A monthly culinary salon
On the first Tuesday of every month, The Depanneur invites a local food personality to talk about something that interests them. Table Talks take place around the dinner table while Dep founder Len Senater prepares a dinner inspired by the topic of the day. Conviviality and building community through shared food experiences is very much at the heart of what The Dep is all about, and we invite you to be a part of it.
Table Talks cost $35 (incl. HST), which includes the talk and dinner. Menus are posted in advance, and vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options are available. Desserts and beverages are available for sale.
Doors open at 6pm, the talk starts at 7pm and goes for +/- 1 hour, and we wrap up between 8:30-9pm.
In 2019, The Dep’s Table Talks are presented in partnership with Artery.
Every space is a stage. Artery lets anyone bring creative experiences to life, in places you may not expect.
Upcoming Table Talks at The Dep

Past Events › Table Talks
Past Events › Table Talks
June 2018
TABLE TALK: Melanie Coates (aka BEEGrrl)
Join Melanie Coates (aka BEEGrrl) to welcome in Spring with a talk about the Birds and the Bees… Over ten years ago, Melanie, along with Chef David Garcelon, were the first in the world to install an urban apiary on the roof of a city centre hotel, at Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York, where Melanie remains the lead beekeeper. Since then there has been a global surge in interest in urban beekeeping, and this informal chat will be exploring many…
MORE »July 2018
TABLE TALK: Sujala Balaji
Is millet the new quinoa? Sujala Balaji is a food scientist turned social entrepreneur committed to feeding the world sustainably by using ancient grain millets to address the need for sustainable and resilient food systems. With no need for pesticides/fertilizers, requiring much less water to grow, and their ability to help keep the soil healthy, millets are being called the "smart foods" by ICRISAT (International Crop Research Institute for the Semi Arid Tropics). After working in the corporate world for over…
MORE »September 2018
TABLE TALK: Laura Carlson
Join Laura Carlson, food historian, writer, and host of the award-winning radio show & podcast, The Feast, for a an exciting dive into the history of medieval Spanish food and culture. Considering the voyage of a medieval pilgrim along the famous pilgrimage path, the Camino de Santiago, Laura will take you on a journey through the cultural and culinary landscape of medieval Spain, and give you a sense of its enduring legacy. The pilgrimage path even inspired what might be…
MORE »October 2018
TABLE TALK: Aruna Antonella Handa
Voyage to the Anthropocene: rocking the future of food. The Holocene is giving way to the Anthropocene, the epoch of humans. What this means is that humankind is now the most impactful geological force on the planet. It will be official once geologists agree a start date and markers. 1950 is among the candidates for the start date; and you may be surprised to learn about some of the candidates for the “golden spike” or chief marker of the epoch.…
MORE »November 2018
TABLE TALK: Shauna Kearns
For millennia, in cultures around the world, the communal oven was the center of community life. Shauna Kearns looks at how the ancient tradition of wood-fired bread baking is helping transform communities in modern-day Pittsburgh Shauna Kearns is a founder and co-facilitator of the Braddock Community Oven in Braddock, PA. In this engaging talk, Shauna will explore how the Braddock Community Oven came to be built, and the role it plays in Braddock, touching on issues embedded in outsider-driven community…
MORE »December 2018
TABLE TALK: Thu Nguyen
Thu Nguyen is organizes Karma Kitchen in Moss Park, a monthly pay-it-forward delicious experiment in generosity. Our all-volunteer team makes vegetarian banh mi with fresh ingredients from Building Roots and spend the afternoon sharing our gifts with the residents of Moss Park. The guests are get a $0 bill at the end of their meal and invited to pay it forward to someone they don't know next month. Thu was inspired volunteering at the original Karma Kitchen in Berkeley where the gift economy model has…
MORE »February 2019
TABLE TALK: Rosalin Krieger on The History of Kensington Market
Many consider Kensington Market one of Toronto’s food treasures, a precious ethno-culinary hearth. Food educator and podcaster Rosalin Krieger will be talking about Kensington Market’s eclectic, evolving ethno-cultural mix, class history and political significance from 1815 to present. Like many others, Rosalin is concerned about the market’s gentrification pushing out long-term food creators and residences. This talk aims to celebrate, discuss ways to maintain the market’s unstable foothold in Toronto’s evolving food landscape and heritage. Dinner by Len Senater This…
MORE »March 2019
TABLE TALK: Suzanne Barr on Intersectionality in the Kitchen
Suzanne Barr occupies a space where many passions overlap: local community, food security, and advocacy for people of colour & LGBTQ communities. Join us for a conversation about intersectionality within kitchen culture as a woman of colour, the importance of storytelling, and understanding our positions of power and how we influence the next generation. ----- Dinner by Len Senater Tonight's menu features recipes by chefs of colour from around North America who are changing the face of our culinary landscape. Kimchi…
MORE »April 2019
TABLE TALK: Joshna Maharaj on Take Back The Tray
Join local food maverick Joshna Maharaj for a lively discussion about Take Back the Tray, a movement to reconnect food with health, wellness, education, and rehabilitation in public institutions around the globe. And it's a story about how a chef took on the challenge of showing how we can create better food — and better food practices — for our public institutions. "My big dream for institutional menus is that they're seasonal, sustainable, diverse, AND inclusive. It's a nice thought,…
MORE »May 2019
TABLE TALK: Nick Saul on Good Food for ALL
From Charity to Solidarity: Making the Case for Good Food for All Few people have impacted the food justice landscape in Toronto as profoundly as Nick Saul, former director of The Stop, and now President and CEO of Community Food Centres Canada. Over a 15+ year period, Nick spearheaded the transformation of a small traditional food bank into a vibrant new kind of Community Food Centre. His tireless efforts (who are we kidding here... I'm sure it was exhausting! —ed.)…
MORE »