Gold medallist at the CCC, Marc Lepine's Grand Finale dish arrived in a bowl - inside, panko-crusted chorizo balls and one perfect Quadra Island scallop, plus pickled chanterelles, puddles of celery root compressed with sambucca, dehydrated fennel, bacon, lovage and lemon balm. Resting on the rim of the bowl, which we were invited to crack through, was a crisp sheet of celery root 'paper' supporting dehydrated bacon powder and a blob of pale orange pike roe. Lepine came around the table with an atomiser, perfuming the dish with a final squirt of lemon infused sambucca. Once the elements were all muddled together, the wow effect was startling. Lepine's wine was the 2009 Estate Chardonnay from Niagara's Hidden Bench Vineyards.
Rob Feenie of the Cactus Club, Vancouver, secured the silver medal. For his final dish, he gave us bunny and carrots: but first, a shot glass of duck broth flecked with black truffle to ready the palate for... an elegant terrine of rabbit, topped with a fat little boudin blanc sausage of rabbit and foie gras. A skinny slice of black truffle lay against the construct, and the plate was finished with a carrot puree, a carrot wafer-like sheet and delicate spheres. Feenie paired this with the 2010 Pinot Noir from Haywire Winery, BC.
- This was the dish that propelled Jean-Philippe St-Denis of Kitchen Galerie Poisson in Montreal to win the Bronze Medal at the CCC. He presented his take on vitello tonnato – a carpaccio of Albacore tuna topped with many pretty, textural treats: tender veal tongue, crispy parmesan, crunch fried capers, dobs of balsamic jelly, bright yellow sprinkles of preserved lemon rind, crunchy bits of pain brioche, snips of chive and flourish of microgreens. Surrounding the plate, a broken moat of a rich and flavourful mustard-tarragon vinaigrette. St-Denis paired this with beer – McAuslan Brewery’s St-Ambroise Cream Ale.
