20/52 Jusep Sim

20/52 Jusep Sim

“It’s been a rocky road as you can imagine. I had to shut down from march to august, and when I opened up again, it was just a trickle because I’m so dependent on tourism. But in the meantime, I actually started a new business that didn’t require social groups. I turned my food tour, into a virtual food tour, where I now set up a monthly subscription box…every month you get a box, filled with snacks, treats, and ingredients from a different country. Until you get the box you won’t know what country the box represents…

It’s about the story of cultures. Because I think the problem is, you can imagine if you’re outside of Toronto, often biases or prejudices are simply because of ignorance..they just don’t get exposed to different cultures and people. Hopefully this will trigger at least a curiosity.

The people that I continue to host…people just want to learn, and once they do, their minds open. I hosted an afghan night once, where I had an afghan refugee make the food and then tell his story. I had 4 jewish guests that attended and they said, this is the only way we could’ve been exposed to afghan food, because we would never walk into an afghan restaurant and I’m like….wow. Food is the most accessible way to get a glimpse into the soul of a country or culture and the most wonderful way to connect with people. The more we learn about those around us, the better we understand and appreciate the people we share this beautiful and diverse planet with."