Royden Henry
Accounting & Executive Assistant
Growing up on the Caribbean island of Grenada, Royden was exposed to a diverse but underrated food scene. The culinary offerings are influenced by West African, Indian, and English cultures with many foods taking on a whole new cultural identity. His love for local dishes fostered a deep appreciation for the techniques and labourious process required to craft them. Royden recalls planting and harvesting corn and peas with his family that would be later prepared in a soup or side dish.
He left Grenada for Washington, D.C. to pursue a bachelor’s in accounting at Howard University. This experience exposed Royden to foods from other cultures, such as injera from Ethiopia and Vietnamese Pho . During his time in Washington, D.C., he indulged in cuisines from around the globe and redefined his interpretation of “What is comfort food?”. He considers comfort food as food that nourishes you and makes you feel better after a rough day without any guilty feelings.
In 2017, Royden moved to Canada and fell in love with Toronto, the most culturally diverse city in the world. After a decade of working as an auditor, he saw an opportunity to re-invent himself and jumped into the Food Tourism Entrepreneurship program at George Brown College where he was part of the first cohort. The program was instrumental in teaching Royden about culinary tourism and how to create culinary experiences from simple hidden eats at your local mom & pops to carefully curated tastings using locally sourced ingredients.
As part of his studies at George Brown, Royden conducted independent research on the connections between food tourism, culture and Caribbean foods specific to the Greater Toronto Area. The research allowed him to understand what food and culture mean to individuals living outside their country of origin as well as the economic benefit food tourism can bring to a city.
Royden is currently pairing his expertise in accounting with his love food at the Culinary Tourism Alliance (CTA). When he’s not supporting his team at CTA, he’s leading craft beer and food walking tours downtown Toronto.
Royden recommends:
A bowl of Lambie Waters (Conch Soup) cooked on a wood-fire on a beach in Grenada
A flight of craft beer at C’est What – a pub that only features Ontario beers and wine
And of course doing a walking food & beer tour with him to explore what is Canadian food and how is it different from Toronto food as well as how beer shaped world history including Canada’s.
Exploring Bangkok's street food
A slice of apple cake at Mystic Muffin
An Ethiopian veggie platter at Wazema paired with spiced tea (where eating with your hands is required 😊)