except for the Kobe Hot Dog (a little too salty imo), the rest were deeelish. Service was fantastic — a big ‘thank you’ to the staff for coming in when the Senator’s closed on Mondays. A big plus was having the Chef come out and speak to us about the various dishes, including the local (and sometimes organic) ingredients.
Can’t wait for the next event.

Neither rain nor snow nor sleet nor hail shall keep the Unilocalers from their appointed rounds…
Yes, the heavens unleashed a clusterfucky rainstorm on this great city, but it utterly failed to deter a highly motivated and astonishingly attractive posse from attending another yum-​tastic elite event.
Highlights: awesome Pulp Fiction theme punctuated by various Mia Wallace-​haired ladies, the movie soundtrack setting a perfect mood, old-​school diner setting reminiscent of Honey-​bunny and Pumpkin’s failed robbery attempt, lip-​smacking crab cakes, sinfully creamy mac n cheese, kickass sliders and kobe dogs, divine strawberry-​cinnamonny-​boozy milkshakes, super-​friendly serving staff, fabulous company and of course the Canadian national beverage (beer!!)
Lowlights: just those in my hair! (hair joke)
Will I return to the Senator? Well, let’s see, do bears deposit ass brownies in the woods? (Answer: YES.)
Congratulations Evelyn W and the crew for another fun-​filled event!

Big shoutout to Sara KP who invited me to this event but then couldn’t make it because of the rain! We missed you!
I had a great time trying out the new revamped menu at the Senator last night, and felt like such a douche tweeting about my food while people are posting photos of drowning cars. The event felt more like a UYE than an Elite event, but nonetheless I believe the main purpose of tonights event was to try out the new menu, and was very smart of the Senator for doing so.
We were all situated in the booths, which hindered our mingling, but food and drink were brought over by the servers to eat at the tables. They were all very friendly and knowledgeable about the food being served.
The drinks included samplers of Beau’s Beer and this strawberry boozeshake with Goldschager. It was a bit to cinnamony for me, but surprisingly it was made with organic milk and my stomach was not reeling from all the dairy.
We started with some fresh corn chips and guac, then some excellent crab cakes with tartar sauce. Although nothing special, i did very much like the mac and cheese, and again was made from organic cheese and milk. Somehow my stomach was able to take this without feeling heavy. It wasn’t the best mac and cheese i’ve ever had, but it was GOOD.
The Kobe Beef Hot Dogs were good but it had too much smoke and salt flavour. The buns were not toasted which was a little disheartening.
The Cumbrae beef sliders were exceptionally juicy and very good.
We waited and waited for our strawberry crème brûlée, and my DPs Yvonne T and Patrick had to go deciding not wait. I got up to say goodbye, and found everyone else got it except us! There was none left for me to try. It’s okay as my dessert the the sweet chunky cookie I got to take home.
Shout outs to Mariko and Kumiko M and Janna who I entertained by my constant twtiter updates about the storm.

Wow, kudos to all of the follow Unilocal troopers that made it out to this event on a record-​breakingly wet day!
Was it worth the 3 hour trip home for me? Heck yes!
Did I get a little more than tipsy on delicious boozy pink milkshakes? Heck yes x2! Those things are DANGEROUS. You don’t know how fast and how much you’re drinking until it’s too late ;)! It was like drinking a strawberry cinnamon heart. OmNomNom!
There was definitely no lack of food, and I loved the variety of the tasting menu! Some of the items I felt were sort of take it or leave it (the chips, the hot dog), but some of it was delectable (the burgers, the guac).
The grab bag stocked with cookies, coffee, and Unilocal swag was a nice touch. I devoured my cookie on the way home!
Shout out to all the new friendly Unilocalers I met!
Evelyn, you sure know how to throw a fantastic event! Keep’em comin’!

Nice show of zombie walkers in a group trance headed for the oldest restaurant in Toronto serving up comfort food in vintage style booths was the perfect answer to the rain storm of the millennium. When the world around you is drowning, the best thing to do is be pampered by Evelyn and her Unilocaly party prowess! I’m so glad I made this event, albeit late and sopping wet from the knees down. Scrumptious sausage on sweet doughy buns, complimented by yummy corn niblets and skinny fries. Then came moist and meaty sliders smothered in caramelized onions, topped off with a fantastic Strawberry Crème Brûlée for dessert. Beers hit the spot after the basement cleanup earlier before I left home, and a double shot of Sambuca topped off a perfect storm of a night. Great company and comfort food helped me get my head back on straight after a harried evening, thanks so much for the effort Unilocal crew!

Never mind that it took 1.5 hours to fight the flood to get out the event, or that the trip home took even longer, this was an event not to be missed.
The food was plentiful near the end of the night (more hot dogs and sliders than could be devoured) and the little pink milkshake drinks, well they were all right too.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to help someone get their canoe off my balcony. Apparently it has been trapped there for hours.