Reported essays and dispatches from the ground — food systems, labour, local spaces, and the quiet lives that hold communities together.
The Keys to the Kitchen
How Slammie Sammies was locked out of its own restaurant. Originally Published April 2, 2026 on my substack. THE MORNING OF MARCH 6 On the morning of March 6, Pedro Dos Santos drove to 828 Eastern Avenue the way he had every working day since Slammie Sammies opened, with somewhere to be and something to…
I spent $1500 to stand outside NOMA’s LA Residency
The thing about Noma is that in the industry it’s like saying Kobe Bryant. Everyone knows Kobe. My mom knows Kobe. Outside the industry, Noma sounds like something you get from drinking on an empty stomach. The people I was flying to cover don’t overlap much with the people who had $1,500 and the patience…
Fresh, But Not Home
What Vietnam taught me about eating alive, and why Canada’s local food movement still leaves immigrant kitchens behind. It’s been two months since coming back from Vietnam, and the Canadian winter has already started to wear on me. Since landing, I’ve been sick for almost two and a half months with no real sign of…
The Hands That Remember
In Vietnam, I kept meeting people who made things that lasted: shoes, noodles, knives, memories. And somewhere between all of it, I started seeing work differently.
I watched blacksmiths hammer knives from fire, tailors sew color into confidence, cooks stir thirty years of muscle memory into a single bowl of noodles. I learned that visibility…
Pylons and BBQ
By: Marie Pascual What the Taste of Manila Taught Me About Grief, Joy, and Coming Home We walked down Wilson Street and I thought of my sister. The same route I used to take, hopping off the 96. But where her low-rise once stood, a tall glass condo tower loomed. Ling wouldn’t recognize this place.…
Brantford, Briefly
A Scarborough writer traces echoes of home in a town that’s still trying. By: Marie Pascual I didn’t expect Brantford to remind me of Scarborough. Not in flavor or energy, but in the stubborn ways people still try. It hit me somewhere between the church with automatic doors, the protest signs zip-tied to someone’s porch…
Why Pokémon Might Save Us From Loneliness in 2026
It’s silly. It’s bright. It might be exactly what we need to fight a global loneliness crisis. By: Marie Pascual A short personal pipeline I was born in 1996, the year Space Jam dropped, the Spice Girls blew up, and Pokémon began its march to global takeover. In early-2000s Scarborough, they called me “Mareep,” like…
How a skate and hip hop festival turned Mississauga into one big backyard for a July night
By: Marie Pascual On Saturday night, my partner and I parked at Square One in Mississauga. We were chasing noise and kettle corn, curious to see if Canada’s largest free action sports festival could really turn a mall hub into something electric. Jackalope promised three days of skateboarding, BMX, breakdancing, and more. By the end…
Marie Pascual - Between Worlds 