Ada Mok and Cam Pounder love dumplings.
As it happens, so do many Leasiders. Luckily for all of us, these foodpreneurs turned their love into a food truck business called feasTO. The dumplings are made right here in Leaside, at their kitchen at 28 Industrial St., where they set up back in 2015. They have been long-time business partners, and the feasTO food truck will be celebrating its 10th anniversary next year. Theirs, they say, is the only dumpling food truck in Canada.
Ada, who grew up in Hong Kong, says, “I ate dumplings at least once a week for my entire life.” When she moved to Canada for university, her mom taught her some family food staples, including dumplings. After graduating and working in Toronto, Ada made dumplings for her roommates and friends, including Cam.
Pretty soon Cam and Ada were teaming up to make and serve dumplings at pop-ups at various markets and events around Toronto. The duo were doing this on evenings and weekends, in addition to their full-time day jobs. This was a true passion project given that they both really liked to make and eat dumplings and wanted to share their passion with the world. Cam says they were having a great time doing this, despite the long hours and “were thrilled to break even with their first pop-up.”
The pair continued to do pop-ups and developed a good following. A decade ago, they were cast in the Food Network show Food Truck Face Off – and won. They both agree the win meant a chance of a lifetime to open a dumpling food truck business.
“We quit our full-time jobs to focus on the business,” says Ada. Building out the food truck for their needs was a great experience. They were also able to utilize ‘non-food’ skills they gained from their previous professions in their new venture. From 2015 on, the feasTO food truck has appeared at many places and events around the GTA, including downtown Toronto for the lunch crowd, TIFF and the CNE.
Come March 2020, the pandemic created a lot of uncertainty. “In April we realized that all of the events we normally take the food truck to would be cancelled,” Cam says. So, the dumpling dynamos had to pivot and move to an online business for frozen dumplings. Ada recalls that “we were lucky it worked.” The online business helped feasTO through 2020/21 as they managed through supply chain issues for key ingredients like soy sauce and sriracha. Now they have both the frozen dumpling order business and the food truck at events, giving people two ways to enjoy these tasty dumplings.
In the spring and summer, you will find the feasTO food truck at many events like the Do West Fest and the CNE for the entire duration of the exhibition. You can also enjoy feasTO at home by ordering frozen dumplings from the website (see below). Dumplings can be delivered to you or picked up on Thursday or Friday at their Industrial Street kitchen (pre-ordering is required).
The dumplings come in a variety of flavours including Lemon Grass Chicken, OG Pork (Ada’s Mom’s original recipe), Chili Shrimp, a vegan option and many more, with a special dumpling offered bi-monthly. Ingredients are sourced locally and all the dumplings are made by hand with great care. When asked if they have personal favourites, Ada says hers is OG Pork, while Cam’s is the beef dumpling.
Next time you have a craving for dumplings, look no further than Leaside.
You can find feasTO online on the web at: https://www.feasto.ca/, and on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/feastoronto/
