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Photos From Behind The Scenes At The 2014 Canadian Culinary Championships

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by Andrew Morrison | The long weekend has come and gone and with it (temporarily) went my ability to properly and personally moderate my own food and drink intake. As the Co-Senior Judge (with Sid Cross) and the Culinary Referee at the Canadian Culinary Championships in Kelowna, I was soaked by wave after wave of gastronomic invention, enough to keep me – regrettably – in kale and fernet branca for a few more days. But really, the eating and drinking was the easy part. It’s the math that kills you. I’ve been judging this competition for the past 6-7 years and it’s still a very humbling experience to have to grade dish after dish from some of the top chefs from coast to coast. Writing on a CCC scorecard – for me at least – is the most difficult writing there is. I enjoy it tremendously, but the pencil doesn’t jot down numbers without trembling with doubt. “Was that really as over-seasoned as I thought it was?” “Did the wine push the sauce too far into the realm of bitterness?” “Is this fish supposed to be this cold?” You want to get it right, every time.

And I think we always do.

As I mentioned last week, representing BC this year was chef Brian Skinner of The Acorn, the critically-acclaimed vegetarian eatery on Main Street. Though he didn’t finish on the podium, he held his own against Calgary’s Duncan Ly (Yellow Door Bistro), Montreal’s Danny St Pierre (Auguste), Winnipeg’s Kelly Cattani (Elements), St. John’s Roger Andrews (Relish), Toronto’s Lorenzo Loseto (George), Saskatoon’s Trevor Robertson (Radisson Hotel), Regina’s Jonathan Thauberger (Crave), Ottawa’s Marysol Foucault (Edgar), Halifax’s Martin Ruiz Salvador (Fleur de Sel), and Edmonton’s Paul Shufelt (Century Hospitality Group), impressing all of the judges with his technique, poise, and mastery of the veggie milieu. Those who names were ultimately called were Danny St. Pierre (bronze), Duncan Ly (silver), and Lorenzo Loseto (gold). My sincerest congratulations to them all!

I’ll let my good friend James Chatto – my boss at the event, the competition’s National Culinary Advisor, and an infinitely better writer than I – tell you how it all went down here and here. You can also take a look at some of the shots below to get a feel for how things looked from a judge’s perspective.

  • The view upon the not quite frozen lake from the El Dorado
  • A good line up away in a manger at Tantalus
  • CCC judges gather at Tantalus for a cooking class with the family of gourmands behind Poppadoms
  • CCC judges getting their mis en place together before cooking for themselves at Tantalus
  • Tantalus winemaker David Paterson doing his bit
  • Aman Dosanj of Poppadoms
  • Freshly made pakoras from Poppadoms
  • Anne Debrisay (Ottawa) and John Gilchrist (Calgary)
  • CJ Katz (Saskatchewan)
  • Catherine Frechette of Tourism Kelowna looking a little hungry
  • Spice options from Poppadoms
  • Tantalus is home to one of my favourite contained venue kitchens
  • Aman and Sid doing prep
  • Lesley Chesterman (Montreal), Cj Katz (Saskatchewan), Sasha Chapman (Toronto)
  • Karl Wells (St. Johns), CJ Katz (Saskatchewan), Anne Debrisay (Ottawa)
  • Jeff Gill (Winnipeg)
  • Bill Spurr (Halifax) and Jeff Gill (Winnipeg)
  • Anne and John hamming it up
  • CJ and Poppadoms barman Harry Dosanj
  • A lovely refresher from Poppadoms barman Harry Dosanj
  • Sasha having a laugh
  • Jas (Mum) Dosanj of Poppadoms making chapatis
  • The cold calm before the hot storm of the Canadian Culinary Championships
  • James and Sid Cross (Vancouver) prepping their dish at Tantalus
  • James Chatto (Toronto, National Culinary Advisor)
  • James making chapatis
  • Canadian Culinary Championship judges cooking for themselves with some help from the good folks at Poppadoms. The food was fantastic!
  • Judges luncheon with Poppadoms at Tantalus
  • Judges luncheon with Poppadoms at Tantalus
  • Judges luncheon with Poppadoms at Tantalus
  • Chef Trevor Robertson of the Radisson Hotel in Saskatoon describing a dish at the Canadian Culinary Championships in Kelowna
  • (via our Instagram feed) @chefskinner of @acornvancouver presents his final dish to the judges at the #CCC2014
  • Brian Skinner of Vancouver's Acorn during the Black Box competition
  • Brian Skinner serves up a dish for the wine pairing competition
  • Brian Skinner's grand final plate of smoked King Oyster shrooms with confit potato, braised shallots, carrot, sherry gel, and shroom jus
  • Chef Lorenzo Loseto of Toronto's George introducing a dish at the Canadian Culinary Championships
  • A lovely intermission on the lake at the El Dorado
  • Chef Lorenzo Loseto describing a dish at the Canadian Culinary Championships
  • Chef Lorenzo Loseto's wine pairing dish of goat's cheese mousse with yellow beet carpaccio, bacon, fuji apples, truffle-scented black trumpet mushrooms, bacon and brussel sprouts
  • Chef Lorenzo Loseto's dish at the Grand Finale. Beautiful potato-wrapped ahi with little bits of carrot magic, fennel, peppercorn ailo, and fennel pollen/pistachio powder
  • Brian Skinner's pickled cauliflower and mustard plate at the wine pairing competition
  • Loved this dish by Edmonton's Paul Shufelt - pomegranate braised lamb with yellow foot chanterelles, faro risotto, pickled candy stripe beets, crispy leeks, and micro mint
  • Montreal Chef Danny St. Denis' Grand Finale dish of beef tongue with quail egg, cranberry confit and croutons
  • Montreal Chef Danny St. Denis' Grand Finale dish of beef tongue with quail egg, cranberry confit and croutons
  • Winnipeg chef Kelly Cattani opens the Black Box and starts planning her dishes
  • Regina chef Jonathan Thauberger's rabbit ballotine
  • Saskatoon chef Trevor Robertson's duck press
  • Winnipeg chef Kelly Cattani's elk with avocado, soba noodles and soy
  • St Johns chef Roger Andrews excellent chanterelle and pistachio-stuffed squab
  • Calgary chef Duncan Ly's pig's head and prawn press with hot mustard and garlic sauce
  • Chef Duncan Ly of Calgary's Yellow Door Bistro
  • The Mystery Wine (Laughing Stock's Blind Trust white)
  • Ottawa Chef Marysol Foucault's cured wild board and rabbit press with brown butter rabbit liver
  • Chef Paul Shufelt of Edmonton
  • The competing chefs lining up for introductions in the Okanagan College
  • Halifax Chef Martin Ruiz Salvador's salt water poached lobster with parsnip and white corn polenta
  • Montreal chef Danny St. Pierre introducing his wine pairing dish
  • Ottawa chef Marysol Foucault finishing a dish for Sid Cross
  • The intensity of the Black Box
  • St. Johns chef Roger Andrews at the Black Box
  • Setting up the plates at Black Box
  • Chef Duncan Ly at the Black Box
  • Say hi! I was on the mic here for some four hours or so, commentating on the competition - phew!
  • Chef Lorenzo Loseto competing in the Black Box - all business!
  • The chefs in isolation, waiting for the Black Box competition to begin
  • Such a pretty dish by Ruiz Savador - an oyster moated with vichysoisse and ringed by smoked strugeon
  • Martin Ruiz Salvador
  • Chef Trevor Robertsons chili-honey pork belly
  • Chef Roger Andrews maple-lacquered smoked pork belly
  • The tracks of fools...

There is 1 comment

  1. Just a little note, Marysol Foucault and her restaurant, Edgar, are not in Ottawa but in Gatineau, Québec.

    Regards,

    Marie D.

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