Chef Johl Whiteduck Ringuette’s Anishinabe catering company, NishDish, moved into the old Tacos El Asador space earlier this month. Since then, the all-day weekend brunch menu has had people lining up along Bloor West, waiting patiently for braised bison short ribs with eggs and cedar tea. During the week, there’s no à la carte menu. Instead, Whiteduck Ringuette serves a rotating selection of dishes informed by his catering gigs: dandelion-cranberry salad, elk with cranberries, roasted buffalo, thyme- and sage-spiced pheasant and a variety of stews. “My father was a hunter, fisher and trapper, and he taught us how to snare and clean rabbits at a young age, but I never learned about indigenous cooking,” says Whiteduck Ringuette. “I talked to all the kokums [grandmothers] to find out what traditional food is.” Using this knowledge, he closes the store every Monday to teach a culinary class to a group of indigenous youth.
690 Bloor St. W., 416-855-4085, nishdish.com, @nishdishmarketeria
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Caroline Aksich, a National Magazine Award recipient, is an ex-Montrealer who writes about Toronto’s ever-evolving food scene, real estate and culture for Toronto Life, Fodor’s, Designlines, Canadian Business, Glory Media and Post City. Her work ranges from features on octopus-hunting in the Adriatic to celebrity profiles.