Episode 7 - Reesa Khan (Mona's Roti)

Lawrence La Pianta is the owner of Cherry St Bar-B-Que, one of Toronto's premier barbecue offerings, & Elm Street Italian Deli, a deli that specializes in offering Italian cold-cuts and sandwiches. After spending some considerable amount of time managing a film production company, Lawrence phased from one passion for his vocation to another, opening up a traditional Texan-style smokehouse, which has since gone to generate lots of local and international love. While Cherry St's preparation is inspired by classic Texan techniques, the flavour profile of Lawrence's barbecue is hardly restricted to the barbecue capital. Inspired by the multicultural friends he grew up with in Scarborough, Lawrence infuses his barbecue with global notes. On the flip side, Lawrence opened up Elm St Italian Deli to pay homage to the Italian sandwiches, which were fundamental to his youth. On this episode Lawrence and I discuss his unique Toronto-style barbecue, what it means to be a quote on quote pit master, Lawrence’s prophetic affinity with fire, the competitive barbecue scene south of the border, and why award-winning competition barbecue may not even be the tastiest. To learn more about Cherry St Bar-B-Que, go to @cherrystbbq on Instagram, and to learn more about Elm St Deli, check out @elmstdeli on Instagram.

Victor Ugwueke is the proud owner of Afrobeat Kitchen, a Toronto-based takeout restaurant that offers the best of Nigerian eats, the food that he grew up eating and is super passionate about. In a way, Victor is a paradigm of Toronto itself, as he’s come to Toronto by way of Lagos, Nigeria, Beijing, China, and London, UK. Coming from Lagos, Victor is a hustler and has worked his way up some of London and Toronto's busiest kitchens before starting his own pop-ups and eventually Afrobeat Kitchen. For those who are unfamiliar with Nigerian cuisine, one variety of popular foods in Nigeria includes swallows, which are like mochi-looking doughy starchy balls that are used to dip into food. Other popular dishes include jollof rice and soups like pepper soup and okra soup. On this episode, we break down what Lagos is like, how Victor learned how to manage restaurants and cook Nigerian food from his mother, why he returned to cooking Nigerian food after other stints, what the Afrobeat Kitchen menu is like, and what his future vision is for the restaurant. To learn more about Afrobeat Kitchen, go to @afrobeatkitchen on Instagram.

Tutti Matti, is a historic Toronto establishment and is one of Toronto's most notable and successful restaurants. Helmed by Alida Solomon, Tutti Matti offers simple yet delicious Tuscan cuisine and is the recipient of a plethora of awards, like 2009's Osteria of the Year. Alida herself has had a storied career. Growing up in an eclectic Jewish family, she developed a passion for food and culture, developing her culinary sea legs out in Montalcino, Italy, such as learning how butcher wild boar. After coming back home and starting Tutti Matti, while picking up some accolades along the way, you can now can now catch her as the face of Hunt's Tomatoes or on Food Network Canada. And of course, you can always find her friendly smile at Tutti Matti. Alida and I sat down discussing how she fell in love with Italian cuisine and Italy, what her legendary food trips to Italy are like, the difference between Michelin-awarded restaurants in the US and Europe, the importance of storytelling, and all the different pivots she’s done during COVID. You can learn more about Alida Solomon and Tutti Matti at either @alidasolomon or @tutti_matti on Instagram. 

Jonathan Chow is a bit of a curveball for this show. He's not directly involved in the food & drink industry, but instead he's the creator of the Assist Series, a Toronto-based community program that looks to uplift the Asian-Canadian community through the power of food and local restaurants. I don't want to spoil too much about the program (you'll have to listen to learn more about it!) but it's been a super successful program with over $6000 generated in support and it also produced plenty of local buzz. We chop it up and discuss the origin of the Assist Series, and how he came up with it. We break down what Asian food means to us, and I also let him be my tour guide to the Chinatown food scene spotlighting the restaurants the Assist Series has supported so far. You can learn more about Jon and the Assist Series at @jonrehab on Instagram.  Music Credits: Kissmykas - Welcome To My House, Dreams - Joakim Karud, Come Back to You - Beats by Egomi, Think About You - Ryan Little, Orange and Pomegranate - Mark Generous, Homeward - Mr. Chase 

We're launching Season 2 of The Gastronomy Club podcast, and we hope this season will be bigger than ever. We'll continue to spotlight local restaurateurs, chefs, cooks, sommeliers, and even highlight people that are indirectly related to the food industry. Please stay tuned to our Instagram @thegastronomyclub, where you can stay tuned on our updates, posts, and even giveaways!.  Music by Kissmykas - Welcome To My House.

Mona's Roti, one of Scarborough's most popular West Indian restaurant, is a global institution. Mona’s actually started in Trinidad and Tobago in Cocoyea village, in the city of San Fernando. While it opened up in the Caribbean in the 80s, Mona Khan, the namesake and matriarch of the Khan family, eventually moved to Toronto. Mona's reopened up in Canada as a roti wholesaler, selling roti shells to local households and restaurants, and she eventually opened up another restaurant here as well. The restaurant is notorious for loading up its diverse selection of roti with Caribbean classics: jerk chicken, curry chicken, and curry goat to name a few. Also extremely popular are doubles, which are classic hangover street food that you would find from vendors when roaming the streets of Trinidad. I speak with Reesa, one of Mona’s daughters, who along with her siblings, are helping support their mother with molding and leading the restaurant for a new generation. We talk about the origin story of Mona’s Roti, why Scarborough needs a bit more limelight, whether roti is the GOAT of carbs, and the reason for Mona’s longevity. You can learn more about Mona's Roti at @monasroti on Instagram.

We got an opportunity to speak with Jeanette and Joanna Liu, the two sisters who run Yueh Tung, along with their parents.  Located right next to the Eaton Centre, Yueh Tung is a beloved Hakka favourite that has been a key figure in the Toronto food scene since its opening in 1987, introducing Chili and Manchurian chicken to the city. We have a great conversation about the restaurant’s story, how Jeanette and Joana found themselves back at Yueh Tung, how Yueh Tung is adapting in this new future, the power of the Kardashian/Jenner clan, and much more. You can learn more about Yueh Tung at @yuehtungrestaurant on Instagram. Music Credits: Soft Cream - MYSM, Dreams - Joakim Karud, Come Back to You - Beats by Egomi, Think About You - Ryan Little, Orange and Pomegranate - Mark Generous, Homeward - Mr. Chase

We sit down with Daniel Shin, sous-chef at Bar Mignonette, a newly opened restaurant sitting on top of Caribbean favourite, Patois, right near Trinity Bellwoods. Bar Mignonette is a fun new seafood wine bar, where the menu changes on a daily basis, but consists of some great dishes like uni pasta, shrimp cocktails, and the classic pairing of lobster and butter - of course, all of this can be crushed down with some bottles of White Burgundy and other great wine offerings. While the spotlight is on seafood, Daniel’s pedigree for gastronomy and cooking covers a lot of different cuisines and geographies, like a culinary polyglot, with formal training in both Italy and Japan. We learn about what it's like to have the best soba of your life, the art of drinking coffee before a siesta power nap, what it's like to work in a Michelin-starred restaurant, and how Toronto can improve as a food city. You can learn more about Bar Mignonette at @barmignonette on Instagram. 

We got a chance to talk gin with Martin Reid, the patriarch and owner of Reids Distillery, a boutique gin distillery located in Leslieville. Along with his three children, Martin has been producing some of the most creative gin west of the Atlantic under the Reids Distillery banner, inspired by equal parts family and equal parts adventure (his family lived on a sailboat for 2 years!!!). We distill the truth of what makes gin such an expressive spirit, how he and his family got into gin, what its like working with family, and how to outmaneuver pirate attacks on the coast of Venezuela. You can learn more about Reids Distillery by following @reidsdistillery on Instagram. Music Credits: Dreams - Gil Wanders, Come Back To You - Beats by Egomi, Meganne - Mark Generous, Think About You - Ryan Little Ako - Gil Wanders

We get a chance to talk oyster with the Oyster Boy himself, Adam Colquhoun, owner of Oyster Boy, a seafood restaurant and oyster wholesaler located right outside Trinity Bellwoods Park. We dive deep into his story, what made oysters exactly start to blow up, how much work farming oysters are, what makes an oyster an aphrodisiac, and what the outcome is of stabbing a shucking knife in your hand a copious amount of times. You can learn more about Oyster Boy by following @oysterboytoronto on Instagram.  Music Credits: MYSM - Soft Cream, By The River - Gil Wanders, Beats by Egomi - Come Back to You, Ako - Gil Wanders