Introducing Hawthorne Food & Drink: Where Social Enterprise meets Refined Bistro
Tucked into a quiet corner of downtown Toronto, just east of the business district on Richmond St. near Yonge St., Hawthorne Food & Drink was established as a social enterprise in 2012. They provide free, hands-on, real-life training for job seekers facing multiple barriers to employment for in-demand entry-level jobs in kitchen and restaurant positions.
Supporting the Community
To date, Hawthorne Food & Drink has trained over 200 participants, including unemployed youth and those in receipt of Ontario Disability Supports and Ontario Works. They are a part of the Hospitality Workers Training Centre (HWTC), a non-profit organization with a mission to build a strong hospitality industry in Toronto by preparing a skilled entry-level workforce.
As a designee of the Ontario Culinary Tourism Alliance FeastON program, they pride themselves on serving customers with farm-to-fork food. Their menus reflect the season and are inspired by sustainably-harvested ingredients from Ontario farms, wineries and breweries.
The Food
Hawthorne’s mission is to build a strong hospitality industry in Toronto while providing an excellent gastronomic experience using local and sustainable ingredients. They work with a handful of our celebrated Transparent Kitchen partners to source the highest quality ingredients and support the community.
Seared Salmon Filet
Seared salmon topped with a vegetable herb salsa, served with a selection of seasonal vegetables sourced from 100km Foods and a blend of Canadian grains and fennel: rye, barley, wheat berries, and wild rice.
Market Fresh Sandwich
Chef’s changing sandwich offering inspired by Ontario’s freshest ingredients.
Spring Chicken with Wild Mushroom & Braised Leeks
In partnership with MealShare, another TK partner and excellent Canadian social enterprise that works with restaurants to combat hunger, this dish is one that you can feel great about eating. Herb-roasted chicken breast served with wild mushrooms, braised leeks and 100km Foods seasonal vegetables on Yukon celeriac mash in an Ontario sherry cream sauce.
Smoked Tomato Tart
A buttery tart topped with caramelized onion and smoked tomato compote finished with house ricotta and a choice of smoked chicken or grilled tofu.
A slice of moist honey and lavender cake garnished with topped with fresh rosemary, drizzled honey, and edible flowers.
Meet the Chefs
Chef Tim Freear found his passion for food and service at an early age. After graduating from his British Columbia high school’s culinary college courses, he sought opportunities to further develop his craft and worked at several notable restaurants in Toronto and BC.
Freear’s culinary repertoire flourished and so went on to open a boutique catering company. TSF Catering was built on unique cuisine, the melding of international flavors and influences with local ingredients, often prepared with innovative culinary techniques to create a signature style. After a decade and a half of creating incredible food and extraordinary experiences, Freear decided he was ready for change and joined Hawthorne Food & Drink the social enterprise restaurant of Hospitality Workers Training Centre.
This self-taught chef saw this as the perfect opportunity to pass on the skills that will ultimately lead to people’s growth and success in the hospitality industry.
Norberto Cáceres grew up in Argentina. His father’s family owned a small farm with some grazing land and a butcher shop in town, so Norberto breathed the culture of the field to table and nose-to-tail. His mother’s family also explored the culinary arts. Memories of scooping homemade gelato when he was just tall enough to reach the freezers and juicing cases of oranges still linger in his mind. He worked the deep fryers at his grandma’s Rotisserie as a teenager and cooked at his cousin’s Mediterranean-style Bistro on the beach in his twenties.
In 2003 Norberto moved to Toronto. He was taken on as an apprentice for a great chef who had worked in kitchens all over the world. Under the chef’s guidance, Norberto learned the skills to move from a small family restaurant to professional kitchens. Later came culinary school, where he gained theoretical and technical skills.
For the past 7 years, Norberto has worked in the non-profit sector, connecting his culinary expertise with his personal beliefs of social justice. He has worked and volunteered with the different community- based organizations in food security, capacity-building, training, social purpose enterprises, and community work.
Now, as Hawthorne Food & Drink’s Sous Chef and Instructor, Norberto strives to transmit his passion for good food and the industry, as well as to work tirelessly towards a more fair, inclusive and sustainable food system.
Hawthorne Food & Drink epitomizes the kind of leadership that we hope to see in the future of food: intention behind sourcing practices, encouraging getting together and meeting your neighbours, and — most importantly — a commitment to positively impacting their community. To discover their full menu, check out their TK profile here.
