67-year-old Toronto restaurant owner cooks up to 600 meals a week for the city's homeless community
Just before 1 a.m., Danny Adiev arrives at his restaurant in Toronto’s east-end to start chopping. But he’s not preparing for the loyal brunch crowd at Chew Chew’s Diner, he’s cooking for Toronto’s homeless community, nourishing up to 600 stomachs every week.
At 67, Danny navigates the kitchen well past the break of dawn all on his own. “No one is there, no one bothers me. I just cook, cook, cook,” Danny told CTV News Toronto.
Some days, he dedicates 10 hours to cook 25 lasagnas. Pulling four trays out of the oven at a time while subbing in the next round of raw pasta. “It takes time,” he said.
Every week, he changes the menu, from shepherd's pie to spaghetti and meat sauce to cheese and potato stuffed pierogis.
His dedication to wholesome, hearty meals is rooted in his Macedonian upbringing, where he grew up before coming to Canada in the 1970s.
The mass meal-making began in January. Saint Luke's United Church, right across the street from Chew Chew’s at Carlton and Sherbourne, asked Danny if he could make a couple hot meals a month for an outreach team to distribute to Toronto’s homeless community.
Owner Danny Adiev of Chew Chew’s Diner cooks up to 600 meals a week for Toronto's homeless community. (CTV Toronto/ Hannah Alberga)Some weeks, his aluminum take-out containers ended up in the hands of people evicted from encampments in Trinity Bellwoods and Lamport Stadium. On others, his macaroni and cheese was handed out at churches and synagogues across the city.
At first, Danny was making a couple meals a month, splitting the workload with another restaurant.
“But they didn’t like their meals…they loved my dad's meals,” said Alex Adiev, Danny’s son. Due to popular demand, Danny increased to twice a week.
Owner Danny Adiev of Chew Chew’s Diner cooks up to 600 meals a week for Toronto's homeless community. (CTV Toronto/ Hannah Alberga)Meanwhile, Danny and Alex continue to run their east-end diner, serving all-day breakfast with weekly specials under $7 and bursting veggie omelettes with seasoned home fries and buttered toast for less than $12.
“Alex is in the front, I’m in the back,” Danny said. “Always in the back.”
Owner Danny Adiev of Chew Chew’s Diner cooks up to 600 meals a week for Toronto's homeless community. (CTV Toronto/ Hannah Alberga)While Chew Chew’s is the fourth restaurant Danny has owned since coming to Canada, he remains deeply dedicated to the back-of-house, indulging in the gratifying role of cooking the food that comforts Torontonians.
“I’m 67-years-old and I still like my job,” he said. “I like to make people happy.”
His most recent endeavor, feeding Toronto’s homeless community, is a striking testament of just that.
ABOUT TABLE TALK
Table Talk is a weekly CTV News Toronto series that explores the people who shape Toronto’s food scene, published every Friday at CTVNewsToronto.ca
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.