Grazie Restauruant

When Joe Brancatella was growing up, he had lots of friends from different cultures. “I’m from a big Italian family that loves to eat and at my friends' houses, I discovered there's a whole world of food from different cultures out there,” Joe recalls. His culinary interest just grew and, at 19, he enrolled in the Chef’s Apprentice program at Humber College. To make extra cash, he took a job as a limousine driver on the side.

One night, after Joe mentioned to a passenger that he was training to be a chef, the man introduced him to a friend, Franco Prevedello. Franco was the owner of Toronto's "it" restaurant at the time, Pronto, and he offered Joe a job. “I had the great privilege of working with two great chefs,” says Joe, referring to Raffaele Ferrari and Arpi Magyar. As luck would have it, Joe would also get the chance to work with a young Mark McEwan, who bought Pronto before opening North 44 nearby.