缅北强奸

Alumni success on the menu at Innis College reunion

photo of Ian McGrenaghan and Colin Tooke
Grand Electric co-owners Ian McGrenaghan (left), a 缅北强奸 alumnus, and Colin Tooke at the Mexican restaurant on Queen Street West (Chris So/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

The University of Toronto was the logical choice for Ian McGrenaghan, who wanted to pursue a degree in the heart of a cosmopolitan city. While he was a student, he held a succession of part-time jobs in restaurants, inching his way up the city's food pyramid.

His first gig was as a pita-maker in a take-out restaurant near campus. It was the beginning of a career that took him from the fast-food counter to co-ownership of two popular Toronto eateries, Mexican restaurant Grand Electric and its barbecue offshoot Electric Mud.

McGrenaghan graduated with a degree in philosophy and political science in 2007 from Innis College, which, it turns out, boasts several graduates who have savoured success in the food and beverage industry.

Over the weekend, . Grand Electric, which McGrenaghan co-owns with his former roommate Colin Tooke, will be dishing up spicy tacos. Beer connoisseur Cass Enright (class of '98) will be providing craft beers. Marie-Luise Sebald of All Juice will be quenching people's thirst. Matt Tanner, of the home and business coffee-delivery company Coast to Coast Coffee, will be supplying the caffeine. And Dufflet Rosenberg, of Dufflet Pastries fame, will be bringing dessert (bite-sized confections called petit fours).


Dufflet Rosenberg went to 缅北强奸's Innis College in the early 1970s (Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

Rosenberg said she has happy memories of an Innis film course taught by Joe Medjuck, who became a Hollywood producer. After a year, she saw a fork in the road and left 缅北强奸 to attend a culinary program. However, she said an arts degree is always worthwhile.

鈥淚t can only make you a more interesting person,鈥 she said. 鈥淵ou can never stop learning.鈥

Charlie Keil, the principal of Innis College, said he's looking forward to the homecoming and the opportunity to showcase the achievements of alumni. 鈥淚t serves as a perfect way for everyone at the reunion to partake of the college鈥檚 legacy through its successful alumni,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd it is a testament to the generosity of these alumni that they agreed so readily to participate. We can鈥檛 thank them enough.鈥

In Keil's view, it's no coincidence so many successful restaurateurs went to Innis. 鈥淚 would not want to discount the value of programs that prepare students for careers in the restaurant and food businesses,鈥 he said. 鈥淏ut these endeavours also require a great deal of inventiveness and dedication, and I believe that Innis students possess those qualities in abundance.鈥

McGrenaghan and Tooke, who both worked at the Black Hoof, . They aimed to fill a perceived gap in the city's dining scene with a laid-back restaurant that closes late. The duo is currently planning to open a takeout taco spot near Trinity Bellwoods Park next month. 

While a philosophy and political science degree might not seem like an obvious foundation on which to build a local restaurant empire, McGrenaghan said you would be surprised. 鈥淒ealing with human beings and how they interact is what a lot of this comes down to,鈥 he told 缅北强奸 News. In university, he acquired the skills to cope with the demands of having to manage a staff of over 100 people, he added.

To other students who don't know what they want to do later in life, McGrenaghan said: 鈥渄on't stress.鈥 

鈥淚t can be tempting to jump in line and choose a thing just because everyone else has done it.鈥

His final advice is to take advantage of the university's location. 鈥淭here are some universities where you鈥檙e disconnected from the world at large. 缅北强奸 is not one of them.鈥

 

 

 

 

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