Toronto Star
· collected 2026-09-26 · by Kate Dingwall Special to the Star
Chefs tend to have a long list of things to do: Prep, chop, sauté.
asserted
Chefs → tend → things
But some of the city’s top chefs are adding even more to their workload: Planting, watering, pruning.
asserted
some → add → workload
When you dine on tender gai lan greens, Chinese chives and juicy Japanese melon at high-end dim sum restaurant Lai Wah Heen, it’s likely been grown on their own Norfolk County farm.
asserted
it → dine → farm
Prime Seafood Palace on Queen West receives a steady stream of pristine tomatoes, garlic scapes, purple broccoli, camomile and Chioggia beets from Blue Goose Farms, owner Matty Matheson’s small-scale farm in Fort Erie.
asserted
Palace → receive → Erie
Much of the bounty gets preserved to keep Ontario flavours flowing in the winter months.
asserted
Much → preserve → months
But for these passionate chefs, growing your own produce offers irreplaceable flavours, supply-chain solutions and an abundance of creative freedom.
asserted
growing → grow → freedom
Lai Wah Heen’s Dragon Farm, Norfolk County
Lai Wah Heen chef Gary Yue and his wife, Ming, picked up a popular hobby during the pandemic: gardening.
asserted
Yue → pick → gardening
First, they tried fig trees, then started growing food for their family.
asserted
they → try → family
As their skills grew, Yue realized this could also solve his restaurant’s sourcing problems.
uncertain
this → grow → problems
It was difficult to get fresh Chinese ingredients on Canadian soil.
asserted
It → get → soil
Now, their homegrown fig leaves are wrapped around baked chicken or made into teas — Ming grows almost 600 different fig varieties.
asserted
Ming → wrap → varieties
The farm has rare breeds of chicken and a koi pond — the restaurant’s signature koi-shaped dumplings are served in their honour.
asserted
dumplings → have → honour
They grow choy sum, Chinese chives, Goji leaves and water spinach.
asserted
They → grow → sum
The team soon realized farm vegetables just taste better.
asserted
vegetables → realize → ?
“Ontario’s climate is actually well suited for a lot of Cantonese vegetables,” says Lai Wah Heen’s beverage director Peony Cen.
asserted
director → suit → vegetables
Grocery store gai lan is thicker-stemmed and more bitter than theirs, which tastes like what Yue grew up eating in China.
asserted
Yue → taste → China
“And the garlic is amazing — it’s robust, and so aromatic you can smell it from three feet away.
asserted
you → ’ → it
Not everything grows as planned: The Szechuan peppercorn ended up tasting like basil.
asserted
peppercorn → grow → basil
“It didn’t work in entrees like we anticipated,” says Cen, laughing.
asserted
Cen → work → entrees
“But it’s perfect for our cocktails.”
asserted
it → ’ → cocktails
“They have a beautiful earthy flavour and natural sweetness.
asserted
They → have → flavour
I like to cook them very simply with garlic.
asserted
I → like → garlic
When the vegetables have just come from the farm, you really don’t need to do too much.”
asserted
you → come → much
A technicolour rainbow of produce emerges from Matty Matheson-owned Blue Goose Farms, the site of Matheson’s soon-to-launch YouTube series, Matty’s Farm.
asserted
rainbow → emerge → Farms
Every week, chef-turned-farmer Keenan McVey and his wife, Ashley (a flower savant), pull up produce, then text Prime Seafood Palace chef Coulson Armstrong to let him know what’s coming so he can start conjuring up the week’s menu.
asserted
he → turn → menu
“We get everything in by Tuesday, test the dishes, photograph them, cost it, print recipes, and communicate allergens so we can swap the full menu by Friday,” says Armstrong.
asserted
Armstrong → get → Friday
This process has to be nimble and creative.
asserted
process → have → ?
The realities of farming mean the supply chain is dictated (and sometimes derailed) by rain storms, droughts, heat swings or other unpredictable spanners.
asserted
chain → mean → storms
It’s worth it, for gems like ginormous, heart-shaped oxheart tomatoes.
asserted
It → ’ → tomatoes
“They’ve never even seen a fridge,” says Armstrong.
asserted
Armstrong → see → fridge
“We season them right before service and serve them like pan con tomate with B.C. Dungeness crab and confited garlic from the farm.”
asserted
We → season → farm
The farm-restaurant relationship took a while to figure out, especially what gets eaten in-season, and what gets preserved, fermented or turned into condiments for colder months.
asserted
what → take → months
“There was so much trial and error,” Coulson says, laughing.
asserted
Coulson → be → ?
“We would ferment something and a few weeks later realize, oh that is not good.
asserted
that → ferment → something
I guess it goes in staff meal.”
asserted
it → guess → meal
Fall feasting: When hosting big family dinners, “I like to add florals and greens to dishes to dress them up,” says Armstrong.
asserted
Armstrong → host → them
“It automatically makes everything look more special and thoughtful.”
asserted
everything → make → ?
Bar Ape’s Berry Farm, Mount Forest
James Carnevale, owner of St. Clair West gelato hot spot Bar Ape, started farming out of necessity.
asserted
Carnevale → start → necessity
The supply chain for two of his favourite berries — Tayberry and black raspberry — dried up.
asserted
chain → dry → berries
“I was begging farmers for all they had,” he says.
asserted
he → beg → all
…and 33 more, not listed.
The Aporia
