Chef Marc Lepine wins People’s Choice Award at Mystery Wine Pairing Competition

When you’re given 500 bucks and told to come up with 350 small plates on budget, it’s only natural to think of lobster. Chef Marc Lepine of atelier Restaurant, thought a roulade of langoustine would work well, wrapped in a sheet of avocado, with a light curried mayonnaise as anchor. He thought compressed celery; he thought of flavouring puffed wild rice with fennel and coriander seed; he thought he’d make fennel seed cake in forty seconds, aerated in a siphon and zapped in the microwave. Wee marbles of Okanagan apples on this plate too, zipped in a bit in chili syrup, a pile of citrus zest, a sprinkle pile of burnt orange. Lots of stuff going on, but not one bit making more noise than the other. Despite its intricacy, it wasn’t overwrought… it had a gentle flow of flavours and textures. It was, in short, brilliant. And it conversed with the wine well – a Chateau des Charmes 2008 Old Vines Riesling, as it turned out.
Tomorrow morning, crack of dawn, the fun and games of the Black Box Competition.