From common ground: Conejo Negro

Creole, Caribbean, and Latin cuisines may look different on the surface, but historically, they’ve always spoken the same language.For Alycia Wahn, Conejo Negro wasn’t about filling a gap in Toronto’s dining scene - it was about bringing together cultures that have long shared roots. Raised cooking Italian food, trained in French technique, and shaped by years spent living and working across the American South, Latin America, and the Caribbean, Alycia’s approach to food has always been layered, intuitive, and deeply personal.Add to that Toronto’s Caribbean influence, a Guyanese husband and business partner, and a Uruguayan collaborator, and Conejo Negro became a natural meeting place. Creole cuisine carries West African, French, and Spanish influence. Caribbean food reflects Guyanese and British roots. Uruguayan cooking draws from Indigenous, Spanish, Italian, and Latin American traditions. The overlap isn’t forced, it’s historical.Conejo Negro came together during the pandemic, after a full year of testing recipes, slow-cooking dishes days in advance, writing lists, and asking one grounding question over and over: does this feel right to all of us? Even the name followed that rule. With just a month to go before opening, the team finally landed on Conejo Negro - a choice rooted in intuition, symbolism, and shared agreement.In this conversation, Alycia talks about learning to cook alongside her mother at age 12, why she doesn’t chase trends or titles, and how “home cooking” can still be deeply refined. She shares what it means to run a happy kitchen — one filled with music, movement, and mutual respect — and reflects on being recognized by Michelin with a Bib Gourmand just 10 months in, an honour she didn’t even know existed.The goal was never accolades. It was always simpler: make good food, take care of people, and let the rest follow.Follow the podcast on Instagram and TikTokFollow Sam Jen on Instagram