Please ma’am, can I have some more? This week in the Uniform Project, Sarah Blais visits old familiar halls to document the Monday-Friday style of Toronto’s cafeteria ladies.
Adna is from Napoli, and her Italian ring is from her husband. She’s worked at the Marshall McLuhan cafeteria for 13 years and enjoys it thoroughly. She shops at Yorkdale, where her favourite shop is Laura Petite. Her work uniform consists of an apron, black blouse, and black pants along with a hair net. She has three kids and one (new!) grandson, loves watching the students grow up, and says her favourite food on the menu is lasagna. In her spare time, she likes being at home with her family.
Victoria is a 55-year-old cafeteria worker for Pina Food LTD, same as Adna, and her favourite thing on the menu is lasagna, too (ed note: we have to try the lasagna). She’s worked at the cafeteria for the past five years. The Italian accessories she sports are an engagement and wedding ring from her husband, and a beautiful watch, all 18K gold.
Susan is the main cook in the cafeteria at York School, where she’s been working since September. Today she was cooking coconut curry chicken and veggies for the kids. Her favourite kind of shopping? Thrift! You can find her at Value Village or Goodwill searching for finds; her preferred location is the Queen & Logan VV.
Agata is a 38-year old-worker who’s been preparing food at The York School for three years. Her favorite thing about work is seeing the kids every day, and making them chocolate chip cookies. Her necklace and earrings were gifts, but if she’s buying jewelry (or clothing) you’ll find her in the Bay.
The hair net is essential for workers, along with the mint-coloured blouse, black pants, and black (comfy) shoes.
Jenny on the other hand, is THE sandwich maker of the cafeteria. She came to this job eight years ago after selling her self-run convenience store in Scarborough. Jenny, who shops at Scarborough Town Centre, enjoys seeing the kids, but really gets off on the rush to prepare food in the morning for the 11:30 a.m. lunch break. The menu in this cafeteria changes weekly and sticks to a healthy regimen: no French fries or hot dogs anymore. The salad bar is the most popular part of lunch at The York School. They also just started making raisin bran cookies, but Jenny’s not sure the kids are big fans of the treat. She tried to convince me to stay for an extra half hour to try one of the fresh cookies she was making and I passed, but have been craving one ever since.
Recently in the Uniform Project: bartenders, garbage workers, Branksome girls.
