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By Andrea Smith
Windspeaker.com Contributor
TORONTO, Ont.
“The place isn’t opened yet. There’s just plates and shelves, and total chaos in this room I’m in standing in… Tonight is a soft launch. It’s a private event for friends and family who supported me on this journey.”
Johl Whiteduck Ringuette is speaking about the condition of his new food emporium, NishDish, in downtown Toronto. The emporium is about to launch. Friday April 28 is the grand opening celebration for NishDish, and it’s been a long road, according to Ringuette.
“This place is very small. We have a capacity of 40 people… We have traditional drummers (coming)… Thunder Jack is the lead of that. And there’s Brenda MacIntyre, and North American hoop dancing champion Lisa Odjig,” said Ringuette, adding that there are guest speakers expected, an opening ceremony and prayer, traditional dancing, and artists taking to a mini stage outside the emporium.
Ringuette has been preparing for this moment for more than a decade. He first got into catering as a teenager, then got into justice work with the Aboriginal People’s Court (Gladue Court) in Toronto. Twelve-years-ago, feeling burned out, he talked to Elder friend, Mark Johnson, who encouraged him to go into business solely with food production, because it had always been a passion of Ringeutte’s. So he registered and insured a small catering company shortly after that, and today NishDish is ready to launch in full form.
“We have caribou and reindeer mini meat balls… Buffalo mini meat balls, and elk meat balls…. And we have this beautiful maple syrup we had delivered from Isaac Day’s family, Giizhigat Products,” said Ringuette.
“Your friendly neighbour since always… We love saying that,” said Ringuette, pitching the emporium’s tag line. “Because Indigenous people have been here since time immemorial,” he said.
Ringuette’s food emporium will double as a hub for the First Nations community, so it’s important to him to maintain ties to that. Everything he serves will be sourced from First Nations people, and he’s been collecting personal stories about food, and traditional recipes, for years.
Ringuette believes the role of NishDish is not just to serve people food, but also to serve them education, some of which might actually contribute to better health for First Nations people overall.
“We’re trying to share that piece of education, of how our lives were changed dramatically through the treatment of people, and access to our foods… And the breaking of that cycle that caused all of this epidemic right now... We have the worst disease rates in the country, because of people not having access to that food,” said Ringuette.
“Bannock… that is not traditional. Native people can’t digest wheat, so we don’t do fry bread,” he said, sharing a tidbit that might disappoint bannock-lovers everywhere. But according to Ringuette, there are many other types of flour First Nations people can digest—all of which are available at NishDish—so he does include a non-wheat bannock on his menu. And he hopes to harvest cat tails for this reason, too.
“There is a stem within the cat tails that we used to pound and ground, and make bread,” he said.
Ringuette has a few other people on his team, working to make NishDish a success, too. Hywel Tuscano is the director of operations. He came on board in 2016. Ringuette was actually struck by a bus while riding his bicycle three-years-ago, and has experienced health issues ever since, so Tuscano’s help has been greatly appreciated.
Ringuette’s son, Rory Nakoda, is also helping run the business. And there is a volunteer Elders’ Advisory Committee consulting with Ringuette and offering their wisdom.
“Cindy White is Mohawk… she comes in and gives me guidance on what we’re doing here…. Shirley Gillis Kendall is Anishnaabe, a long-time community member of Toronto, and by profession a nutritionist. And Allen Jameson is from Six Nations. His father is a well-known teacher, so he has all this information about Wampums,” said Ringuette. Wampums are beads used on wampum belts, to share stories, traditions, and laws. The wampum is featured in the NishDish logo.
And of course, the décor of the eatery is important, too, from the birch bark forest mural by Ren Lonechild, to the 13-moons calendar on the ceiling. History is shared through this art, said Ringuette.
Next on the agenda for NishDIsh—after the grand opening Friday—is to run a 32-week youth culinary arts program, in partnership with Child and Family Services. The youth will learn not only food preparation, but also business management, and they’ll end the program by caring for a garden full of traditional plants and medicines.
Ringuette’s ultimate dream for NishDish is to strengthen the Aboriginal community in Toronto.
“Your friendly neighbour since always… We love saying that,” said Ringuette, pitching the emporium’s tag line. “Because Indigenous people have been here since time immemorial,” he said.
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