Sundance of Canada

As we turn the calendar to a new year, the focus turns to the next big event our city will see: the Canadian Culinary Championships.

(Photo: Courtesy of Tourism Kelowna)

Podium finish at the 2014 Canadian Culinary Championships.

Taking place on February 6 and 7, the Canadian Culinary Championships will feature the chefs from across the country who won the first round of Gold Medal Plates competitions in their respective cities. Over 100 chefs competed in these competitions across Canada this fall, creating their ultimate dish and pairing it with a premier Canadian wine, beer, or spirit. A team of food and wine critics from each city worked with national critics to determine the top three winning creations and then a gold, silver and bronze medal winning chef is crowned. Just to be invited to compete is a notch in the belt. To win the gold is a major achievement! But then the career-changing Canadian Culinary Championships brings all the gold medal winners together, and what a show that is! The title of culinary champion will be decided on after three grueling competitions taking place Friday evening, Saturday morning, and the final gala evening on Saturday night. To be crowned the top chef in Canada is a career changer! And to top it all off, the Canadian Culinary Champion receives a BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe from BMW Canada!

Tickets are still available for the three competitions, but with healthy ticket sales they are expected to sell out.

The competition strives to become the Sundance of Canada, and with dazzling talent and competition on the culinary front and a star-studded cast of Olympic athletes and Gala event performers adding their panache to the competition, it wouldn’t be far off.

Who are these rising stars of Canada’s culinary landscape? Here is the line up:

• For the l
• Halifax: Renée Lavallée from The Canteen
• Winnipeg: Luc Jean from Jane’s
• Edmonton: Ryan O’Flynn from The Westin Edmonton
• British Columbia (competition was held in Victoria for BC chefs): Kristian Eligh from Hawksworth Restaurant, Vancouver
• Saskatoon: Chris Hill from The Delta Bessborough
• Toronto: John Horne from Canoe
• St. John’s: Mark McCrowe from Aqua Kitchen/Bar
• Ottawa: Patrick Garland from Absinthe Café
• Regina: Milton Rebello from Wascana Golf and Country Club
• Montreal: Antonio Park from Restaurant Park
• Calgary: Dave Bohati from Market Restaurant

For the lucky spectators who have their tickets to the events of the Canadian Culinary Championships, it promises to be a weekend of mouth-watering tastes and inspiring stories. For Kelowna, this is another ringing endorsement from national food heavy-hitters that believe in this area as a culinary gem. And who’s to disagree? With our own star chefs in restaurants around the city, our incredible Kelowna wineries and our wealth of fresh produce and specialty farms, the evidence is certainly in place to support them.

Net proceeds from Gold Medal Plates ($9.5 million to date) are given to the Canadian Olympic Foundation which supports Olympic athletes and high performance programs such as ‘Own the Podium’. Kelowna is now home to this prestigious Canadian competition until 2020.

There are less than 80 tickets left for both the Grand Finale event on Saturday night and Friday’s Mystery Wine Competition, so order your tickets today! For further information on the event and tickets visit www.goldmedalplates.com or please contact Demian Richardson at [email protected].

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.