REVIEW | Hawthorne Food & Drink

I guess we're a little late for New Years Resolutions but if we're making changes to improve ourselves, who cares when we make it, right? Ever since we started this blog in 2014, we have been so fortunate to meet amazing people who share the same love for food as we do and have been to so many amazing restaurants in Toronto. This year for us will be about spending more time with the people we care about and doing things that give back to the community that we're so thankful to be a part of.

Photo credit to GoodFoodToronto

We were able to do just that by having dinner at Hawthorne Food & Drink with our foodie friends GoodFoodToronto and GoodFoodJess :)

So how exactly does a restaurant help us achieve our New Year's Resolution of giving back to the community? We're not exactly volunteering there or anything. The whole concept behind Hawthorne (asides from their delicious food) is that they provide free training and career development for people in need of skills and employment.

That sounds pretty amazing to me considering how many people in Toronto are constantly looking for jobs. In 2015, 80% of their trainees were placed in the hospitality industry of Toronto! Not only are they giving back to the community but they amazing food made from local, seasonal and sustainable ingredients, talk about a win win! We were fortunate to have been able to speak with Executive Chef - Ricky Casipe who has done so much at such a young age. He is a firm believer of the concept "Farm -to- Fork" which is definitely a food culture that is on the rise.

Check out some of the dishes we tried that night - one of our favourites was definitely the jerk chicken, it's meant for 2 people but was filling even for 3!

Photo credit to GoodFoodToronto

The carrot cake we had was definitely up there in my top carrot cakes that I've had. This one tasted much healthier than other ones that I've tried and wasn't too sweet at all.

I can't wait to go back and share with all my friends all the amazing things that Hawthorne does and we highly recommend that you do too!

- Our meal was complimentary but opinions are our own -

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