People love to joke, myself included, that Canada only has 2 seasons, Winter and summer.
Since the weather is either drastically cold, or extremely warm with no inbetween, its almost as though spring, and autumn don't exist sometimes.
However, mid-late September into early October does bring some relatively warm, with just a little chill type days, where it's still warm enough to wander about without having to pull that dreaded winter jacket out.
It's nice to explore parts of Toronto and the GTA while experiencing the seasonal change of the leaves of the trees going through their captivating colour changes full of browns, oranges, reds and yellows, till they fall off the trees entirely.
If you couldn't tell, fall/autumn is my favourite season.
One of my favourite things about Toronto, especially as the place continues to slowly re-open after all the long drawn out shut downs from the pandemic over a year ago, are all the seasonal pop ups you can find around the city.
It's even more fun finding the less common/popular ones, because it almost guarantees a smaller crowd, and more space to wander about at a pace and in a space that's more comfortable, especially If you've been someone like me who's experienced some social anxiety going out again since the pandemic first started.
I was running errands one day and noticed this small fall pop up, in the place of what was a differently themed pop up from the summer time. (i'll have to make a note to return in the summer next year to see what was there)
This fall pop up, called fall'n'leaves, is literally just this family friendly food and wine bar in an open space, sandwiched between two buildings, with umbrellas, benches and hay all over the ground.
Here you can get some Canadian autumn/fall-themed food, (like pasta in a pumpkin) take a couple fall/autumn themed photos, sit around the fireplace, or listen to some live acoustic music on select days.
If you have a group of 4 or more, you're more likely to be shown to a picnic bench, whereas a smaller group would have to walk around and grab one of the seats in another location.
A reservation would be required for groups of 10 or more however.
They were open on thanksgiving, so I took my sister and some friends there to check it out, since I'd been meaning to take a look myself.
There's no fee or tickers required for entry general.
You're more likely to spend money on the fall themed food and cocktails if there's anything you want to try.
They also have additional events linked in with their fall patio, such as wine tastings, paint nights, and even drag halloween, but tickets would be required for these. You could even book the space for a private event if you wanted.
Wait times for the pop up vary on the day and time you go, however note that there isn't any online system to check the wait times; Your best bet is when you arrive, to ask the person at the front what the estimated wait time would be if they aren't letting anyone else in at the moment.
We went around 3pm on Thanksgiving Monday, and it was decently packed, but with enough space for us to be assigned a picnic bench since we were a group of 4.
The space in general is super cozy, and a nice home-y feel. The lights dangling over add this lightness to the atmosphere, the smell of the food cooking fills your nostrils, and the live music fills your ears ever so gently.
Even when you go to order food, the home-type feel continues, as it isn't like some fancy restaurant. The space almost reminds me of a sports day setting if you're familiar, with parents and volunteers would be behind the scenes cooking up the food and serving it.
This space was similar. With everything being open concept, when you place your order in the food section, you can see it being prepared as it's requested, and everything is nice and warm and freshly prepared the moment you receive it.
My sister got the rosƩ pasta that comes in a pumpkin (first time I had ever seen anything like it, the pumpkin wasn't mixed with the pasta, it was literally the bowl.)
I was less adventerous and went with some ribs and fries.
Little toursity-seasonal locations like this pop up are so interesting to me. Mainly because you're really not likely to see anything like this where I'm from in the Caribbean.
We have two seasons back home, rainy season and dry season. But to see the way they really milk the seasons up here in Canada, and can make almost anything a themed event, it really contributes to my overall North-America/Canadian tourist experience, and I love it.
The food options range from BBQ Maple ribs, Wood fire Pizzas (like a pumpkin spice pizza was an actual option for all the pumpkin spice lovers out there) Pastas (that come in a pumpkin) hot chocolate that comes IN A PUMPKIN!
There are also sweets like apple pie churros, Apple cobbler, different types of corn and a cocktail bar with fall themed drinks such as: Canadian maple whisky sour, pumpkin spice Moscow mule, thanksgiving margarita and red apple cinnamon sangria.
Everything is fall themed!
There's also a mini pumpkin patch where you can paint a pumpkin, or take pictures on the hay bales.
In terms of how much you would expect to spend just as someone passing through, both the rosƩ pumpkin pasta my sister had, and my ribs and fries cost $20, so I would recommend carrying about $40 in cash or be prepared to spent around that amount on your card if you want a meal and a drink. (They do take card payments and you don't have to make any reservation for food and non-alcoholic drinks).
However, there's no pressure to purchase anything, it's just such a nice cozy outside vibe. Great opportunity to hang out with some friends and/or family while getting some fresh air. Especially if you're cooped up in the house, or the office, or anywhere all day.
The live acoustic music brought a lovely additional vibe to the overall atmosphere. I felt like I was in a Disney channel movie or something as an extra for some halloween themed movie happening in the fall time.
Overall, it really is a nice and relatively inexpensive location to go with some friends, or your significant other. (Super cute date spot, trust me)
They were meant to be open till October 31st, but extended it to November 7th, 2021 this year.
I was under the impression it was a one time pop up and would be in a different location every year, but based on their instagram here, it wasn't a one time thing, rather this is their second year in a row hosting this cozy outdoor Fall food and wine bar pop up, so if you miss it this year, no worries, it'll likely be back next year!
For anyone looking for the smaller scale tourist-y activity, this is definately one of my recommendations.
Side note: Make sure to check the forecast before you leave! The transition from the summer into the "fall" weather in Canada is famous for its heavy and long-lasting showers, and the wind and sudden drops in temperature love to make guest appearances when you least expect it.
But hey, that's Canada for you, so make sure you prepare in advance, so you're not too cold when you get there, or get trapped in the rain unexpectedly.
Some benches in the location are covered by umbrellas yes, but they aren't very big so you're still likely to get wet since the whole pop up is entirely outdoors.
When we went, it was about 18 degrees. So still pretty warm out for an October Monday, but unfortunately this meant the bees were still out in full force. (Yeah, I'm someone who runs from the bees cause being stung is one of my irrational fears ā¹ļø )
Other that that though, like I've mentioned in this post a few times, its a really lovely location.
I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted, but here's a picture of me with a pumpkin just because āØautumnāØ
If you want some more information on fall'n'leaves, check out their website here: http://fallnleavesto.com
Or follow on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/fallnleavesto/
(Hopefully they give us updates on when the 2022 pop up is fingers crossed)
š Price: FREE! [General entry] Varying food costs and ticket prices for wine testing and additional activities š Location: Get off on the 511 Streetcar at Queen Street West
The pop up is located at the corner of Bathurst Street and Richmond Street West
š Time of year: September - October-Early November [Fall/Autumn Season] š Average amount of time expected to spend here: 1-1.5 hours general entry 2+ hours for any of the additional activities
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