A taste of Scarborough
A younger Suresh Doss observes the brigade of women at Mona’s Roti. The family-owned business has been around for 25 years at Sheppard Ave. E. He attentively watches the assembly line of women preparing roti in the kitchen. Hungry for a taste of home, the Caribbean restaurant provided flavours reminiscent of Sri Lanka for his newcomer family when they first immigrated to Canada.
“Our food is similar so we culturally identified with it,” Doss says.
Doss no longer lives in Scarborough but as a food writer, he visits the suburb and spots like Mona’s Roti often. Doss is dubbed “Scarborough’s unofficial food ambassador.”
For the last 12 years, he has documented his food adventures in Scarborough. His work has appeared in the Globe and Mail, Toronto Life and Spotlight Toronto. He enjoys breaking cultural barriers with his writing.
Over the past decade, Doss has observed a change in the palates of Torontonians. He says more people are travelling to Scarborough for a taste of ethnically diverse foods.
“Don’t just eat in downtown Toronto… There’s way more interesting food as soon as you break away from the subway system,” Doss says.
Ren Thomas is a regional planning expert and professor at Dalhousie University. She studies the settlement patterns of immigrants. She says there a various reasons that explain why Scarborough houses one of the largest immigrant populations in Toronto.
“There are language reasons… so if the person or group of people do not speak English as a first language then [that group] tend to spatially congregate,” Thomas says.
Doss says many Scarborough’s restaurants are mom-and-pop style restaurants where restaurants owners try to recreate a taste of their homelands in their kitchens. He explains that the high restaurant rent costs in the downtown core keep restaurants in Scarborough.
Suresh Doss: Scarborough "Unofficial Food Ambasador" Photo: Renee Allen
For food, you can’t beat uptown. The families are there; they’re living there, cooking there and opening restaurants there,” Doss says.
Thomas also says the housing choices of immigrants are mainly based on affordability. Scarborough is one of the cheaper areas to live in Toronto. This is why many immigrants live and own restaurants in the suburb.
“You see lots of groups in Scarborough [spatially congregating.] For example, West Indians and South Asians,” Thomas says.
After moving from Jamaica in 2013, Carl Edmonson found himself spending a lot of time travelling to Scarborough for a taste of the world. Edmonson works for the Toronto District School Board in North York but has enjoyed exploring Scarborough’s food scene. One of his favorite spots for Caribbean food is Simone’s Caribbean Restaurant on the Danforth.
“Scarborough is becoming one of my little hideaway spots… In my personal life, I like variety. Scarborough offers something downtown doesn’t,” Edmonson says.
Jamaica’s motto is “Out of Many, One People,” which explains the island’s cultural diversity. Scarborough also shares this diversity which is why Edmonson enjoys visiting the suburb, he says.
“There [is] more variety… Every nation has their particular restaurant” Edmonson says.
Doss names Shawarma Empire on Lawrence Ave. E. as a quintessential Scarborough restaurant. He says like many Scarborough restaurants; Shawarma Empire has a clientele as diverse as the suburb’s population.
“I think the story of Scarborough is in strip malls… you have this Jamaican place next to a Sri Lankan place next to a Middle Eastern. You see the United Colors of Benetton lining up for food,” Doss says.
Edmonson says he has become a more adventurous eater since moving to Toronto. Things like mushrooms that he never ate in the Caribbean, he has tried in the city. In Jamaica, he enjoyed eating Chinese and Japanese. Now, he has expanded his taste buds to include more cultures’ foods.
“African food, Somali, Pakistani… I eat [these foods] because I have friends who are from those cultures. Since I get them to eat Jamaican, I return the favor,” Edmonson says.
Doss says living in a multicultural city like Toronto piques someone’s curiosity about what other people eat. He says by walking down the street and seeing different restaurants, people are more likely to eat from other cultures.
“Now that we’re all in the same box together, there’s curiosity. [You ask yourself] what doesn’t a Haitian person eat or what does a North Indian person eat?” Doss says.
Getting out of the car and walking down the street is the best way to explore Scarborough’s food scene Doss says.
“If you want a taste of Scarborough, I think you should get off of [Victoria Park] and Lawrence with an empty stomach and a couple of friends and just walk.”
