Indigenous Food Lab by Chef Taylor Parker

Name: Indigenous Food Lab by Chef Taylor Parker
Start: 2025-12-19T18:30:00-05:00
Location: The Depanneur

Schedule

Fri, 19 Dec, 2025 at 06:30 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

The Depanneur | Toronto, ON

The Depanneur is proud to host the Indigenous Food Lab, a new monthly residency with Chef Taylor Parker. It is designed as space to consider the possibilities of an elevated, communal dining experience rooted in First Nations traditions. It is a laboratory to explore and experiment with a Canadian concept of terroir – the flavour of a place — to rediscover and redefine what Indigenous food means today.
Chef Taylor’s sophisticated tasting menus celebrate local and foraged ingredients, and a deep connection to First Nations foodways, to our land and our shared heritage. Each meal showcases a range of wild ingredients native to Ontario. Weather, timing, season, and the caprice of Mother Nature will determine exactly what will be shared with us. Whatever comes to the table, you can be assured that it will be crafted with remarkable skill and creativity of a veteran chef.
We live in the largest city in Canada, one of the most ethnically and culinarily diverse cities in the world. One can find almost any dish from almost any cuisine, with one glaring, egregious exception: the country we actually live in. Indigenous food is criminally underrepresented in Toronto’s food scene, without a single Indigenous-owned restaurant for people to patronize. More than ever before, Canada needs to embrace and celebrate its indigenous culinary heritage, and I believe the long path towards reconciliation can and should start at the table.
Chef Taylor Parker is of the Mohawk Nation, Bear Clan, from Six Nations of the Grand River.
Taylor is a proud father, chef, forager, gardener, and friend. His extensive knowledge of native North American plants brings rarely seen ingredients and flavours to his dishes, with the philosophy that food is a conduit to connect people back to the land. Taylor is passionate about bringing like-minded Chefs together to share, educate, and collaborate on unique dishes that seek to define modern First Nations North American Cuisine. Taylor is proud to work alongside fellow cooks and friends Phil Magtulis and Matthew Kleinsteuber at The Depanneur dinner series.
Taylor has spent much of his professional life working in a diverse range of kitchens and catering. He currently runs MT Hospitality focused on unique hunt, fished and foraged First Nations inspired events and dinners, and is also the co-owner of For4ged Candle Company in Brantford, Ontario. @turok_parker
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Every weekend The Depanneur invites an amateur or professional guest chef to host a fun, informal dinner party. @thedepanneur