“I was delighted to be involved in such a worthwhile cause.”

– Bruce Croxon, Dragon’s Den

Abbey’s Kitchen Stadium is an awesome event. It’s fun. It’s action-packed. It’s a food lover’s dream come true. The food event series takes a pop-up party atmosphere and mashes it up with an Iron Chef-style cooking competition - all in support of My Food My Way.

On May 26, some of Toronto’s best chefs battled it out in the first installment of AKS. We saw Matt Basile from Fidel Gastro’s and Lisa Marie, Matt Pettit from Rock Lobster Co., Rocco Agostino from Pizzeria Libretto and Enoteca Sociale, and Bruce Woods from Woods Restaurant.  

Chefs had to flex their culinary muscle and create two dishes using a surprise ingredient: Neals Brothers’ potato chips.

“Celebrating good wholesome food can be fun and bring people together.”

– Peter Neal, Neal Brothers Foods

The dishes were then judged by some famous taste buds. The celebrity judges for this round included Bruce Croxon, one of the Dragons from CBC’s Dragon’s Den, James Cunningham, host of Food Network’s Eat St., Jordan Hastings, drummer with Alexisonfire, and Peter Neal, of Neal Brothers Foods.

One of the coolest things about AKS was that My Food My Way student ambassadors from Thistletown Collegiate got the chance to work alongside these awesome chefs. They showed off their skills and impressed the pros! After the event, three of the students were even offered jobs at their mentors’ restaurants.

AKS: Battle One was a success. There was great food all around, everyone had a blast, and a generous donation was made to My Food My Way. The funds will go towards hooking students up with jobs and getting more kids involved in My Food My Way so they can transform their food experience.

We can’t thank Abbey enough for organizing such a great event and for all of her support. She totally gets My Food My Way and knows that nutritional education should be about “creating a space for young people to have their say, get involved, feel invested and ultimately, make a change that is meaningful to them.”

So stoked for the next event! 

Thanks Abbey!