Table Talks are an informal culinary salon hosted by The Depanneur. Every month we invite a local food personality to talk about something that interests them while Dep founder Len Senater cooks dinner.
Marina Queirolo talks about her twenty-year journey from making empanadas in a community kitchen to leading the city's first Public Market Action Plan.
Marina moved to Canada with her family in 2002 and started making empanadas in the FoodShare Toronto Kitchen Incubator to sell at farmers' markets across the city — a first step that would end up shaping the next two decades. Today she is working with the City of Toronto develop policy and programs to strengthen Toronto's public markets sector. Over dinner, she'll share what twenty years of community work taught her about why she believes every neighbourhood in the city needs a market of its own, now more than ever.
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Tonights menu pays tribute to the humble empanadas that started it all, and seasonal, end-of-summer ingredients sourced from different food markets around the city, from new pop-up farmers markets, to longstanding public food hubs like Kensington and St. Lawrence markets.
Watermelon Gazpacho
Empanadas
Beef picadillo, three sisters (corn, beans & squash; vegan), and a Colombian hogado sauce for dipping
Seasonal Greens Salad
Plum Cake with Lemon Yogurt
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Marina Queirolo is an Economic Development Officer with the City of Toronto, where she leads the development of the Toronto Public Market Action Plan — the first of its kind in Toronto, Canada, and North America. With over 20 years of experience in community economic development, placemaking, and food systems, she holds a BA in Graphic Design and a Master's in Environmental Studies (Planning) from York University.
After emigrating from Argentina, Marina launched a food business through FoodShare's Kitchen Incubator and later held leadership roles at Evergreen Canada, and was a member of the Toronto Food Policy Council. She founded the first Public Market Working Group in 2015, secured and co-hosted the 2023 International Public Market Conference in Toronto, and founded marketcityTO — a network supporting public markets. Recognized with the Canada 150 Outstanding Neighbour Award, Marina is passionate about food, community, and building a vibrant, inclusive city and economy. @marketcityto
