One Table: Setting the Table for What’s Next

By MENU Magazine

August 21, 2025

Industry Events , Main Course , Your Stories

When the doors open on September 16 at The Warehouse Event Venue in Toronto, a new kind of gathering will begin. One Table, Restaurants Canada’s new, signature gathering, isn’t about spectacle—it’s an invitation for foodservice and hospitality leaders to connect, collaborate, celebrate, and look to the future. The event will bring together members of Restaurants Canada’s Board of Directors, along with influential voices from every corner of the industry landscape—a rare opportunity to connect with the people shaping the industry’s future, all in one place, at one table.

One Table invites guests to show up with expression. While the evening calls for classic cocktail attire, this is not the place for conformity. It’s a night for looks garnished with that unmistakable flair only hospitality can deliver. A tailored jacket with a twist of lime, a statement headpiece, a bold pocket square or unforgettable accessory —if anyone knows how to add that je ne sais quoi, it’s this industry.

As guests arrive, they will be welcomed with a bespoke alcoholic or zero-proof cocktail, elevated by Sobrii, into a luminous, hour-long reception where conversation flows, string musicians roam, and the energy is charged with possibility. Surprise collaborations between Restaurants Canada and presenting sponsor Uber Eats unfold throughout the evening—from a striking canapé wall featuring Cru Caviar, sponsored by Nadiyya, Cru Caviar and PepsiCo, to a chef-activated canapé station curated by Maple Leaf Foods. The formality and stiffness of gala events will be replaced with something warmer, more meaningful, and unmistakably built on the art and essence of true hospitality.

As appetites simmer, guests will be invited into the dining room for an exquisite multi-course experience, featuring mains like Agrodolce Braised Short Ribs—sponsored by Canada Beef—paired with table wines from Matua and Alamos, and served alongside freshly baked focaccia with rare, high-quality EVOO courtesy of Nadiyya and Azienda Agraria Bacci Noemio. Hosted by the engaging and highly respected Pay Chen—a seasoned Canadian television and radio host, writer, producer, and food and lifestyle expert—the evening officially opens with a welcome from Restaurants Canada President and CEO Kelly Higginson. From there, the tone shifts from celebratory to strategic as Richard Alexander, Restaurants Canada’s EVP Government Relations offers insight into the current policy landscape and its implications for the sector. He’s followed by Chris Elliott, Restaurants Canada’s Chief Economist and VP, Research, offers a first look at Foodservice Facts 2025—the organization’s flagship economic forecast and one of the most anticipated industry reports of the year.

The centrepiece of the evening is the Restaurants Canada Awards of Excellence ceremony, where this year’s honourees will be recognized for their leadership, innovation, and impact. The celebration continues with a candid roundtable conversation, as award recipients share unfiltered perspectives on the most urgent challenges—and the boldest opportunities—shaping the future of Canada’s restaurant and hospitality sector.

As the evening winds down, the connections continue—with a dessert course designed for conversation. Guests are invited to move freely, reconnect with familiar faces, and forge new ones while indulging in an exquisite dessert experience featuring aFrench Chocolate Flan Noisette station and a flight of passed dessert canapes from Dairy Farmers of Canada.

Restaurants Canada Awards of Excellence Winners

Established in 2017, the Restaurants Canada Awards of Excellence honour individuals and organizations that are not only excelling in their own right but actively shaping the future of Canada’s foodservice industry. Recipients demonstrate leadership, advancing culinary and operational excellence, championing sustainability, and driving meaningful social impact. More than a recognition, the award has become a catalyst—enabling past honourees to expand their influence, elevate their platforms, and inspire the next generation of industry changemakers.

Legacy Award of Excellence
presented by Restaurants Canada
Cora Tsouflidou
Founder, Cora Breakfast & Lunch 

Leadership Award 
presented by PepsiCo Canada
Julie Denton
Chief People & Technology Officer, Recipe Unlimited Corporation

Culinary Award 
presented by Garland Canada
Chef Chris Commandant
National Arts Centre & Ontario Director and Secretary, Indigenous Culinary of Associated Nations (ICAN)

Emerging Leader Award of Excellence
Chef Nick Chindamo
Naturalist & Wild Food Educator, The Inn at Bay Fortune

Social Impact Award 
La Tablée des Chefs 

Environmental Stewardship Award of Recognition
A&W Canada 

In an industry defined by continuous motion and reinvention, moments to pause, reflect, and align are rare. One Table is more than a dinner—it’s a necessary convergence of the minds shaping Canadian foodservice and hospitality. When visionaries sit down together, ideas become action, and challenges turn into opportunity. If you believe in building what comes next, your place is here.

Join us—take your seat at One Table.