I wanted to be a rock star way before I wanted to be a cook. Even though being a rock star didn’t work out for me, I still have 13 guitars and 3 amps, and I got to travel the world.

Food is one of the greatest pleasures in life... think about, the enjoyment of food, in my opinion, is right up there with sex and the creation of life.

Food is an incredibly complicated topic, and sadly the solutions to the problems around food are not always realistic.

Food for me has always been very meaningful. When I was very young, I was influenced by Italian culture and food. My mom was a single mom, and by default, because I wasn’t in school yet, she would drop me off at my grandmother’s house, and pick me up after work.

One of the most important thing about eating and drinking is that it’s done with people. There’s community building involved.

Food is one of the greatest pleasures you can have, and it doesn’t have to be expensive to make that happen. Life is difficult, no doubt about it. But when you have a good meal or you make a good meal, it makes you happier.

I come from a large catholic family where food was super important. Growing up, we were always taught about waste management, which is a recurring theme that I teach everyone who comes in my shop.

When I moved up to Langdon Hall, I really had no idea what I was walking into. I was 16 at the time, and I thought I was going to walk in there, get a job in the kitchen and within about 3–4 years, I would be kitchen supervisor like at my previous job, running this place.

Growing up on a farm and knowing where my food came from I think is something that has stuck with me all my life.

One of the most amazing things about wine, like food, is that it’s about the people behind the scenes.

Nicolas: I come from the small Italian country side where food has a special importance. my grandpa was a farmer, my dad would make his own wine, and my uncle owned a butcher shop for 40 years. And that’s what I grew up around.

Food has always been how I show love! I suppose it was taught to me at a very young age from my grandmother and my mother.

Solely being a fish market demands a certain amount of specialized knowledge that goes along with dealing with fish. And with that comes the ability to educate those who come into our store.

Without knowing, my relationship with food has always been a part of helping people eat.

Our friend down the road, Neal. He was a great guy. He passed away earlier this year, and when the funeral was on, we ended up doing the food for them.

Firstly, I didn’t choose chocolate. Chocolate chose me somewhere along the way.

Food has always been an important part of my life for me and my whole family. I have spent my whole life being part of the farm and helping provide and sell milk, meat, fruits and veggies. 

Food has always been really big in my life. Surprisingly I didn’t actually break into the industry until I was 24–25.

I received a message on Facebook on the third of January from an old student of mine from the Cordon Bleu, telling me that someone was looking for a Chef to open a Mexican restaurant in Toronto.