The head gorilla is back in the kitchen.

Fellow restaurateurs rallied around Graeme Smith last summer, when the founder of Gorilla Cheese was dealing with cancer treatments. Those treatments are now over and the grill is on.

“At the beginning of last year I got diagnosed with oropharyngeal cancer, I had a tumour at the back of my tongue.” Graeme Smith.

Smith launched the Gorilla Cheese food truck about eight years ago and now also has a store front on Ottawa street, but last year he was too sick to work. His life partner and store manager, Andi Nisbet kept the grills running.

Last summer, fellow restaurateurs took over Gorilla Cheese for an event to raise money and help Smith’s recovery.

“I was shocked at the support I got from all the other businesses. It shows it’s not competitive as much as cooperative. So it got me right in the heart.”

Smith says he stored all his energy and ideas in 2017 and he plans to invest them in his restaurant this year.