Being a woman in the culinary industry is rough. I wanted to follow in my grandmothers’ footsteps and learn how to cook. So, in 2009, I enrolled in the Culinary Skills / Chef Training program George Brown College. My class had 20 people in it, and I was 1 of 4 women. I was 20, and didn't know how to hold my knife unlike the others who came to school to refine their skills. I had a slow start. People told me to give it up and go towards a different career, but I didn't listen. I dealt with down talk, sexual power tripping, sexism, inappropriate behaviour, and disbelief in my skill…but my love for sharing my heart through cooking kept me going.

My first job at Origin Restaurant in Toronto refined my skills and cooking technique. I came to the job as an apprentice without knowing how to work basic equipment and without ever having worked a dinner service, but the chefs were patient with me. I went from being a oyster scrubber to first cook in my 2 years of employment at Origin. I learned discipline and I learned how to be strong and hardworking…skills that would get me noticed in the future.

I knew after I left that it was my sole goal -- and reason for going through everything I had -- to open a restaurant and own my business. Be my own boss. After leaving Origin, I worked as a sous chef at Blue Goose Pure Foods / Common Food in the summer container market at Harbourfront Centre. For the first time, I ran a staff of 12 and created my own menu. I witnessed people eating my food and appreciating my vision. I loved it!

To save money, I worked full time, 6-7 days a week and 12-hour shifts, as a junior sous chef at a large catering company. If only the people who told me to quit could see me now! I headed weddings for 200 people with teams of ten under me. I catered private sit-down dinners for 6. Clients requested my services. The urge to open my own restaurant was becoming more and more pressing. It would be a tapas restaurant named Ragazza with a Italian Fusion menu. All homemade with love with a fine dining twist…

However, I wanted a business partner, and that's when -- out of nowhere -- I met Steffen Marin, the chef/owner of Heirloom Food Truck.

At that point, I had spent two years in an elite position at the Food Dudes and was making good money. After meeting Steffen, I quit my job and dropped it all to join him in his vision of promoting local and artisanal cuisine from his food truck. Steffen’s vision soon became my own vision. We worked together to revamp his menu and make a name for the food truck. Together, we were getting attention with our food, and our love and passion for feeding our customers.

In June 2016, my dream finally became a reality. I became co-owner of Heirloom. After 6 years of cooking under other chefs, I finally had a chance to show people what I could do! We've done catering, private events around the city, and we have worked the summer and winter markets. In 2017, we plan to open our first restaurant together, called Heirloom 2.0, promoting our local and sustainable cuisine, an extension of the food truck. And I know that my dream tapas restaurant has a place in our future.

Pretty good for a girl who was told she would never make it in this industry!

By Kyle Rooks

Steffen Marin (Artisanal Culinary Arts ’14, Fanshawe College) didn’t know it at the time, but enduring a bone-chilling winter working as a junior sous-chef at an Italian restaurant in Saskatchewan planted the seed for what is now growing into a successful and rewarding career.

“It was a terrible winter. I’m talking a total accumulation of over 100 centimetres of snow and temperatures as low as -50 degrees with the wind chill,” recalls the 22-year-old native of Mississauga, Ontario. “But it was a great experience because it pushed me to learn more and see beyond frozen boxes of meat ... to appreciate the importance of fresh food.”

It was that simple, yet powerful, recognition about the all-too-frequent lack of fresh food options that led Marin to realize his dream earlier this year of opening Heirloom, a Toronto-based food truck featuring a bold menu of fresh, locally-sourced food. “(Opening the food truck) is something I wanted so bad I could taste it,” says Marin, the sole-owner and chef, who had been working on the project for two years. “In the beginning I kept quiet about it because many people would have thought I was crazy.”

“I refused to let it go,” he says. “I wanted to pursue something that wouldn’t just help me grow as a cook, but also contribute to the field.”

His dream began to take shape when he enrolled in Fanshawe’s Artisanal Culinary Arts program, a unique one-year graduate program focused on a holistic farm-to-table approach to cooking that promotes local, seasonal and sustainable food production.

“When I came to Fanshawe, I didn’t even know how to hold a knife,” says Marin, who had previously graduated from Fanshawe’s two-year Culinary Management program and would later complete the Advanced Baker/Patissier program. He explains how daily field trips to farms around the region, getting his hands dirty working the on-campus vegetable garden and exploring his creativity in the kitchen – including a co-op at Calgary’s CHARCUT Roast House studying under one of Canada’s top chefs – gave him the knowledge, connections and confidence to pursue his passion.

“The faculty are like family to me because they showed me how to succeed,” he says. “I wouldn’t be in the position I am today without that program.”

Marin grows over 50 organic heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables in four garden plots – including a small plot in the backyard of his mother’s townhouse – and sources his meats, cheeses and other ingredients from local farmers and artisan producers around the Greater Toronto Area.

As a new entrepreneur committed to sustainable food, Marin’s focus is on growing strong relationships with those suppliers. “The most important aspect for me is connecting with local farmers and growing with them as I grow in the business,” he says.

While Marin admits his hands are full – between gardening, preparing the menu, and other day-to-day realities of small business ownership – he recognizes that it’s the quality of his food and the concept it represents that separates his product from traditional food truck fare. “At the end of the day, my customers can tell the difference,” he says. “Even though deep fried fish tacos are really good, there’s a big difference in terms of the quality and sustainability of the food.”

It’s a labour of love that’s paying off.

When he debuted Heirloom at the Field Trip at Fort York music and arts festival in June – serving up homemade chorizo sausages and braised lamb shank sandwiches – it took home the title of best new food truck. Aside from that recognition, Marin says what made the weekend special was seeing children run up to touch the carrots and other vegetables that adorn the side of the truck. “What I’m excited about is how the truck and my food can start a conversation, with people of all ages, about local farms and the importance of promoting sustainability within our environment,” he says. “I want to help further the knowledge of the great things that can be grown in Ontario.”

Heirloom’s early success has caught the attention of some festival organizers. Despite finalizing vendors months in advance, some organizers made last-minute exceptions after Marin sent a photo of the truck and an explanation of what he brings to the table. “They want to offer their customers something different,” he says.

In its inaugural season, Heirloom appeared at 35 events including an eclectic range of concerts and multi-day festivals. This fall, Steffen plans to spend three months backpacking around Europe helping farmers work their land and hopefully bring back ideas to improve his operation. “I still have so much more to learn,” he says.

Next year, he plans to hire his first employee and take Heirloom onto the streets of Toronto. He looks forward to what the future holds. “It can only get better and better,” he says, with a nod to his Fanshawe roots. “When I talk to the customers about my past and how I got here, Fanshawe always comes up first. That’s where this all started. It’s the best decision I’ve made yet.”

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