Chef Megan Roberts aka Megz

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

“I am going to be the Oprah of Culinary.”

The culinary world is a place where talented female chefs can be overlooked, but women are finding themselves in higher positions in the workplace day by day, and as a society, we are seeing a shift in powerful positions. From working as sous chefs, to food bloggers, to teaching cooking classes, African Caribbean women are finding their place in this industry, and exemplifying boldness, ingenuity, and creativity. It is one of the reasons why I thought it necessary to celebrate a young, talented woman who is creating a stir in the Toronto culinary industry.

At 33 years old Chef Megan Roberts has proven herself in the culinary world. She has worked with tenacity and perseverance to thrive and exert influence within a male dominated industry and has applied her unique creativity and style to the art of cooking. She has a wonderfully enthusiastic and confident attitude, loves to experiment with food, accepts her mistakes, and puts passion ahead of perfection.

I asked her when a good day would be to sit down and chat, and she told me Mondays are her day. She has actually coined them Megan Monday’s which I think is ingenious. So here I was at 6:30 am speaking with this truly talented soul…

“My life began in Scarborough at Scarborough Centenary Hospital, but I grew up in Ajax my entire life,” Megan began.

“My dad has been working with TTC my entire life, so I have to admit I grew up fortunate. I lived in a house all my life, and I didn’t want for anything. We would take family road trips all the time, travel to Jamaica; life was pretty fun. I really have no complaints. I was that chatty kid in class, so I talked a lot. It’s funny, because that translated into me getting into communications later on in my life.”

Megan shares that her mom used to always say, “Megan is so smart, she just doesn’t apply herself.”

“I think about it now, and I really believe that I had ADHD. In the African-Caribbean community these issues are not talked about. Nothing really kept my interest for too long. I was good at a lot of things, but my parents would say, ‘Pick something you like, and stick with it.’ This was pretty hard for me.”

In high school, she realized that she loved music, so she decided to go into the world of the arts. When she looked at the money situation, she realized that life as an artist would be challenging.

“I was like, hmmmm; could I go through a period of not having anything after growing up the way I did? Nah! I knew that I would have to figure out something else.

When I learned about slavery in grade six, it changed my life. I knew I wanted to help my community, but I wasn’t sure how I was going to do this. I decided on Community and Justice Services at Centennial College, but once I learned that I would have to handcuff people, and I was like nope. I knew that I would be interacting with my community, but not in a positive way. This was not the road for me.

I then went into Community Development, but that wasn’t interesting for me either. I did retail after that, and then I started working at a restaurant. At around 18, 19 years old I started working at PAPS, and I was like, ‘I like this restaurant life.’ I started as a hostess, and then they moved me into the kitchen as an expeditor. I was the communicator between the kitchen and the front of the restaurant, and I worked very closely with the chef.”

Even though she was really enjoying her time at PAPS, the restaurant closed down, so she began her time at Cosmoprofs, a beauty supply store for professionals.

“It was completely different, but still in the arts. I was still trying to figure out what to do. I still wasn’t sure about what I wanted to do. My manager there was a Black woman, and she helped me a lot. She would ask me what I was interested in, and why I was interested in it. For a young woman, this was helpful, because I was still trying to figure it all out.

One day I was scrolling on Instagram, and this was how I was first introduced to Kwasi Douglas. He used to make $5.00 food on Instagram. I was like, ‘He is Black, let me support the brother.’ I started to hang out with him, and one day Kwasi decided to audition for Master Chef Canada, and he finished Top 12 in Canada. He decided to open up a restaurant in Ajax, and I became his Sous Chef. When I started working with him in the kitchen, Kwasi noticed something about me. One day he said, ‘Have you ever thought about cooking for a living.’ No, I hadn’t.”

Megan was about 26 and life had become turbulent. Like most young women, she was figuring out life, dealing with the stresses (family, friends, relationships), and wondering what her next move was going to be.

“I was like, ‘Oh God, I really have to figure out what to do.’ Kwasi closed his restaurant and started working at a restaurant downtown. He asked me to join him in the kitchen; this is when I started to really get into the world of cuisine arts. I was actually having fun doing this.

I went through all the highs and lows of working in the kitchen. When Kwasi got sick, I had to take the lead role in the kitchen. It began to take on a lot of my life; here I was now kitchen manager. When I asked to be paid more, the managers didn’t want to do that, so I decided to go to culinary school. I left the restaurant and started culinary school at the age of 30.”

Megan will be the first to tell you that Centennial College has the best culinary program in Canada. Her experience working in a restaurant translated into her doing very well at school.

“My teachers saw my talent and encouraged me. This is the part of my life that I really enjoyed. I remember this one teacher Stephen Fields telling me, ‘Just because you are in culinary school, doesn’t mean you have to be a chef.’  This stuck with me and would resurface a few years later.”

She graduated with a 4.0. Naturally Megan was proud of herself. She had experienced such a difficult time with school, and here she was now an ambassador for her program. She began to delve in African cuisine, and in February 2020, she met a woman named Nyoka, a driven woman, who began to show Megan that there was so much more to this culinary world.

“I remember going to an event called “The Food Ball.” It had 10 to 12 different chefs, and we noticed that there were no people of colour at the event. We thought to ourselves, why don’t we do a Black History event at school that mimics The Food Ball. We pitched the staff on hosting a dinner and wanted to make it inclusive. I put work into this. I was out here pitching ideas, marketing the event, and people were receptive. The event was supposed to be in February, but there were some technical issues, and it didn’t work out. We pushed it to March, but you know it; the pandemic happened and then the world shut down.

I had to finish culinary school online, and I was really disappointed about this. The service industry was suffering, and I decided to go to school for Food Media. I started a podcast called “Black of the House.” I had to build a business plan, and I began to develop this idea. I was learning everything to do with food media. This excited me even more.”

Where has her life led her? Well, Megan now works with one of her teachers who took on an Executive Chef role at Magna Golf Course. She loves life, doing what she wants, and living by her terms.

Keep an eye out for this young lady, you will be seeing more of her very soon.