Ma Yve Grill | Our Story
The story of Yvette Kavungu, told the way she cooks: slowly, generously, and with love.
Begin the Story
Before the Raptors knew her name, before the newspapers and the cameras, there was a little girl walking the busy markets of Congo with a basket of snacks balanced on her head. This is her story. And your table is where it was always meant to end.
The Storybook
Chapter One
Long before Ma Yve Grill, Yvette Kavungu was a little girl in Congo, walking the busy markets with a basket of snacks balanced on her head, helping her family make ends meet. She learned to count change before she could reach the counter, and to greet every customer like an old friend.
Chapter Two
Her first school was her mother's kitchen. Beside a steaming pot, her mother taught her everything: how to cook with patience, how to season with confidence, how to sell what you make, and how to carry yourself in business. Her mother ran her own catering kitchen. Yvette was paying attention.
Chapter Three
At the market, there was a young boy doing the very same work. He noticed the hardworking girl with the basket and began selling beside her, helping her, keeping pace. They even sailed together sometimes. Years later, that boy became her husband, and today they are raising two daughters.
Chapter Four
Yvette came to Canada educated and determined, earned her degree, and built a successful career in information technology at a major company. But the passion never left her. On evenings and weekends she catered, and the dream grew louder: a place of her own, where the food of her childhood could feed her new home.
Chapter Five
In the middle of Pickering, she opened Ma Yve Grill: a place to sell her food, yes, but so much more than that. A place where the community gathers, where the curious discover Congolese cuisine for the first time, and where anyone missing the taste of home can sit down and feel found.
As seen on CTV News, VICE Sports, Toronto Star and Radio-Canada
When Bismack Biyombo joined the Toronto Raptors in 2015, he found his way to Yvette's cooking. When Serge Ibaka was traded to Toronto, one of his first calls went to Biyombo: where can I find real Congolese food? Biyombo handed him Yvette's number. She has cooked for him ever since, hand-delivering from Pickering to downtown Toronto: his beloved fumbwa, plus plantains, beignets and kwanga. During the 2019 championship run, the story made the news across the country.
In this kitchen, everyone eats like family.
The rule Yvette cooks by, from Kinshasa to Pickering.
Come Hungry, Leave Family
Every plate leaves her kitchen the way it left her mother's: generous, honest, and made to be remembered.