After today at 3 p.m., Colombian Street Food by Cookie Martinez at 1565 Dupont Street in the Junction Triangle will no longer be headed by Martinez herself, ending a decade-long culinary career for the chef in Toronto.
Natalia Martinez, who Toronto knows most as Cookie Martinez, spent the last decade building a name for herself in the city's competitive food landscape. A journey that began in November 2011, while balancing her day job at a government agency, being laid off in 2012 motivated Martinez to go full time into cooking instead.
"Then, my business was just about cookies as a wholesaler to cafes and ice cream sammies. I started to bake out of the Depanneur," says Martinez. "Later, I learned that they host supper clubs and drop-in dinners. At that time, I started to do Colombian foods."
Truly the place where creative food things happen, Martinez was able to use her time at the Depanneur to launch her name as a savoury chef, eventually leading to her first shop in 2013 at Market 707, where experimenting with edible insects in her dishes with The Future Food Salon, furthered her legacy in the industry for cooking Colombian street food, with a twist. Years later in 2019, Martinez got her second location, her current one, in the Junction Triangle and closed at Market 707. Ideal because it was so close to home, Martinez leaves her storefront behind, for another home––this time, in Germany.
Martinez' last day at the store is today, Dec. 24, until 3 p.m. After this, she'll be on her way to Germany in early January to be closer to her husband's family.
"We live here in Canada with our 3-year-old and sometimes having family members around is a lot of help," says Martinez. "Both of us, we are self-employed and sometimes is very hard with a little one, especially last year when daycares were closed. It was very hard."
Posting a countdown to her last day operating Colombian Street Food by Cookie Martinez on Instagram, the chef shares her favourite memories and her bittersweet feelings about her departure.
Those who are loyal fans of Martinez and her recipes will be happy to know that though Martinez herself will be leaving, her menu and recipes will remain the same, under the guidance of one of her employees who knows the ins and outs of Colombian Street Food by Cookie Martinez, now renamed Colombian Street Food.
Closing after today and reopening Jan. 3 under new ownership, Martinez will be missed in the city, but luckily her food is here to stay.
"So far at this moment no more comments," says Martinez. "Just gracias, gracias."
