By Lauryn Stewart

This 23-year-old, Toronto-based Chef uses his platform to promote healthy eating and sustainable food habits for young people in the city. Chef Hassan’s Kitchen has continued to grow, serving customers across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). 

Working on a private golf course as a Sous Chef, Hassan Adenola started his journey in fast-paced Western-style cooking as a teenager. Originally immigrating to Canada at the age of 10, Adenola found his love for cooking through his culture and continues to bring that love of food to his community. 

“My inspiration for cooking just came from my cultural background being born and raised in Africa, Nigeria, Lagos.” 

As a varsity athlete, Adenola found himself searching for food that would accommodate athletes on York University’s campus; after struggling to find good-tasting, healthy alternatives,Adenola created his own meal prep service on campus. 

“I found the meals on campus were not suitable for athletes and some of the students, so I created a weekly delivery service for sixty to seventy athlete's every single Thursday,” said Adenola. “From there it was introducing who I am and what I did through the university aspect of it too — that’s where it kind took off. ” 

Growing from that small meal prep business, Chef Hassan’s Kitchen has become a private dining, meal prep and catering service for the GTA; servicing Toronto, North York, Scarborough, Vaughn, Oakville, Milton, Brampton, and Mississauga. 

As a Black and Muslim business owner Adenola prides himself on being a role model and motivating figure in his community. 

“It’s an inspiration for everyone around, just to see another Black man that can go out there in the world create something for himself and be sustainable for himself,” said Adenola. “It's another big beacon for the youth coming forward; it allows for that system of passing it forward. They see someone like them that is doing it, someone like them who came from the same path. Being able to make it inspires them towards their goals.” 

Serving the community is a priority for Adenola, whether it be serving food or creating educational programming for the youth, food remains the centre of his focus. GAINS, a non-profit created by Adenola, is dedicated to creating sustainable and healthy eating habits for kids. 

“With my non-profit, we do a lot of food workshops, where I'm teaching the kids how to cook, where we're teaching them how to actually grocery shop for their daily stuff, rather than eating McDonald's every day,” said Adenola. “How do you make something out of that $10 that you have? How do you make something out of that $20 that you have that can last for a longer period?” 

Giving back to the community is part of the mission of Chef Hassan’s Kitchen. 

“For an Islamic person your faith is to give to others without a second thought — that was always my foreground of belief when it comes to service.”

To combat the strain that COVID-19 has put on the food industry Adenola has put more emphasis on the delivery portion and private dining of Chef Hassan’s Kitchen “We bring the service to the people,”said Adenola.  

Chef Hassan’s Kitchen introduced Summer Sunday Deliveries, where the customer can choose from two different menu items and pre-order them to be delivered on Sunday of that week. 

“The Sunday deliveries are something we started last year, where for example you have rosé pasta with shrimp skewers, garlic bread on top and chicken breasts on the side, and you have other options where you have steak and vegetables, and a little bit of caramelized onions. We push both of these options out where our customers have the whole week, by Sunday everybody gets their orders, no matter how much they’ve ordered.”

This community-based food hub is growing and expanding amid COVID-19, with future goals of working with universities to provide meals for orientation week, expanding the Chef Hassan’s Kitchen’s team, and working with the ChalkFarm community centre to continue creating workshops on food sustainable practices for youth. 

Motivated by the community, Adenola is proud to create meals that positively impact his community.

“When everything is done, and everyone has their Sunday meals and everyone is smiling and enjoying that's where the peace comes out of it, that internal happiness, where you see people eating and happy, then I know this is why I do what I do.”