From Thai BBQ nestled behind a coffee shop to a shawarma stand at the back of a convenience store, Toronto is a city full of hidden gastronomic treasures, as long as you know where to look.

Two new spots like this recently caught our attention, and while they might take a bit of work to get an order in, half of the fun is in the adventure, isn’t it?

You’ll scream for this ice cream, but you have just three hours a week to get it

The Screamery is one Toronto’s hottest pop-ups, with a changing cast of indulgent ice cream flavours like Chocolate Brownie Batter, Red Velvet Cheesecake and Birthday Cake Batter Crumble helping to whip up high demand.

"As women of colour, we're also excited to introduce ice cream flavours like rose water and cardamom that we grew up eating," founder Varsha Sreekumar, tells blogTO. "We strive to create every element of the flavour from scratch, whenever possible. So not just the birthday cake batter base, but also the truffles and crumbles throughout the pint."

Unfortunately, getting your hands on a pint isn’t as easy as popping down to your local grocery store. In fact, you only have a three hour window once per week to get your hands on some.

Here are the steps you’ll need to follow:

• The week’s flavours are announced on Sunday
• You have until Wednesday at 12 pm to order via email
• You’ll get an invoice via PayPal — once you pay, your order is confirmed
• Your curbside pickup window is Thursday from 5 to 8 pm, either at Queen and Gladstone or Humber Bay Shores

10 pies, once a week — will you get your hands on one?

There is no shortage of amazing pizza to be had in Toronto, spanning the gamut from Detroit style to classic Neapolitan.

But even in a crowded market, there are a few things that make One Night Only stand out: It’s literally only available for one night a week, only 10 total pizzas are available at a time and the pickup location is a back porch in Riverdale.

Luke Pollard started out making pizza for friends and family. “Before Covid-19, my wife, Brianna, and I entertained almost every weekend. As the pizzas got better and better, our dinner parties basically turned into pizza nights,” he tells Toronto Life.

With the pandemic hitting, Pollard was no longer able to have friends over for dinner, and also saw his day job in construction and design grind to halt. But that doesn’t mean the pizza stopped rolling out of the oven. “Amid all this craziness, continuing to make pizza every weekend seemed like a good way to maintain a sense of normalcy,” he says.

With more time on his hands, Pollard made the leap to selling pizza via Instagram — selling out every time — with people from all across the city making the trip to Riverdale to get their hands on it.

Learn more about his journey and labour intensive process, courtesy of Toronto Life.

Do you have a favourite “secret” food spot in Toronto? Let us us know on Twitter.