NDG Food Depot opens its doors in bright, new space
After year-long scramble to find new home, depot reopens in the heart of the neighbourhood
The NDG Food Depot has opened its doors in a new location after an almost year-long scramble to find a new home.
Trinity Anglican Memorial Church, the depot's home since 2013, announced it was closing last December, meaning the depot needed to find a new location to serve the community.
Bonnie Soutar <a href="https://twitter.com/NDGFood?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NDGFood</a> says everyone loves the pro kitchen @ new location 6450 Somerled <a href="https://twitter.com/cbcdaybreak?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@cbcdaybreak</a> doors open 2pm <a href="https://t.co/OdplcH0s30">pic.twitter.com/OdplcH0s30</a>
—@ShariOkekeThe new space is at 6450 Somerled Avenue, at the corner of Cavendish Boulevard, where development director Bonnie Soutar said they will be able to serve the community even better as it's at street level and has a brand new industrial kitchen.
"It's a beautiful bright sunny space, right at street level, so we feel really a part of things," she said.
"The church had a beautiful grounds but it was set back from the street…. Here we will be part of the community."
Volunteer Ivana Smic <a href="https://twitter.com/NDGFood?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NDGFood</a> loves new location 6450 Somerled because "it had more of a cafe vibe." <a href="https://twitter.com/cbcdaybreak?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@cbcdaybreak</a> <a href="https://t.co/pNCQ0c0duK">pic.twitter.com/pNCQ0c0duK</a>
—@ShariOkekeSoutar added that the new digs in the Fielding-Walkley neighbourhood would help the depot reach out to its target population.
"A lot of people who haven't been able to access us before are going to find us more easily," she said. "We're close to three areas that are large, dense, low-income areas."
It'll also be much easier to prepare the 400 meals a week the depot is accustomed to in the new kitchen, said the depot's chef James Barrington.
"Our most recent home was the basement of a church, a corridor with two residential ovens," Barrington explained.
"They had to be replaced once a year because they would cave in on themselves because of all the food we were preparing."
Barrington was on hand Monday as staff worked busily at putting the finishing touches on the space, which used to be a restaurant.
With files from Antoni Nerestant