Danny Y.

Danny was born in Hong Kong and moved to Toronto at the age of two. In university, he studied Marketing. After working on the money market for a few years, Danny decided to dedicate himself full time to a career in fish and meat cutting.

With the opening of Toronto’s Eataly Yorkville in 2019, Danny joined the team as a Butcher. Over the last five years, he has shown exceptional workmanship and attention to detail. He has consistently proven to be reliable to his teammates and committed to Eataly’s overall mission. Danny always comes to the store ready to work diligently, even if it means offering to stay back or cover until the work is completed.

During his time at Eataly, Danny has expanded his knowledge and expertise. Today, Danny assists with all butcher operations. He places orders and even covers for the Butcher Lead when needed. Danny’s work ethic is recognized by his fellow team members who would describe him as a role model, always calm and always smiling.

How would you describe your role at Eataly?
“I’m the morning person – the one who sets everything up, makes sure the counters are nice and full. I make sure we’re ready to start the day. A lot of coworkers look up to me as a leader, so I help manage the department. I do a lot of ordering of our different meats, which is a nice responsibility to have.”

What have you learned working at Eataly?
“Teamwork. We have such good comradery and all get along really well. Other departments help us out, and we help them. I’ve also learned a lot about sales. Every shift, I check sales to see how we’re doing and what we have to do to make sure we’re on track. We’ve been doing really well. It’s a great feeling to accomplish our goals.”

Who inspires you?
“All the managers I’ve had in different jobs, who I’ve seen work so hard and lead by example. That’s my attitude – work hard and lead by example, so that it hopefully rubs off on everybody else.”

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
“As a kid, I was always cooking with my dad and thought I wanted to be a cook for a while. At one point, I wanted to be a horse jockey. And then a hockey player! I used to play hockey as a kid, and then in a league all through my twenties.”

Outside of Eataly, what do you enjoy doing?
“I’m fascinated by the archaeology and the history of mankind, how people used to live years ago. I’ve also gotten really into biographies, so I’ve been reading a lot recently – I just finished one on Britney Spears! When I’m not reading, I play a lot of video games.”