Adopted as a child, this Toronto chef grew up with 31 siblings from around the world Social Sharing

Sash Simpson now owns his own restaurant with a 'global' menu reflective of his upbringing

With crisp, white linen draping every table and a carefully curated menu, Sash is a new fine-dining restaurant located in the heart of Summerhill — a long way from Chennai, India, where owner and chef Sash Simpson spent his early years as a street kid abandoned by his birth family.

Simpson says being adopted felt like being given a second chance. (Sash Simpson)

"Being a street kid, a runaway, jumping on and jumping off trains, living on the streets, begging, stealing ... that's what life was for quite a bit of time," he told CBC's Our Toronto.

Around the age of seven, Simpson was cleaning up a movie theatre in exchange for a place to sleep. He stepped outside to get some air when workers at a local orphanage spotted him on his own, began questioning him and eventually took him in.

"It was a miracle," he said.

He stood out to someone once again a short time later — a Canadian woman named Sandra Simpson who owned the orphanage Sash lived in.

Sandra frequented the orphanage a few times a year.

"I would pull her skirt saying, 'Mummy, mummy, Canada, Canada.'"

Simpson, now 48, says one day he came home from school and was told he was going to Canada and being adopted by Sandra.

Around the age of eight, Simpson had a new city to call home, Toronto.

Along with encountering snow for the first time, he found out he also had many new siblings to get accustomed to — 31 to be exact. Four of the children were his mother's biological children and the rest were adopted from different countries around the world.

"It was overwhelming seeing all these kids but they were my brothers and sisters even though I had just met them. Then of course, we became real brothers and sisters."

Simpson embraced his new life in Canada and eventually set his sights on working in the popular midtown restaurant North 44. He was turned away at first, but Simpson insisted and offered to work for free for three months.

Within a few years, he was the executive chef. Simpson ended up working at the restaurant for 24 years, establishing himself within Toronto's fine dining scene.

Now, he has decided to break out on his own, putting everything he's learned behind his namesake restaurant. From five-spice bison tenderloin to Chilean sea bass with madras curry, Simpson's menu is a reflection of his unique upbringing.

"I have Korean sisters … Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian siblings, Spanish brothers, Indian brothers, Bengali brothers," he said. "I come from a family that's global … so my menu is global."

Simpson says his own story has driven him to give back to the orphanage that changed his life. He returned to India two decades ago and opened up a cafeteria at the orphanage where girls and young women can work once they have to leave.

"When they turn 18, by law my mom has to release them out of the orphanage. She felt she didn't want to do that and if you did that they would [often] get beaten up and raped. Now, if they don't want to leave, they can work in the restaurant that I built. So that keeps them in the orphanage so they don't get hurt in any way."

It was the first time he'd returned to India since he was adopted decades earlier. Simpson says he'll never forget where his life started.

"Being adopted … somebody took a chance on me," he said. "There's always been angels behind me, always taking care of me."

Watch Marivel Taruc's interview with Chef Sash Simpson on Our Toronto Saturday and Sunday at noon, and Monday at 11 a.m. on CBC TV.

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