Most of my inspiration comes from the connections I’ve made in my travels, the local cuisine I’ve enjoyed while sitting on a busy street corner, and by eating the creations made with love by the incredible talented chefs I look up to. I’ve eaten whole-roasted vegetables that have made me reconsider how I cook entirely, and tasted a raw carrot that changed my life. I competed in Taste the World and admired a simply prepared potato that won best dish and everyone celebrate that humble spud, totally in awe.

My cooking career really started to take off after receiving a short-but-tweet tweet from Matty Matheson, inviting me to come work with him and the team at the Toronto’s newest hot spot Parts & Labour (RIP). I took him up on it without hesitation and never looked back. From that point forward, I decided to take more chances -- explore every opportunity that was presented to me and experiment with new ways of cooking and developing flavours.   

After a lot of calamity and long hours spent in service at P&L, I joined The Drake to kick-start and develop their off-site culinary experiences. It was around this time I turned my gaze to all things that grow from the ground. I started actively learning more about vegetables and started to realize that most veggies just don’t get the attention or love they deserve in restaurants. Despite more than a thousand plant varieties edible to us as humans,  most people end up getting the wrong idea about vegetables.

 

After a couple years on team Drake, I was excited to accept a position as the head chef and founding team member at Rosalinda, a plant-based restaurant in Toronto and member of the Overbudget Inc. family -- where I got to dig deeper into vegetables exclusively, full-time. 

 

 

And now, you'll find me at Gia! 

 

Beyond my day job, I love to experiment with plants, inspire people to eat more vegetables and meet new people. Let's talk about how we can work together -- partnerships, private events/dinners/cooking classes, whatever you want, really!  

To me, there are no limits to what we can accomplish with plants.