Toronto’s Distillery Winter Village is back for another season of twinkly lights, mulled-wine strolls and giant gingerbread houses filled with unique holiday vendors! But this year, the city’s most famous Christmas market is leaning even harder into its foodie reputation with the debut of Chef’s Lane: an elevated new dining strip where four of Canada’s best-known chefs serve exclusive holiday dishes!
This new foodie experience transforms Pure Spirits Mews into a kind of mini holiday food hall, but instead of stalls, there are four cozy cabins, each run by a different celebrity chef.
Four of Canada’s top chefs have each created a one-of-a-kind, holiday-inspired dish, making for an unforgettable festive food experience. Visitors can expect everything from bold international flavours to nostalgic seasonal classics! Here’s a sneak peek at the Chefs and the four dishes you can try on Chef’s Lane:
Chef Claudio Aprile’s “Aprile Holiday Feast”
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This cabin is basically handing you Christmas dinner in sandwich form! The Aprile Holiday Feast layers roast turkey, smoked brisket, caramelized carrot and sweet potato, smoked provolone, fresh sage and cranberry chutney, all pulled together with a turkey jus reduction inside a soft, oversized bun.
Chef Nuit Regular’s Tom Yum Soup
Nuit Regular brings a hit of Thai brightness to the District’s cobblestoned streets! Her tom yum is an aromatic hot-and-sour broth with poached shrimp, lemongrass, makrut lime leaves and sawtooth coriander.
Chef Eric Chong’s Spicy Mala Poutine
No matter the time of year, poutine is the ultimate Canadian comfort food. Chef Chong reimagines it in the most delicious fashion: his Spicy Mala Poutine piles pork and cabbage dumplings, mozzarella and Szechuan-inspired gravy over fries, turning the classic into a mash-up of street snacks!
Chef Bruno Feldeisen’s Candy Cane Cheesecake Lollipop
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If you’ve still got room for dessert, chef Bruno Feldeisen is serving maybe the most Insta-friendly thing on the lane: a Candy Cane Cheesecake Lollipop. Imagine a festive cheesecake dipped in chocolate and served on a popsicle stick!
So, Chef’s Lane might be Winter Village’s shiny new toy, but it’s part of a much bigger push to make the Village a foodie’s paradise. This year’s programming includes about 40 seasonal food cabins and nine themed outdoor bars (the most the event has ever hosted) as well as the Distillery’s permanent restaurants and cafés.
Food highlights include Santa Spuds (think spiralized potato on a stick), Robata-style meat skewers, Santa’s smoker and BBQ, Japanese tacos, Nepalese momos (dumplings), empanadas, pierogies, mini donuts, mini pancakes, fresh strawberries with chocolate, classic Swiss Raclette and Cluny’s viral torched s’mores hot chocolate!
Check out the list of all food and vendors to look out for at Winter Village this year, as well as more of the top Christmas markets in Toronto!
The Distillery Winter Village runs from Nov 13, 2025, to Jan 4, 2026.
