‘Hitting the spot’: Natalie Spooner taste-testing her way through the Olympic Village

Natalie Spooner isn’t just at the Milan Cortina Olympics to bring home another medal. 

The Toronto hockey player is determined to make the most of her time at the Olympic Village — one bite at a time. 

When she’s not on the ice, the 35-year-old has made it her mission to taste-test her way through the Games and share reviews on social media of some of the things she eats, ranging from chocolate pudding to pizza topped with potatoes.

“Why is there potato on a pizza? I guess in Canada we say, ‘Does pineapple belong on pizza?'” Spooner says in one post, smiling as she takes a bite. “Here, it’s, ‘Does potato belong on pizza?'”

Last week, the International Olympic Committee said in a press release that more than 10,800 meals are served daily across the three Olympic sites in Milan, Cortina and Predazzo. In the Milan village alone, the kitchens serve around 3,000 eggs and 450 kilograms of pasta, the IOC said.

The food in the Olympic Village has gone viral in more ways than one. The IOC announced in October that it had created a special pasta noodle shaped like the five Olympic rings. 

The limited-edition dish was later served to the athletes in the village, resulting in a flood of social media comments from fans calling for the pasta to be available for the public to buy.

But for Spooner, a self-proclaimed “chocolate monster,” the sweet treats are definitely the highlight of the Olympic Village cuisine. 

“This might be the best thing yet that I’ve found,” Spooner says in one video where she tries an Italian chocolate spread with a croissant. “That’s really good.”

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Another post shows Spooner trying a chocolate lava cake, something she says is “famous” around the village.

“This is what I’ve been waiting for,” she says with a smile. “It’s gooey, it’s chocolatey … this is like hitting the spot right now.”

But not every dessert gets a gold medal — in one video, Spooner tries a chocolate soufflé, which she rates three out of 10.

“I would say this is a hockey puck,” Spooner laughs.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2026.