At last night’s Night to Nourish dinner, guests gathered over beautifully prepared plates at North & Navy to celebrate something much bigger than food itself: dignity, belonging and the human connections that can form around a table.

Some 52 guests attended this year’s benefit dinner, raising $22,500 for Parkdale Food Centre, a charitable organization that has been operating in Ottawa’s Hintonburg neighbourhood for more than 40 years.

As attendees enjoyed freshly shucked oysters and spritz cocktails on the patio, Christopher Schlesak, co-owner and president of North & Navy and its sister restaurant, Cantina Gia, downplayed praise for hosting the benefit for Parkdale for the third consecutive year.

“It’s an honour, and it’s the least we can do — one night of hosting for all the heavy lifting they do on a daily basis,” Schlesak said.

Guests were served a five-course dinner featuring local ingredients from Juniper Farm and Mariposa Farm, with wine pairings from Prince Edward County’s Trail Estate Winery. There was also support from Dominion City Brewing and Blumenstudio, which provided the floral arrangements. Each guest received a jar from Ottawa’s Morrison & Co. Preserves to take home.

North & Navy executive chef and co-owner Adam Vettorel teamed up with Parkdale’s community chef and kitchen manager, Simon Bell. The pair share a professional relationship and friendship that goes back more than 25 years.

From left, North & Navy co-owner and president Christopher Schlesak with Simon Bell, chef for Parkdale Food Centre, and North & Navy co-owner and chef Adam Vettorel at the third annual Night to Nourish benefit dinner held at their Northern Italian restaurant in Centretown. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, Linsey Sherman-Zekulin, co-founder and chair of Happy Roots Foundation, and her husband, Mark Zekulin, chairman of Invert, with Nicholas Allaham, principal of the family office practice at First Avenue Investment Counsel, and his wife, lawyer Chloe Allaham, at the third annual Night to Nourish benefit dinner held at the North & Navy restaurant in downtown Ottawa. Photo by Caroline Phillips

After guests were seated, Parkdale Food Centre board chair and Ottawa lawyer Alex Wilson welcomed the room, focusing attention on what the organization is really about. “If you said ‘food’, you’re close, but that’s not where I’m going. To me, it’s community.”

As part of its strategic plan review, Parkdale Food Centre asked staff, neighbours, volunteers and board members what mattered most to them, Wilson said. “The sense of community was really at the top of that list.

“The opportunity to come together, to share a meal, to connect with one another and to support something bigger than any one individual is really special,” he added. “I think tonight is a reflection of that aspect of Parkdale.”

He was joined at the event by fellow board members Steve Parkes, president of Tamarack Homes and Tartan Homes, and board treasurer Ruth Bengough, senior finance advisor at Calian Group.

Parkdale Food Centre executive director Beth Ciavaglia and her board chair, Alex Wilson, welcomed supporters to the third annual Night to Nourish benefit dinner for the charitable organization, held at North & Navy restaurant on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Parkdale Food Centre executive director Beth Ciavaglia thanked guests for their support, expressing gratitude for their presence and for standing behind the organization’s work. “At Parkdale, we never work in isolation. Part of the joy of cooking is coming together and sharing,” she said. “We always say food is about dignity, belonging and connection. A meal can be comfort, it can be celebration, it can be the thing that reminds someone that they matter.

“Every day, we see what happens when a community chooses to show up for one another. Tonight, you are all part of that story.”

Later, attendees heard from Parkdale’s director of operations, Alissa Campbell. She began by sharing a personal story about her five-year-old daughter’s stay in the hospital after she suddenly stopped eating and drinking. Her daughter has since recovered, but the experience, she said, offered an important reminder of the connection between the gut and the brain.

“As you can imagine, working at Parkdale, I think a lot about food,” Campbell said. “I think of its power to unite us, to ease tension, to remind us of home, to spark pride, to make us feel cared for.”

Our relationship with food, she added, can also be complex. “Food can be fraught with fear, anxiety and uncertainty, from a mother learning to feed her newborn, to a refugee fleeing with seeds in their pocket, to a teenager skipping meals amid social pressures, to the daily responsibility of figuring out what’s for supper.”

New data shows food insecurity remains a national issue in Canada. It affects nearly a quarter of residents, or close to 10 million Canadians and 2.4 million children, according to Statistics Canada. The 2025 figures remain among the highest recorded in two decades of tracking.

Campbell said Parkdale works hard to provide access to nourishing food for its neighbours, but its greatest impact is in how people feel, including their sense of self, agency and ability to contribute, participate and be part of a community.

She highlighted two recent initiatives. One is a 40-page resource publication the organization plans to share with groups across the city and beyond to improve equitable access to food. Of the 20 food banks in Ottawa, Parkdale’s Mino’Weesini grocery program operates a little differently. It functions on a grocery store model, based on choice and a point-of-sale card method.

Parkdale’s other new initiative is the Nourishing Connections program. It brings together youth and older adults for intergenerational and cultural exchanges through monthly workshops and shared meals. A recent Japanese Children’s Day event, for example, saw everyone make dumplings, craft origami hats and learn traditional dance steps.

These are the moments, said Campbell, when the connection between food and wellbeing shines, “where food brings joy, makes us feel silly, makes us feel curious and connected, and breaks down anxiety, fear, hesitation and isolation.”

From left, Parkdale Food Centre (PFC) board member Steve Parkes, director of operations Alissa Campbell, PFC chef Simon Bell, North & Navy’s Adam Vettorel and Christopher Schlesak, PFC executive director Beth Ciavaglia and her communications and fundraising coordinator, Spencer Tittley, board treasurer Ruth Bengough and board chair Alex Wilson. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Kristen Neilipovitz (left), clinical manager at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, and anesthesiologist Dr. David Neilipovitz were among the 52 supporters of a benefit dinner for the Parkdale Food Centre, held at North & Navy restaurant. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, Jeff Todd, vice president of marketing and communications at WEALTH (WCPD), Thomas Fuller Construction president Sam Fuller, and Elliott Bourgeois, senior manager at First Avenue Investment Counsel, together at the Night to Nourish benefit dinner for Parkdale Food Centre, held at North & Navy restaurant. Photo by Caroline Phillips

It was a sold-out crowd at North & Navy as the Northern Italian restaurant hosted its third annual benefit dinner for Parkdale Food Centre on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Michelle Taggart, president at Tamarack Homes and Tartan Homes, and her husband, lawyer Alex Wilson, who serves as the board chair of Parkdale Food Centre, together at the third annual benefit dinner for the charitable organization, hosted by North & Navy restaurant. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, Parkdale Food Centre board member Steve Parkes, president of Tamarack Homes and Tartan Homes, and his wife, holistic nutritionist Jessica Parkes, with Dr. Elizabeth Shouldice, an emergency department physician at Queensway Carleton Hospital, and her husband, Jordan Clark, owner/pharmacist of the Shoppers Drug Mart in Westboro. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Matthew Capello, vice president at Capello Audio Electronics, and his wife, Allison Capello, at the third annual Night to Nourish benefit dinner held at the North & Navy restaurant in downtown Ottawa. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Attendees mingled over cocktails on the patio outside North & Navy restaurant before heading inside for a five-course dinner that raised $22,500 for Parkdale Food Centre. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Real estate broker Daria Kark, from Engel & Völkers Ottawa, and Parkdale Food Centre executive director Beth Ciavaglia outside North & Navy, which hosted a benefit dinner in support of the charitable organization on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. Photo by Caroline Phillips

Attendees enjoyed sunshine and warm weather during the cocktail portion of Night to Nourish, an annual benefit dinner hosted by North & Navy restaurant in support of the Parkdale Food Centre. Photo by Caroline Phillips

This article is made possible through sponsorship from Star Motors, WEALTH (WCPD), Syntax Strategic, RBC, Marilyn Wilson Dream Properties, ExecHealth, Altis Recruitment, Bell Canada, First Avenue Investment Counsel, Welch LLP, Brazeau Seller Law and Prime Benefits Group.
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