For the passion for cooking

BY HRISHIKESH DAS GUPTA

COVID–19 ensured that everyone would remember the year 2020. All major food events and cultural programs were cancelled across Canada. Every restaurant adopted new restrictions. Numbers of food explorers were minimized to taste authentic dine-in places. Meanwhile, I started to explore the hidden gems around me, and discovered two black women empowered restaurants in Scarborough: Rose’s Halal Kitchen and Spice It Up. The journey and delicious dishes of Rosemarie and Joy touched my heart.

During the summer of 2020, I stepped into Rose’s Halal Kitchen for the first time. The moment I stepped in Rosemarie welcomed me with a beautiful smile. I ordered the jerk chicken and requested urgent delivery. I was tired and concerned with the increasing number of COVID-19 cases at that time. Furthermore, I was not expecting any exceptional taste or service. However, Rosemarie prepared all the meals according to my requests and delivered expediently. The delicious food and immaculate service were beyond my expectations. Therefore, I visited the take-out restaurant again the following week to taste other items from the menu and to learn more about Rosemarie’s journey.

Rosemarie, a cancer survivor and mother of five children, has always been interested in opening her own restaurant. With the inspiration of her son Shawn and daughter-in-law Zora, she opened a catering place and featured her work in Toronto Halal Food Fest 2016. The flavourful jerk chicken thrilled everyone, and the audience feedback motivated them to open a restaurant in the same year.

The family-owned business offers flavourful rice and fresh jerk chicken cooked in steel barrels. Rosemarie mentioned she always has a conversation with God through her prayers and God gives her the courage to achieve her goals. Check it out if you are looking for a halal Jamaica takeout place, which is almost non-existent in Toronto.

Spice It Up Restaurant run by Joy Brooks Walters, is a well-known Caribbean restaurant in the Kingston and Lawrence road area. The service is top-notch and the team goes above and beyond to offer the best dishes to the customers. The jerk chicken, curry goat menus are delightful but the biggest takeaway for me is the waffle chicken.

As a well-known and award-winning BBQ jerk restaurant in Scarborough, Joy never gives up regardless of her struggles and always serves the community with her delicious meals. Joy was more focused on international cuisine in her initial days, but later she realized the food lovers are demanding more Caribbean dishes. Therefore, she attempted to incorporate new flavours in her Caribbean dishes successfully. Joy has a unique quality that I have never seen in any other restaurant. She always listens to her customers, imagines out of the box, and prepares an adorable dish based on their request.

During the pandemic, Chef Joy collaborated with Emmanuel Life Management Centre organization, and Hear 2 Help. She offered her restaurant area for a weekly food bank to serve the vulnerable community affected by the pandemic. Chef Joy and her team offered complimentary soup to every client at the food bank. Joy strongly believes that the only way to beat the pandemic is to stand for each other.

I am thankful to both of them for being such an inspiration.