| Serving the | Ivy Eats Caribana, Toronto: August 2006, Gremolata Number 88. |
Home * More (Archives + Search) * Contact * Subscribe (it's free) * About Us * Wine Agents * Gremoblog | ||
   | Sketch
I'm spending the day hanging out at Sketch for their Sketch Feast. Sketch is basically a free art school for street kids. They offer outreach in helping these kids get access to shelter, medical care, food and at the same time allow them to express themselves through painting, silk screening, jewellery-making, etc. The feast is being laid out on a long table draped in pink silky cloth. I see gravlax from Joy Bistro, jerk chicken from Irie Food Joint, macaroni and cheese from the Drake, cheese platters from Cheese Magic along with offerings from Clafouti, My Market Bakery, the Gladstone Hotel among others. Then there are all the individual people from the community stomping up the stairs with crock pots, crudités platters and baskets of bread. There are also quite a few platters of sushi rolls on the table made by Hailey J. Powell one of the youth who's been a product of the Sketch experience. “She makes and sells vegan muffins, she's been out on her bike selling them from her bicycle cart all day but she'll probably bring some by later. She's our star," volunteer Leesa Hamilton tells me. Sue Cohen, who has been here for ten years as contract artist, artist in residence and is now working as the Program Coordinator, gives me a tour and tells me a bit about the Feast. “We"ve been putting this on since our second year, to get together as a community with good food and good music. It's a chance to invite other people into the space, which is usually only available to youth (aged sixteen to twenty nine) and staff members. It's a potluck, the Drake has been a longstanding contributor as well as Jamie Kennedy and now Joy Bistro, basically everywhere Milton has worked." Let me explain, Sue's boyfriend Milton Tanswell was my sous-chef at Joy Bistro. “Milton did the first feast basically on his own and it just grew from there." While she talks she's running around like a little hippy whirlwind, the silk scarves in her blue/green/brown hair fluttering behind her. “This is an art space and drop-in, we do workshops with lots of instruction and some where the youth just work independently. The sense of community here is pretty incredible." In the centre of the huge space is a table set up with a sign above it reading “The Circus Castle Enchanted Forest". Leesa tells me about this project. “We asked the youth to focus on Canadian identity for this piece. They've created a sculptural cake." I don't see a cake but I do see trays of cookies and bowls of icing along with bowls of fruit and berries for people to assemble the cake from. “The youth built figures of moose, geese, trees, tiny people all to show their identity. All together this will be a visual representation of our collective identity as street youth, activists and artists. When it is finished this will be what we look like as a cake." The space feels like a big airy classroom, the whitewashed brick walls covered in paintings, quilts and silk-screens. There's a computer area, a music area, cabinets filled with craft items, shelves of paper and books on art, poetry, photography. It feels like School of Rock with some Haight Ashbury and Never Mind the Bollocks thrown in. Sketch is also planning a culinary side to their space, being headed up by Jake Lopez and Sonya Reynolds. Jake is the head chef at River, a nine year old restaurant on Roncesvalles that employs homeless youth in the kitchen and front of house, giving them much needed job experience that helps get their foot in the door and on their way to rejoining society. Jake explains, “The kitchen management interview, hire, train and work closely with the kitchen participants and the floor managers do the same with the floor participants. Everyone learns and progresses at a different pace, so we really have to work with people's barriers on an individual basis. This can be difficult when we have to make exceptions to certain rules for certain cases, however it really gives us a chance to work closely and productively on the issues that are preventing someone from getting a job or keeping a job. Our goal with each participant is to teach them a useful skill, like cooking or serving/bartending. We also try to focus on work ethic, a lot of the youth in this program are incredibly smart and capable but find it hard getting to work on time everyday, which won't fly in any other work environment. We really try to teach them what it is to have a job. Before a participant ‘graduates" from River's one year program we help them with their resume, write reference letters and a cover letter, then allow them two weeks paid time to look for another job." Students have gone on to work in other restaurants around the city, 360 in the CN Tower, La Palette while others have returned to school, completing post secondary studies at George Brown and Ryerson. Jake's role at Sketch is Chef Contract Artist, “I originally began as a volunteer about ten months ago, I was cooking food for the drop-in open studio on Thursdays. Now I'll continue with the cooking on Tuesdays and Thursdays and be involved in the development of a community kitchen which will also act as a training kitchen. We're planning all sorts of food-related workshops, anything from detox nutrition to guerrilla gardening." Marty has been volunteering here for two years in the kitchen. “We do simple meals that please everyone and that they can make themselves. We also try to do food from around the world because we have people here from all over the world. We try to show that you don't have to live on Kraft Dinner. Sonya is trying to teach the youth to think about what's gonna be good for me, not just what's gonna taste good." ____________________________________________ |  | |
| When not writing about food for eGullet and Gremolata or pillow fighting as 'Vic Payback', Ivy Knight works for a living as tournand at Crush Wine Bar under chef Shaughn Halls. READ MORE IVY AT GREMOLATA: Island Heat: Ivy eats her way through Caribana Sausage Party: Ivy discovers Berkshire pork Fill My Bowl: Ivy attends a gourmet fundraiser Brunch Bites: Ivy does not like brunch Apple of the Earth: Ivy makes potato salad Email Ivy at ladyslenderlegs@gmail.com
| ||
| |||
