November/December 2020

When COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the NBA and N
BY ROSANNA CAIRA
Chef Chris Zielinski,
executive chef, MLSE helped
co-ordinate an emergency
plan when COVID-19 hit
Earlier this year, when COVID-19
turned the world upside down,
many businesses were forced to
shutter their doors while others
pivoted accordingly. For Maple
Leaf Sports & Entertainment
(MLSE), whose focus on fun has helped
build a thriving business while entertaining
Toronto’s sports and music fans, the magnitude
of the closure was immense, given its stable of
products includes three high-volume
restaurants, as well as concessions and corporate
suites. The cancellation of both the
NHL and NBA seasons was a grim reality
for the team of employees who work at the
Scotiabank arena. But, instead of sitting idly
by and waiting for business to return, the
brigade of 22 chefs turned its efforts to a new
reality and, within days, the arena was re-purposed
into a huge production kitchen feeding
thousands of people in need.
“We broke open an emergency plan where we
shifted everybody we had here into rescue mode
and donated 27,000 lbs. of food on that day,”
explains Chris Zielinski, Culinary director, MLSE.
The same situation unfolded across the city at
restaurants and shelters, explains Zielinski. “All
of a sudden there’s all this partially cooked food
but nobody to cook it, nobody to serve it. That’s
where the idea sprung out of,” says Zielinski.
32 FOODSERVICE AND HOSPITALITY NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 FOODSERVICEANDHOSPITALITY.COM