Beer Pairing 19+ presented by Side Launch Brewing Company

Chef Joe Friday was born in North Carolina, raised in Okinawa, Japan, and trained in French Cuisine. He graduated top of his class in Restaurant Management from The Culinary Institute of America in New York and then started his culinary career at the age of 20, as one of 10 worldwide individuals invited to train at Walt Disney World’s culinary program. In addition, Chef Joe staged around Europe, Asia, and the US, including staging with Thomas Keller at French Laundry, working as a Saucier Nobu in Honolulu, and working as the Executive Sous Chef at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Following these experiences, Chef Joe moved to Toronto, Canada almost 10 years ago to be part of the opening team for Peter Oliver and Michael Bonacini’s new venture, Luma at TIFF Bell Lightbox. After this venture, Chef Joe was part of the team that opened Bar Mozza (closed) and became part owner and Executive Chef of ViaVai (closed).

Chef Joe went on to bring his love for Hawaiian Cuisine to Toronto, and opened as part owner and chef, the popular quick-service poke restaurant Calii Love. He is also the founder of The Chef Collective, which is a chef driven organization committed to supporting local and worldwide chefs by providing them with a platform to showcase their talents through Chef Battles.

In 2019, Chef Joe opened Friday Roots at 876 Dundas West in Toronto Canada, which is a return to his North Carolina southern roots. The menu includes many of his treasured family recipes, and his burger, which was recently rated top 10 in Toronto bars by the popular Blogto.

Currently Chef Joe is working on new ventures launching soon and bringing back The Chef Collective for a full 2023 season.