We held our first all-you-can-eat vegan brunch on June 17, 2018, at a restaurant called Sidecar on College Street in Toronto. That first brunch was very challenging, and I had to jump through hoops just to get it done. But practice makes perfect, and we can now execute the brunches seamlessly. This is our process as each brunch approaches: Most of the groceries we need are usually bought by Friday, with the exception of fruits (no space in the fridge). By Saturday afternoon, I am already in the kitchen doing prep work, like cutting up all the vegetables I need to cook. The plant-based meat items are seasoned and partly cooked, so come Sunday morning, we are ready to cook all the items for the brunch.
All this work usually lasts till late Saturday night. Then I take a break while my empress gets all the baking done. By midnight, I start to cook the grains with the exception of our chow mein noodles. All the grains are ready to be cooked however I want. It’s usually around 1-2 am Sunday morning when I go to bed till 5 am. Once I get up from my nap, I start cooking the grains how I want them. I keep all cooked items in my Cambro to stay warm till we get to the venue. The plant-based meats are the next things on the list, and simultaneously my empress is working on the salads, wraps, and fruits (she’s also my time manager). Now, with the grains, mains, and salads all done, I start cooking our famous corn soup. The soup is usually the last item I cook because I can just leave it on the stove while we organize to leave. We need the use of two cars to get everything to the venue by 10:30 am, which gives us an hour to set up before our guests start arriving at 11:30 am. By this time, I am just running on adrenaline but am relieved that everything went well. After everyone leaves, that’s when the clean-up work begins, and by the time I get home, it is around 4 pm on Sunday. It’s safe to say I go to bed early that evening.
This is what it takes to get each brunch done. Initially, prior to the pandemic, we started the brunches as a way to meet our clients and help foster the 5 Principles Cuisines community. But the pandemic really did a number on us(pun intended), and with no events happening, it stalled any momentum we had going into 2020. We resumed the brunches on November 20, 2022. These brunches now stand as a way to get 5PC back on people’s minds. There have been so many restaurant closures, especially vegan ones, in Toronto. This is why I am grateful for not rushing to get a brick-and-mortar place, which would have cost us an insane overhead. We are truly withstanding the test of time. Ironically, remember Sidecar, the venue where we held our first brunch? Well, that also closed down. Almost six years to the day of our first brunch, we hope to see new faces and old ones this Sunday on June 16. If you can’t make this one, hopefully, we’ll see you at our next brunch. If you’re reading this and want to support, just simply follow us on social media. Also, look out for our cooking tutorials, which you can find on YouTube. I want to say a heartfelt thank you to the people who have supported us through the years; your support is a vote of confidence for us.
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