🕒 3.5 min read

At The Pass is a monthly series showcasing Toronto’s best chefs. You won’t find any celebrity chefs featured here. Perhaps you already know these fine cooks, but maybe not. They’re not famous - yet. But it’s time these talented, passionate, hard-working chefs got a bit of the spotlight. 

Currently

Chef, Burdock

Formerly

Planta (<3), The Chase, Nota Bene (RIP)

Favourite dish to make right now

Our Spelt Sourdough Pretzels. So fun, so yum.

Last cookbook purchase

Plenty More: Vibrant Vegetable Cooking from London's Ottolenghi by Yottam Ottolenghi.

Have you read it/tried any recipes

Yes! Baigan Choka (p. 281) I love that he highlights non-western fundamental food techniques so thoughtfully.

One dish or ingredient you’d like to see gone from menus

I don’t aim to “cancel” anything in particular (everything has a time and place. Context, personal connection and culture are so crucial)/ BUUUUUTTTT like can we 86 bluefin tuna? Please?!

And one dish or ingredient that you’re excited about right now and would like to see on more menus

Lentils! I have a deep platonic love for lentils: Unsexy brown ones, fancy French ones, fat black ones, smushy red ones. So good, so delicious!

Your biggest influences

My parents, Chef David Lee, and Chef Amira Becarevic.

If could eat at any restaurant in the world

St. John, London, England for a very long lazy lunch.

Last thing you ate

Salted peanuts and a pilsner.

Three must-have ingredients always in your fridge

Butter, homemade hot pepper sauce, and Kozlik’s Dijon by Anton.

Guilty pleasure 

Nutella!

Top 3 favourite Toronto restaurants

Just one: Mattachioni for divine pizzas.

Top 3 fave Toronto bars

I don’t go out much but if I do, it’s close to home in Parkdale:
Pretty Ugly -  For fancy cocktails and positive vibes
The Rhino - For when you don’t want to go home just yet
Tennessee Tavern - Half-price wine night, hello!

Go-to drink

A cold pint, thanks.

One habit you have in the kitchen you should lose, but can’t seem to shake

Eating family meal in a rush, hunched over the garbage like a raccoon. I started setting a ten-minute timer to force myself to sit and enjoy the moment.

One habit you have in the kitchen that will inspire young chefs

I love washing dishes, so fun! I hope my team sees my joy in scrubbing pots and pans, and it inspires them to have fun with it too.

Hidden talent

I’m ambidextrous!

Best career advice you ever received

“Knock them out with a feather” - Pat Bishop, a childhood mentor and absolute force of nature.

She saw that I was quiet and soft spoken but very driven inside. She inspired me to recognize the power and strength I already had in myself and use kindness as a force. 

Worst career advice you ever received 

Oh my, I received so much terrible advice from (mostly) well-intentioned people. I’d rather not repeat and give it the light of day!

Your advice for a young cook starting out in the business

Keep in touch with your family and non-industry friends. We often get so totally absorbed in our passion for our work that we forget about the many joys of life outside the kitchen.

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In order to support chefs during this time, the monthly At The Pass series is now WEEKLY. Know someone in Toronto or GTA who should be featured? Submit their name for consideration. And yes, you can nominate yourself.   

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