EDMONTON – Ladies and gentlemen — light your ovens! The first in a series of culinary competitions kicks off tonight, October 21, at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton. It signals the start of this year’s edition of the Gold Medal Plates. Each year, Gold Medal Plates raises funds for Canada’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes, while celebrating the best in Canadian food and wine.
Seven cities (Edmonton, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary, St. John’s and Toronto) will stage preliminary challenges. Each will gather some of the top chefs in the region, as selected by a national and regional panel of judges, to compete for the honour of moving on to the Canadian Culinary Championship Nov. 27 and 28 in Vancouver, and a shot at being named Canada’s top chef.
Founded in 2003, the event has generated $2.8 million for Canada’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Former winners include chefs Melissa Craig and Hayato Okamitsu. For more details, click here.