Yes Shef: The Event Putting Female Culinary Talent in the Spotlight
Toronto's food community is gathering for a milestone event this March.
At Yes Shef, chefs present tasting dishes that celebrate talent, creativity, and collaboration.
On March 9th, the International Centre in Mississauga will host the inaugural GTA edition of Yes Shef, a signature culinary event produced by WORTH (Women of Recreation, Tourism & Hospitality) that has been selling out in Vancouver year after year. This spring, it arrives in Toronto for the very first time, during the Restaurants Canada show and falling in the week of International Women's Day.
The premise is as elegant as the event itself. Twenty of Ontario's most talented women in hospitality, spanning cuisines, career stages, and backgrounds, including Indigenous women celebrating traditional food practices, are each paired with a culinary student mentee. Together, they create a signature dish served tasting-style to an anticipated crowd of 500 guests. Attendees move freely through the room, sampling dishes, sipping from an open bar, and soaking in the kind of energy that only a room full of people who truly care about food can generate.
Two DINR partner restaurants are represented on this year's roster. Evelyn Chick of Simpl Things and Eva Chin of Yan Dining Room are among the featured chefs. Their presence speaks to exactly the kind of community WORTH is building: chefs who are well-regarded, boundary-pushing, and deserve every spotlight they get.
The guest experience goes well beyond a tasting. Expect DJ sets, a live auction, a wine wall, and a friendly competition where judges award Best Pastry, Best Dish, and a People's Choice Award which guests can participate in by voting on the event’s app. It's a fundraiser, a celebration, and a community gathering all rolled into one sophisticated evening.
But perhaps what makes Yes Shef genuinely special is what happens after the applause. The event is the launchpad for a structured eight week mentorship program between each chef-mentee pair. WORTH equips mentors with a handbook and framework to guide those sessions, which have led to everything from casual coffee conversations to stage experiences in restaurant kitchens, and in some cases, actual job placements. The mentees, culinary students singled out by their instructors for their exceptional promise, do not learn until the evening itself that they will be called to the stage and presented with a scholarship.
That kind of impact has a way of rippling outward. Reine Edejer first attended a Vancouver Yes Shef as a coat check volunteer. She was so moved by what she witnessed that she went back to school to pursue her lifelong dream. “Yes Shef is one of the reasons I revived my dream of becoming a chef,” she said. She later participated as a mentee and went on to join the opening team of Folietta in Vancouver. Stories like hers are why WORTH founder, Joanna Jagger, describes the mission plainly but powerfully: “show up for women in the culinary community.”
The culinary world has long been dominated by a handful of familiar names at the top. Many competitions still require participants to hold executive chef titles, a barrier that quietly excludes talented women at earlier stages of their careers. Yes Shef removes that gatekeeper. It welcomes women mid-career, women who are ambitious, women who are just beginning. The result is a room where the diversity of Canadian food culture actually reflects itself.
Tickets are available now. This event has sold out in Vancouver every single year, and the Toronto debut will be no different. DINR members attending the event receive $25 off tickets with promo code Community25.
About DINR
DINR offers same day and exclusive reservations at the best restaurants in Toronto and across Canada. Since its inception in Montréal, DINR has built a cult following among award-winning chefs, discerning diners, and avid travellers passionate about unparalleled culinary and hospitality experiences.
