BC Chef Competitors Vying For Canada’s Top Toque Title Named

On Friday, October 29th at Vancouver’s Wall Center, 10 of BC’s best chefs will compete at the Gold Medal Plates competition for the opportunity to represent our province at the Canadian Culinary Championships, held in Kelowna on February 18th and 19th. Each year, Sid Cross and I are asked for our input on who should be invited to compete, and I’m thrilled by the final list, which sees great representation from Vancouver, the Okanagan, and Vancouver Island. They are…

Darren Brown | Coast
Robert Clarke | C Restaurant
Quang Dang | Diva at the Met
Stuart Klassen | Delta Grand, Kelowna
Dale MacKay | Lumière
Nicholas Nutting | The Wickaninnish Inn, Tofino
Nico Schuermans | Chambar
Roger Sleiman | Quails’ Gate Winery, Kelowna
Cam Smith & Sana Ewart | Joy Road, Penticton
Neil Taylor | Cibo Trattoria

If you want to see how it all went down last year, click here. For all the ticket, time and date details of the coming comp, click here. Also, take a look at the video we shot last year to show what it’s like behind the scenes of the national championships…

Dispatches From The Greatest Cooking Competition In Canada

I’m very sorry that it has taken me so long to throw this video together. I had several gigs of footage and photos and no time to splice and dice this week, plus I didn’t want to have it up before my story about the Canadian Culinary Championships was published in the paper (yesterday). Alas, it is done now (albeit in a hurry), a referee/judge’s eye view of the proceedings from the very start to the very end. I hope you enjoy it and the many dozens of photos below. My friend and colleague James Chatto (head judge) has written a thorough synopsis, one which my skills could never match, so I’ve included it in its entirety after the pictures. Read more