KELOWNA, B.C. — The Canadian Culinary Championships will kick off in Kelowna, B.C. today.
The intense two-day championships, which are the national finale of Canada’s Great Kitchen Party (CGKP) competitions (formerly Gold Medal Plates), feature three events: a mystery wine pairing, a black-box competition and the grand finale.
The 2019 Canadian Culinary Championships competitors include:
- Takashi Ito – Aura Waterfront Restaurant + Patio, Victoria
- Davina Moraiko – RGE RD, Edmonton
- Dave Bohati – Murrieta’s, Calgary
- Christopher Hill – Taste Restaurant Group, Saskatchewan
- Jesse S. Friesen – The Merchant Kitchen, Winnipeg
- Elia Herrera – Colibri, Toronto
- Yannick LaSalle – Restaurant Les Fougères, Chelsea, Que.
- Jason Morris – Pastel, Montreal
- Irwin MacKinnon – Papa Joe’s, Charlottetown
- Thomas Carey – Fresh Twenty One, Dartmouth, N.S.
- Katie Hayes – Bonavista Social Club, Bonavista Peninsula (N.L.)
This year’s competitors include three returning chefs hoping to stand on the podium in 2009. Chefs Hill, Friesen and Bohati have each competed in previous installments of the Canadian Culinary Championships.
“I am beyond excited to return to the Canadian Culinary Championships. Not only will I have a chance to demonstrate the enhancement of my skill set over the past few years, I will also get another chance to network with top chefs from across the country, sample their food and their Canadian wine pairings,” says Friesen, who competed in the 2017 championships. “It will be a great learning experience for my team and me to be able to have our food critiqued by a panel of judges of this caliber.”
“It’s great to see so many chefs with the desire to return; we see them come with new strategies based on their learnings from previous competitions. It will make for a very competitive event and really exciting to watch as a guest,” says Lisa Pasin, co-founder of the Canadian Culinary Championships. “Competitors not only step up to compete against their peers but these top Canadian chefs also return to support and help raise funds for our three chosen beneficiaries B2ten, MusiCounts and Community Food Centres Canada.”
CGKP and the Canadian Culinary Championships provide a platform to celebrate and showcase Canada’s best in food, wine, sport and music, all while raising funds to provide young Canadians the opportunity to be extraordinary through sport, music and food.
