In Toronto's Weston neighbourhood, a quiet revolution is happening one meal at a time. Frontlines Catering, the social enterprise arm of Weston Frontlines Centre, uses food to fund youth programming, employment training and community food access. During ByBlacks Restaurant Week 2026, the organization brings its Caribbean-inspired menu to a national stage. We sat down with Culinary Lead Shannae Rowe to talk food, purpose and the futures being built in that kitchen.
There are catering companies, and then there are operations that carry the weight of a whole community on their shoulders. Frontlines Catering, the food services arm of Weston Frontlines Centre, falls squarely into the second category. Tucked into a neighbourhood that doesn't always make the city's highlight reel, Frontlines has quietly served Toronto's Weston community for nearly four decades, using meals to fund youth programs, employment training, mental health support and weekly grocery access for families who need it most.
When ByBlacks Restaurant Week 2026 rolls out from May 11 to 17 across Canada, Frontlines will be the only participating charity on the roster, bringing its Caribbean-rooted menu and its story to a broader national audience. Culinary Lead Shannae Rowe sat down with us to discuss what it means to cook with purpose, the programs that are changing young lives, and why this platform matters more than ever.
More than a catering company
Weston Frontlines Centre has been a cornerstone in the Weston neighbourhood for close to 38 years, operating as a nonprofit youth and community service organization at 1800 Weston Road. The catering operation sits at the heart of the business model: Revenue from catering orders flows directly back into funding the programs that serve youth ages 6 through 29.
Shannae Rowe, who joined Frontlines as Chef Assistant in December 2025 before stepping into the Culinary Lead role, brings both professional credentials and lived community experience. She's a former Kitchen Manager at Weston Neighbourhood Centre, a mom whose son attends Frontlines' after-school programs, and someone who understands firsthand why the organization exists. "I used to be that mom in the community," she says. That dual perspective, as caregiver and now as staff, shapes how she approaches every service.
Programs that invest in young people
Frontlines runs a range of programming specifically designed to build skills and confidence across different age groups. The depth of what's on offer makes this far more than an after-school hangout.
- So You Think You Can Cook serves youth ages 6 to 12, giving younger participants hands-on kitchen time every Wednesday.
- Leaders in Training targets teens ages 13-17, building leadership capacity alongside culinary and life skills.
- F.E.A.T. (Future Employment and Achievement Track) focuses on girls ages 13 to 15, combining cooking skills with self-care practices and practical life skills instruction.
- F.E.E.D. (Future Employment and Education Development) is a five-week intensive course designed to prepare older youth for the workplace. Participants earn food handler certificates, complete CPR training, attend resume workshops, and spend dedicated weeks in the kitchen with Shannae, building real culinary skills. Graduates of the program have been hired directly by Frontlines.
That last point matters. The organization doesn't just train youth and send them off. It creates pathways, then walks through them together.
Feeding the community beyond programs
Frontlines' reach extends well past its programming walls. Every Tuesday and Thursday, the centre distributes weekly grocery hampers sourced through Second Harvest, drawing significant community turnout from across the Weston area. Hot meals are also available. Given that Weston has a large BIPOC population and faces compounding challenges around food insecurity, rising grocery costs and community safety, this consistency of access is not a small thing.
"The price of groceries has been through the roof," Shannae says plainly. "Food insecurity is real out here." She describes the Tuesday and Thursday lineup as a reliable signal of just how much the community depends on what Frontlines provides. Volunteers from other organizations regularly show up to help. That ecosystem of mutual support, residents, nonprofits and volunteers all showing up in the same place, is what a community institution looks like in practice.
The organization also fields inquiries from beyond Weston's boundaries. While its core mandate remains hyper-local, outreach activities, including a recent event that drew the mayor's involvement, continue to extend Frontlines' visibility and advocacy work across the city.
A menu with Caribbean roots
For ByBlacks Restaurant Week 2026, Shannae and her kitchen team have crafted a menu that reflects the cultural identities of the young people working alongside her. Jamaican, Nigerian and other Caribbean backgrounds are all represented in the kitchen, and the week's offerings honour that richness.
The menu features:
- Jerk chicken with festival (a Jamaican sweet fried dumpling)
- Escovitch fish sandwiches (a personal highlight for Shannae)
- Red pea soup for those looking for a lighter, clean-eating option
- Jamaican corn soup, warm and hearty
"Our menu this year reflects a strong Caribbean influence," Shannae says. It's a natural expression of the team, the community and the culture that runs through the kitchen every day. Frontlines stands out as the only charity participating in this year's ByBlacks Restaurant Week, a distinction that both honours the organization's work and underscores the unique model it represents.
How the organization keeps running
Frontlines operates with a lean team of roughly 12 to 15 staff, supported by a board of directors and roles spanning operations, marketing and communications, grants administration, outreach and program management. Funding comes from a combination of grants, catering revenue and community event income. Visibility through platforms like ByBlacks Restaurant Week helps attract both financial support and awareness, which in turn strengthens the organization's ability to hire, serve and grow.
The catering side accepts orders through the Frontlines website and primarily serves organizational clients, including city departments looking to cater staff lunches. Beyond that, community barbecues, the Weston Farmers Market and other pop-ups throughout the summer give Frontlines opportunities to show up where the community gathers.
To handle growth in outreach and lead capture, Frontlines is planning to bring on an administrative hire through Canada Summer Jobs, keeping the work youth-centred from the inside out.
Where purpose and food meet
Shannae also runs Mateo's Munchies, a family-centred catering business she started in honour of her son. Her faith guides her sense of vocation. And in Frontlines, she's found a place where those threads, food, community, purpose, family, all come together.
"Every meal fuels the future," she says. It's the organization's tagline, and after talking with Shannae, it reads less like marketing and more like a mission statement lived daily.
A seat at a table that matters
ByBlacks Restaurant Week 2026 runs from Monday, May 11 to Sunday, May 17. For seven days, Canadians across the country have the opportunity to eat at, and support, Black-owned restaurants, caterers and food entrepreneurs. Frontlines Catering's participation this year adds something distinctive to the lineup: A reminder that choosing where to spend your food dollar can do a great deal more than fill a plate.
Weston Frontlines Centre has spent nearly four decades proving that food builds futures. The Escovitch fish sandwich you order this week might just help a young person in northwest Toronto earn their first food handler certificate, land their first kitchen shift, or find a safe space on a hard day. That's the kind of return on investment that a prix-fixe menu rarely promises, and that Frontlines delivers every single week.
Useful links
Order catering: www.frontlines.to/catering
Frontlines on Instagram: @frontlines.to
ByBlacks Restaurant Week 2026 (May 11–17): byblacks.com/restaurantweek
