Two Ottawa chefs are featured on the new seasons of popular competition shows “MasterChef Canada” and “Top Chef Canada.”
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Two Ottawa chefs are featured on the new seasons of popular competition shows “MasterChef Canada” and “Top Chef Canada.”
This week, “Top Chef Canada” announced that Kathryn “Kat” Ferries from Around the Block Butcher and Market in Nepean has joined the cast for season 13, along with eight other chefs from across Canada.
Ferries has worked in Ottawa restaurants since 2017, spending nearly seven years at Stofa Restaurant before moving to Elise Restaurant in 2024. She was chef de cuisine in both establishments, according to her LinkedIn. In 2024, she joined Around the Block as its resident chef.
A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa in 2012, Ferries was awarded a silver medal in 2018 at the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Young Chef National Competition. In 2019 and 2021, she was the San Pellegrino Young Chef North American Social Responsibility Award representative. She was named to Foodservice Magazine’s Top 30 Under 30 in 2021.
“Top Chef Canada” is a reality cooking competition that pits chefs against each other. They’re judged by a panel of professional chefs and food personalities. The winner receives a $100,000 prize.
The season 13 premiere airs Oct. 20 on Food Network Canada. According to a press release, the season will feature “elimination challenges celebrating Lunar New Year and the historic inaugural season of Toronto Tempo, a challenge tackling the cost of living, and a trip to Charlevoix and Quebec City, including filming at Restaurant Tanière – one of only two restaurants in Canada with two Michelin stars.”
Meanwhile, the ninth season of “MasterChef Canada,” featuring 16 home cooks, began airing on Sept. 22 on CTV.
Ottawa’s Amanda Baker, a home chef and founder of Baked Good Impact, competed in the season’s first episode, but (spoiler alert) was sent home with three other contestants in the show's first elimination round.
Baker worked as chief operating officer of e-commerce company Tease Tea from 2020 to 2023, while simultaneously holding the same role at the Founders Fund. In 2024, she left to found her own company, Baked Good Impact, a consulting firm that works with businesses to integrate profitable social and environmental impact efforts into their business models.
According to a press release, Baker’s “standout dish” is Persian Fessenjoon chicken breast with walnut pomegranate sauce and smoky harissa carrots finished with rose water and pomegranate seeds.
