Back for a second year in the Dragons’ Lair, Daryl Johnson is ready to fire up budding Meaford entrepreneurs.

Daryl is Chef and co-owner of Amici’s Restaurant and Pizzeria in Meaford. His life in foodservice dates back to his teens and his first kitchen job at the Falls Inn in Walters Falls in 2006. In the years since, he completed the Culinary Management program at the Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning and earned a diploma in the Masters Course of Italian Cuisine and Oenology at the International Culinary Institute for Foreigners near Asti in Northern Italy.

Of course, he continued honing his skills at the same time, working at Talisman Mountain Resort, Splendidos in Toronto, Reeds Restaurant in Meaford, and led his first kitchen at the Grandview Restaurant in Thornbury. He worked in corporate/institutional settings at Ragland Village and 4th Canadian Division Training Centre, where a team of only three cooks fed 2000 personnel. And he got a taste of the catering end of the business, working with Christine Collins in Meaford at The Kitchen and Christine Collins Catering.

In the fall of 2017, this young entrepreneur took the plunge, launching his own business: Amici Restaurant and Pizzeria. In the challenging months of 2020, Daryl and Amici have nimbly adapted to changing circumstances and ramped up their pick-up and delivery service to help Meaford and area residents enjoy great dining even when they can’t go out.