by Tait McGregor
Photo by Aliona Kuts/The Dialog
Toronto is home to one of the leading culinary schools in the country, producing top quality chefs who are saturating the city with fine food.
George Brown College’s Centre for Culinary Arts boasts successful alumni such as celebrity chefs Mark McEwan and Lynn Crawford and more importantly, up-and-coming chefs in almost every Toronto kitchen, including Brian Cheng.
Cheng, a graduate from the Culinary Arts (Italian) Post Graduate Program is changing Toronto’s catering landscape with his company The Edible Story. He started this company with his fellow graduate, Alanna Fleischer.
The Edible Story caters restaurant quality food tailored to clients for occasions ranging from birthdays to corporate events.
Cheng and Fleischer provide a unique client experience where their catering reflects all aspect of the event. Cheng said they pay close attention to things like the space’s atmosphere, to the crowd’s gender-skew, to the preference of quality over quantity or vice versa.
After seeing a trend for instant food in Toronto, Cheng said that The Edible Story looks to soon move into the “grab-and-go” world.
“It’s healthy and it’s up to you. And it’s quick service–nobody likes waiting. They just want to go in, buy the stuff and then leave right away,” said Cheng.
Having chosen the uncommon path of working outside of a restaurant, Cheng said he misses the unique experience of the fast-paced kitchen, but reaps the rewards of believing in his own business.
“I don’t want to work in restaurants now but I do miss it,” said Cheng. “Ironically I am closer to it now than I was before because I can just open my own restaurant. The Edible Story is very versatile–it can be privately booked–so if I wanted to, I could just run a restaurant here for seven days.”
The Edible Story: 320 Richmond Street East, Toronto, ON, M5A 1P9
Follow this Story Map to see other restaurants that George Brown alumni have founded:
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