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00:00In Toronto, food courts are everywhere.
00:05But these casual gathering spots are often more than meets the eye.
00:10Because as the city changes, so do they.
00:13Sometimes in surprising ways.
00:16Like becoming a performance space.
00:20Food courts are where we share culture.
00:25I'm Suresh Das.
00:27I've spent my career writing about the local favorites
00:29that make Canada's food scene truly unique.
00:32I believe every bite tells a story.
00:35Now, I want to share those stories with you.
00:45This is Asian Court.
00:47This is kind of where I grew up.
00:48This is one of the oldest Chinese neighbourhoods in Toronto.
00:51We're talking immigration waves that go back
00:54probably 45 years at this point.
00:57Now, one of the most important food courts in Asian Court, in my opinion, is the Dynasty Centre Food Court.
01:03For many of us, humble food courts like the one I'm headed to can be just a pit stop on our commute.
01:09But they are often worthy destinations in and of themselves.
01:13Today, I'm venturing beyond the standard fast food offerings to see how many food courts are the beating heart of Toronto's food scene
01:20and a reflection of the city's ever-evolving communities and cultures.
01:24Dynasty Centre, it's one of those if-you-know-you-know type of places.
01:28You don't stumble upon it.
01:30Home to maybe five food stalls and one of them is great fountain fast food.
01:34I'm heading there to meet Anna Peng.
01:36She's the daughter of the family that owns the restaurant.
01:38I've been here before, but the menu is so big, I've only tried a fraction of it.
01:54Hi, Anna. Hi. How are you?
01:56Good. Yourself? Good, I'm ready for lunch.
01:58Can you actually join me?
01:59Of course, yeah. I'd love to.
02:01Can I start with some milk tea today?
02:03Milk tea? We have a nice bubble tea.
02:05I would love that. Yes, please.
02:06You want that? Okay.
02:07Pork belly.
02:08And pork belly on rice?
02:09Yes, please.
02:10Anything else?
02:11I do want to try this garlic fried chicken on fried rice.
02:14Okay, let's do that.
02:15Awesome.
02:16Here's your bubble tea.
02:17Thank you. I'll see you in a minute.
02:18Thank you. Yes.
02:20For decades, the Dynasty Centre Food Court has been a gathering spot for the Scarborough Chinese community
02:25and a living institution for the food cultures brought here.
02:33Hey.
02:34This is amazing.
02:35I've been coming here for many years, but this is my first time actually having a meal with you, sitting down with you.
02:38Yeah.
02:39So, okay, what do we have here?
02:40Okay, so we have the braised pork belly with preserved vegetables on steamed rice.
02:44One of my favorite dishes to have here.
02:45Yeah.
02:46Get some of the mustard greens.
02:47The mustard greens really cut, like, the fat on pork belly.
02:50Yeah, yeah, yeah.
02:51Oh.
02:52Mmm.
02:53It has a luxuriousness to it.
02:57It's a comfort meal.
02:58It's a comfort meal.
02:59And it's so, like, humble-looking.
03:00This must be, like, one of the top dishes here.
03:02Top, top.
03:03Mmm.
03:04There are so many food courts in Toronto, right?
03:06Oh, yeah.
03:07This particular place, Dynasty Centre, is pretty unique.
03:10Well, for a lot of our customers, they kind of miss this chaotic energy that they have back in Asia.
03:15Right, right.
03:16Yeah.
03:17You can feel that in this room, actually.
03:18In Chinese, there's this word called, like, which means it's just, like, really warm in the room.
03:23Like, it's caused by, like, a lot of people around, a lot of energy flowing.
03:27Right.
03:28That rhythm is important.
03:29It's part of the experience.
03:30Yeah.
03:31The classic Hong Kong diner food is the other big reason why customers keep coming back.
03:36In the 1950s and 60s, these diners became a staple in Hong Kong.
03:41They're known for their big and affordable menus that feature items like Anna's Mom's milk tea
03:47and Western-inspired dishes using Cantonese techniques, like our dad's many wok cook specialties.
03:54I gotta try some of this garlic fried chicken, because I'm really curious about the sauce.
04:01Mmm.
04:03Wow.
04:04I've never had a sauce quite like that before.
04:07Like, I'm tasting, like, some sort of, like, herbalness to it, some sort of spice quality to it.
04:12Mm-hmm.
04:13It's the black pepper, definitely.
04:14Yeah.
04:15And then the earthiness is kind of coming from the bay leaves that we use.
04:18Ah, that's what it is.
04:19That is outstanding.
04:20That might be a new favorite for me, actually.
04:22Did your parents always want to open a restaurant?
04:24What was their journey?
04:25Around 2008, they got into a fish and chips spot in Pickering, and they ran that for around seven
04:30to eight years.
04:31But along the way, I think my mom kind of felt, like, detached from her Chinese identity.
04:35So that brought them to kind of finding a great fountain.
04:39We have to talk about the reality of the pandemic, but the pandemic really had a massive impact.
04:44100%.
04:45And this whole entire space was just blank.
04:47It was empty, right?
04:48That was very scary for both my parents.
04:51Then when you saw that your parents were going through this challenging time, what did you
04:54do?
04:55Tell me.
04:56As first-generation immigrants.
04:58After graduating, the expectation is for the kids to find a comfortable job.
05:03But you say, no, I want to be in the restaurant with you.
05:07No, I want to sort it out in the food court with you guys.
05:10Yeah, so they were just like, are you crazy?
05:12Yeah, yeah.
05:13The reason why I'm here is to give my thanks back to my parents for sacrificing, like, so
05:18much of their life to come here, raise me and my brother.
05:22I can't do that if I'm working an office job.
05:24Huh, wow.
05:25Yeah.
05:26Right?
05:27So, even I'm getting a little bit emotional about it right now.
05:31But, um.
05:32They went through a lot to get to this point.
05:35All right.
05:36To help her parents and the struggling business, Anna turned to social media.
05:41Hello, Great Fountain friends.
05:44We are back eating again at the car.
05:47She came up with a simple and playful way to draw in customers.
05:50This is definitely something you should try, like.
05:53She began to eat her way through Great Fountain's 200 plus items.
05:57Number T44 on the menu.
05:59One at a time, all while sitting in the front seat of our car.
06:02So far, I haven't dropped anything on myself.
06:04As a food writer, trying to, like, tell the stories of places when everything else was
06:08shut down, I would eat in the car a lot, too.
06:10Yeah.
06:11And I was really impressed.
06:12Yeah, a lot of our customers were actually eating in the car, which gave me the idea,
06:15like, I should eat in my car, too.
06:17Oh my gosh, okay.
06:20Goodbye.
06:21Anna's disarming personality and clever social media work quickly got a lot of attention,
06:26and before long, business picked up again.
06:29You've done a tremendous job to say, like, come and visit us in this very unique space
06:33with, you know, food that really transports you to a certain time and place.
06:38Thank you, Anna.
06:40From a small community food court in the suburbs, my next stop is in the heart, or should I
06:53say the belly, of downtown Toronto.
06:55I'm talking about The Path, the world's largest underground pedestrian walkway.
07:03Every day, waves of commuters pass through this place.
07:08And as if grown in number, so have the food courts down here.
07:12But with over 30 kilometres of tunnels, the path is an easy place to get lost.
07:17So I thought it's best to come with a guide.
07:19So they actually changed a lot of the wayfinding in here.
07:21Right, okay.
07:22Because it was too confusing.
07:23East is that way, Scotia Plaza.
07:24Yeah.
07:25Richmond Adelaide Centre is that way, west.
07:28Back in 2012, award-winning journalist Katie Dobbs spent two weeks living in The Path.
07:35The Toronto Star chronicled her experience with the hidden culture below the city
07:39in a graphic novel-style weekly feature.
07:42You were inside for two weeks.
07:44You didn't go out.
07:45Yeah.
07:46I was staying in a hotel connected to The Path, so I wasn't sleeping down here.
07:49The Path is built for, like, these moments that are, like, at the beginning of your day
07:52or the end of the day.
07:53And lunch dates, the food courts in every direction.
07:56Yeah, let's grab some lunch.
07:57Yep.
07:58Our first stop is one of the busiest food courts in The Path, under Union Station.
08:0420 years ago, Path Food Courts had mostly chains selling soups, sandwiches, and giant muffins.
08:11But today, it's an expensive prime location to open a food stall.
08:15And it attracts all kinds of interesting vendors, like Tut's Egyptian Street Food.
08:20I love the cauliflower.
08:21Yeah.
08:22And we have a floppy too.
08:23Yeah.
08:24Owner Amr Emazariki opened Tut's in 2020.
08:28It was a big risk moving so far from the Egyptian community west of the city.
08:33How did you end up in The Path?
08:34Like, did you always want to open a restaurant in The Path?
08:36We did a pop-up with Union Station called Union Summer.
08:39Yeah.
08:40And people loved our food.
08:41So, as soon as something opened up, we jumped on the opportunity.
08:44I love it.
08:46Starting off strong here, Katie.
08:47Four sandwiches each.
08:48Oh, my gosh.
08:49Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
08:50That looks so good.
08:51Thank you so much.
08:52Enjoy.
08:53What are you doing first here?
08:54Cauliflower.
08:55The aren't a beet.
08:56Okay.
08:57All right.
08:58I'm going to go for the falafel.
09:04Mmm.
09:05Oh, yeah.
09:06It's so good.
09:07Mm-hmm.
09:08They're doing Egyptian-style falafel made with fava beans and herbs.
09:11It's got a nice, pronounced sort of herbal quality to it.
09:14How's your cauliflower?
09:15It's so good.
09:16It's nice and crispy.
09:17Mmm.
09:18And the seasoning's great.
09:19To be able to see Egyptian street food in the subterranean maze called The Path is a
09:24really big deal, I think.
09:25Yeah.
09:26Cheese pizza days are, like, far behind us, which is cool because The Path is mostly for office
09:30workers, but it's also for anyone who's, like, coming to see a game or an event.
09:34And there's a lot of people that hang out in the food ports, like, after everyone goes
09:37home.
09:38You see people, like, studying there.
09:39Sometimes you see people playing board games.
09:41People just hanging out.
09:42It became a third space for a lot of people.
09:44Yeah.
09:45I just love how, as the palette of the city has also grown and evolved, The Path has really
09:49accommodated it.
09:50It's so great.
09:51Yeah.
09:52You can just get so much here.
09:55Now it's my turn to lead Katie to another gem in the path, Porno Cultura.
10:04This wasn't here when I was in the path.
10:06I would have had a lot of cookies.
10:07Yeah.
10:08Back in my days working in tech, Porno Cultura was my go-to for a sweet and a caffeine boost.
10:15Andrea Mastrandria's father and grandfather were both bakers in Italy.
10:19He is carrying on the family tradition right here in The Path.
10:22Hi, Andrea.
10:23Good to see you.
10:24Good to see you.
10:25Andrea, how did you decide that you wanted to open it here?
10:27I mean, The Path always, for me, was quite unique.
10:30You know, there's that culture where people always have their sweet and coffee first thing
10:33before you go to the office.
10:35And then again, that kind of repeats itself, imagine, in the afternoon.
10:38We've kind of just fit right into that.
10:40That's great.
10:41So why don't we just do a couple of different things?
10:43I will.
10:44I like citrus.
10:45Citrus, okay.
10:46This is, we call it our trolla di limone, which is lemon.
10:48Lemon shortbread.
10:49Shortbread.
10:50It's grandma's cookie, everybody's favorite.
10:52There's a pistacchio limone.
10:55That's a good start.
10:56I'm a huge fan of chocolate.
10:58Chocolate, it's a no-brainer.
11:00This was a very old-school, traditional Pugliese.
11:03It's called dried spent grapes.
11:04I'm going to go here.
11:05Yeah.
11:06Parola di ciocoletto.
11:07Yeah.
11:08Salt comes from black olives.
11:09We dry black olives.
11:10You have some really interesting flavor combinations with these cookies.
11:13I mean, they all kind of started from grandfather and my father and that kind of history.
11:18And I'm like, but our customer base and our team represent the globe.
11:23So, we are constantly influenced by flavors from many cultures.
11:27We are a Toronto brand, 100%.
11:28Yeah, only Toronto.
11:29I mean, we get these combinations that you wouldn't find definitely in Italy for sure.
11:34Yeah, yeah.
11:35So, what are you going to try here?
11:36This is a lemon one.
11:37I think I'm going to start with that one.
11:38Okay.
11:39Oh, my gosh.
11:42Whoa.
11:43It's so buttery.
11:44It's so good.
11:45That is wonderfully, just like, just subtly tart.
11:48Oh, that lemon flavor is just so nice and delicate.
11:51So good.
11:52Just what you want in a shortbread.
11:53Yeah, yeah.
11:54Yeah.
11:55We're a very multicultural city, but most of that diversity is in the suburbs.
11:59And it feels to me like, finally, we're seeing that culture seep in to the food courts of downtown Toronto.
12:06For sure.
12:07It's what people want too, right?
12:08Like, people don't want the same old food courts.
12:10Even since you wrote your piece.
12:11Yeah.
12:12It's changed a ton since then.
12:13I think, Katie, you should do it again.
12:15You should do a part two.
12:16Because I'd love to read how we can live in the past now, over ten years later, with the food options we've seen today.
12:23Oh, yeah.
12:24Food's never a problem here.
12:30It's clear that there's a demand for food courts that serve many different communities in the city.
12:35In my years as a food writer, I've learned that food courts can also be a place where chefs come to be inspired.
12:42Chefs like my good friend and award-winning restaurateur, David Schwartz.
12:47Hey, buddy.
12:48Get some lunch?
12:49Let's do it.
12:50Let's go.
12:51David has been celebrated for his commitment to traditional cooking at his restaurants, Sonny's Chinese, Mimi Chinese, and Linny's.
12:59His incredible food has earned him a place in the Michelin Guide in Toronto.
13:04When he's not at his restaurants, there's a good chance you can find him at a small food court tucked away beside OCAD University and the Art Gallery of Ontario in Village by the Grange.
13:16Feels like home away from home here.
13:19Has to be our second-dozenth time here.
13:23When this place opened in the 1970s, it was among the first food courts in Canada.
13:28And since then, it's been packed with food stalls as diverse as its clientele.
13:33As well as students, this place caters to people coming from nearby Hospital Row, galleries, and Chinatown.
13:40When I started coming here, I was a student, and the way I interacted with this space was very different than the way that I interact with this space now.
13:48It's impossible to choose just one place when we come here, so we're going to get a bit of everything, starting with Nai Nai, one of the only Indonesian restaurants in downtown Toronto.
13:59Hi, Alita.
14:01Oh, hi!
14:02How are you?
14:03How are you guys?
14:04Good, good.
14:05Now that I'm here, I'm good.
14:06So the last time we were here, we actually fell in love with this one dish that you served with the stinky bean.
14:10Oh, yes, yes, yes, stinky bean. Nasi Goreng with stinky bean.
14:14So Nasi Goreng is such a really unique dish.
14:17Seeds from the Pattaya tree, also known as stinky beans, have an effect on the body similar to asparagus, hence the nickname.
14:26And Nasi Goreng is fried rice typical of Indonesia and Malaysia, usually seasoned with shallots, garlic, shrimp paste, and tamarind.
14:36Oh, here we go. Okay. Awesome. Oh, my God. Amazing.
14:41I really want Toronto to, like, know, like, how good is Indonesian food.
14:47It's some of the best Indonesian food I've ever had.
14:49Thank you so much.
14:50The place I can never skip when I come here is Jaffna Street Food, my absolute favorite Tamil spot in the city.
14:59So my favorite thing here, which we're going to have, is the shring kothu.
15:03Okay.
15:04Which is basically string hoppers that are chopped up on the griddle and tossed in, like, spices, curry of your choice, maybe mutton or chicken.
15:12Exactly. The most popular is mutton, I would say.
15:14Let's do it.
15:15Oh, here we go. Here we go.
15:18Enjoy.
15:20After stops with Turkish donor and Korean bulgogi, in a matter of minutes, we've got a feast of four different cuisines, and it could have easily been more.
15:30More to begin here.
15:31I want to start with this.
15:33Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
15:34Nasi Goreng pate.
15:36Oh, yeah. Come on.
15:41That's really good.
15:42The texture of the rice is perfect.
15:44Yeah.
15:45The bean is a little bitter, but good when you eat it with everything.
15:49I feel like a lot of chefs in the city draw inspiration from food courts.
15:53Yes.
15:54I live for this.
15:55Food in these food courts is, like, maximum flavor.
15:58Yeah.
15:59And so you were raised in a Jewish household.
16:01Yeah.
16:02And now you run multiple Chinese restaurants.
16:05Yes.
16:06To me, Chinese food culture is the most diverse, historically deep food culture that exists.
16:11I just love it.
16:12Yeah.
16:13And I grew up eating a lot of Chinese food.
16:15So I'm not coming in here and trying, you know, these dishes and then putting them on my menu.
16:20But oftentimes, we'll eat these things, and there'll be something small that, like, starts a conversation in your head that leads you somewhere else.
16:27Like, the rice here, like, the texture on it is so perfect.
16:30Or the perfectly crispy-edged delicious meat off a spit.
16:34There's always something that kind of edges my menu somewhere else.
16:37I think we should demystify this idea of appropriation.
16:40In my opinion, anyone should be able to cook anything, as long as you acknowledge it and respect it and don't mess it up.
16:46The main focus for my team and I every day is celebrating it.
16:50Absolutely.
16:51For our next taste, the iconic string kothu.
16:55This takes me back to my mom's cooking in a way that few restaurant dishes can't.
16:59Oh, yeah, man.
17:00With the lime, like, it's really good.
17:03Crunchy onion.
17:04Yep.
17:05The mutton as well.
17:06Yeah.
17:07Right away, the pronounced flavor is the curry leaf.
17:09I love curry leaf.
17:10Slightly coarse.
17:11Kind of like it tickles in the back of your throat right now.
17:13Oh, man, that is, like, that's childhood for me.
17:16Something that makes this space feel really unique and special to me is that it really feels like they're curating with intent for, like, the people who are actually using the space and eating here.
17:26Absolutely.
17:27Students, people who live in the area, who work in the area, who go to school.
17:31A place like this shouldn't exist in today's day and age where you have franchises in every food court, right?
17:36I mean, 50 years in now, this place is, like, really special.
17:39I'll come here with you any time they stay.
17:41Okay.
17:42Well, thank you.
17:43Okay, so what's next?
17:52In the center of Toronto's Fashion District is the modern food court Waterworks Food Hall.
17:59It represents an upscale return to the era that created Village by the Grange.
18:03Vibrant, stylish, and perfect for date nights or events, Waterworks Food Hall is a truly contemporary spin on the Humble Food Court with lots of great options.
18:15This looks incredible.
18:17I have to come back and try some.
18:22Tonight, I'm here to eat with Magnus Patterson, owner of the beloved Jamaican-Italian restaurant Rasta Pasta.
18:30Hey, Magnus.
18:31How are you doing?
18:32How are you, my friend?
18:33Good, dude.
18:34Nice to see you.
18:35Good to see you.
18:36Yeah, man.
18:37This is amazing.
18:38Yep.
18:39For over a decade, Magnus could be found in Kensington Market, cooking jerk chicken over charcoal in front of its original location.
18:45And he's recently opened a second restaurant here to branch out to a different crowd.
18:50In my opinion, you are a Toronto legend.
18:54I feel like anyone that has spent any time walking through Kensington Market knows your little takeout spot, Rasta Pasta.
19:00Yeah.
19:01This September will be 13 years.
19:0313 years.
19:04Kensington is a bohemian.
19:05It has its own unique personality.
19:07Now you've got this.
19:08This is bougie Rasta Pasta.
19:10It is a very different vibe than Kensington Market.
19:12Oh, yeah.
19:13Yeah.
19:14Waterworks is an upscale food hall.
19:16It's a different clientele.
19:17It's a classy place.
19:19Business people come for lunch.
19:21Yeah.
19:22And on the way home, they stop for dinner.
19:23Yeah.
19:24I see a lot of dates right now.
19:25And the younger guys, they come with their dates.
19:27Yeah.
19:28Anybody is welcome.
19:31There are few better icebreakers for a date night than Magnus' unexpected mixing of classic
19:36Jamaican food with Italian favorites.
19:39Like his irie fettuccine.
19:44Ooh.
19:46When you read about this dish on paper, if you've never been to Rasta Pasta, you're thinking
19:50in your head, fettuccine Alfredo with jerk chicken.
19:54I don't know.
19:55But when you try it...
20:00And it tastes so good.
20:03This is incredible.
20:04Creamy sauce.
20:05The kick from the jerk chicken.
20:07Very nice.
20:11Wow.
20:12To me, this is not fusion in my opinion.
20:14This is like a marriage.
20:16It goes so well.
20:17Absolutely.
20:18Mm-hmm.
20:19This is Toronto on a plate.
20:21Yes.
20:22I used to cook jerk chicken with my grandma back in Jamaica.
20:25When we first came from Jamaica, we lived on Vaughan Road.
20:28Very close to Little Jamaica.
20:30That's Italian area also.
20:31Both are right there, right?
20:32So you adapt real fast.
20:34If you let cultures stay in one place long enough, they're going to intertwine.
20:39They're going to find ways to intersect.
20:42And it works so well.
20:44It's such a Toronto thing, Magnus.
20:45It's such a nice taste.
20:46I've got some customers who come and they buy this every single day.
20:49Well, that is like the biggest compliment.
20:53I think the beauty of Toronto is there's so many different kinds of food courts.
20:56Yeah.
20:57It's always about a sense of community.
20:59Yeah.
21:00And gathering, right?
21:01Yeah.
21:02And trying new food, right?
21:03Trying new foods.
21:04Absolutely.
21:05That's my story.
21:06Mm-hmm.
21:07Yeah.
21:08Yeah.
21:09If it weren't for food courts, I wouldn't be doing what I do today.
21:13Since the first food courts were built in the 1970s, they've been a part of the fabric of Toronto.
21:18As the city has changed, so have they.
21:21They've been at the heart of our oldest communities and are growing to meet the needs of our newest.
21:27If you want to know how a city shares food and culture, these are the places to check out.
21:32If you want to know how a city has been mobilized, it's a big deal and it's a big deal, it's all about taxing in the country.
21:33It's always about $1,000 per year.
21:34So, I'll try to find out all this stuff out of land.
21:35And, so, I'll try to bilge the future.
21:36So, I'll try to find out my own business here.
21:37Can you check out the business?
21:38Can you check out helped us to help us?
21:41Can we find out the business?
21:42Yeah.
21:43It's not a big deal.
21:44So, a big deal, if we don't have a lot of open and open, we'll try to do the next thing.
21:46Or make it all the way.
21:47Yeah.
21:48Anyway, we'll try to make it all over.
21:49I'll try to find out what we do.
21:50Yeah.
21:51Thank you so much for watching.
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