Top chefs to battle it out

Photo: Contributed

Eleven of Canada's top chefs have arrived in Kelowna for the 2018 Canadian Culinary Championships.

Friday and Saturday, they will compete for the title of Canada's best chef.

They'll receive a bottle of mystery wine Thursday night, and then be tasked to create a dish with local ingredients that compliments it. They'll spend Friday morning shopping for the ingredients that will be served to 400 guests that evening.

In addition to the challenge of having to guess what wine they are pairing their dish with, they are also given a budget of $500 that must feed the entire crowd. 

Saturday's black box competition calls the chefs one at a time to prepare a meal using its contents in under an hour.

At that night's grand finale, chefs will create their best dish before the medal winners are announced.

The entire competition serves as a fundraiser for the Canadian Olympic team.

Limited tickets remain for Friday’s Mystery Wine Pairing and Saturday’s Grand Finale events. Tickets can be purchased at www.goldmedalplates.com.

“This competition is a test of skill, creativity and endurance. Each chef has been training in their kitchens preparing themselves for this weekend,” said head judge James Chatto.

Competing chefs include:

• Alex Chen – Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar, Vancouver
• Shane Chartrand – SAGE, Edmonton
• Blake Flann – BLAKE from Canmore
• David Vinoya - Wild Sage Kitchen & Bar, Regina
• James McFarland - University of Saskatchewan
• Mike Robins - Sous Sol, Winnipeg
• Lorenzo Loseto - George Restaurant, Toronto
• Briana Kim - Cafe My House, Ottawa
• Eric Gonzalez - L’Atelier Joel Robuchon, Montreal
• Barry Mooney – Gio, Nova Scotia
• Nick Jewczyk - The Fifth Ticket, St. John’s