Tag: Canadian Culinary Championships

  • And they’re off…Canadian Culinary Championships 2016

    And they’re off…Canadian Culinary Championships 2016

    It’s shopping day! The eleven competing chefs have spent the night drinking wine, dreaming food, and making a list, and are now scouring the Kelowna markets for provisions to create a winning plate. This is my favourite competition: The Mystery Wine Pairing. Each chef was handed an unmarked bottle last night. They all know two […]

  • To Raymonds, St John’s for a Good Fish dinner

    To Raymonds, St John’s for a Good Fish dinner

    ‘One Fish, Two Fish, Good Fish, True Fish.’ That’s the Seussian title given to the dinner party at Raymonds Restaurant in St John’s, Nfld on May 16th – one I have the very great fortune of attending. Its subtitle is ‘Seven Courses by Six Chefs Featuring the Bounty of Newfoundland’s Coast’ paired with wines by Prince Edward […]

  • Gold Medal Plates 2015… chefs revealed!

    Gold Medal Plates 2015… chefs revealed!

      I’m delighted to report the list of competing chefs for the Ottawa-Gatineau 2015 Gold Medal Plates, to be held on November 9th at the Shaw Centre. From MeNa, Chef James Bratsberg From L’Orée du Bois, Chef Jean-Claude Chartrand  From Ace Mercado, Chef Trisha Donaldson From El Camino, Chef Jordan Holley From Restaurant E18hteen, Chef Jonathan Korecki From Atelier, […]

  • Wickaninnish Inn

    Wickaninnish Inn

      It’s rare an Ottawa girl longs for wretched weather in February. But I wanted a holy moley of a humdinger, a real screamer of a storm. I wanted to sit on my Wickaninnish Inn balcony with a cappuccino and watch the foam get blown off.  I had packed my tuque, mitts, wellies, long johns. […]

  • Canadian Culinary Championship Podium Plates

    Canadian Culinary Championship Podium Plates

    I thought you might like to see the Finale dishes of the Canadian Culinary Championship 2015 bronze, silver and gold medallists. Yes? Here they are: from Vancouver’s Hawksworth Restaurant, chef Kristian Eligh, an incredibly delicate ‘bread bowl’ that acted as edible cloche for a gorgeous sablefish and lobster chowder. From chef Antonio Park of Park […]

  • Black Box 2015

    Black Box 2015

    Damn. Did we make it too easy? Every chef in this year’s black box competition seemed to sail through it.  No marks were deducted for ingredients not used, nor were time penalties awarded. In fact, some chefs had a full ten minutes to plate, time enough to make certain every dish was wiped and polished […]

  • CCC Mystery Wine Revealed…

    CCC Mystery Wine Revealed…

    Well, they sure nailed the wine. Chef Patrick Garland and his team from Absinthe figured out the mystery wine – at six this morning, apparently. When Garland delivered his dish to the judges’ table tonight and was asked what he thought of the wine, he described its particulars characteristics, then announced he thought it was […]

  • Canadian Culinary Championship 2015 – wine in hand

    Canadian Culinary Championship 2015 – wine in hand

    All we know is that it’s a red. It was presented to the eleven competing CCC chefs last night at Sandhills Winery and after posing for pictures, with their gift boxes in hand, they scattered to find some quiet corner where they could open the unmarked bottle of wine and pour themselves a good stiff […]

  • Absinthe’s Patrick Garland…

    Absinthe’s Patrick Garland…

    … has landed in Kelowna. By now he’s likely picked up his CCC chef coat, sharpened his knives and is plotting and planning his next moves. He’s there to represent Ottawa-Gatineau at the Canadian Culinary Championship, having won the Gold Medal Plates competition last November. Temperatures are hovering at three above – I just checked – and nothing […]