For the fifth year in a row, Ottawa will become the epicentre of Canadian culinary excellence in late January. Chefs from Ottawa, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, Moncton and St. John’s who have won their regional championships will converge on Ottawa Jan. 30 and 31 for the Canadian Culinary Championship — considered the Juno awards of the country’s culinary scene. The two-day event includes a mystery wine-pairing event Friday, a nail-biting black box competition Saturday morning and the grand finale that evening.
Jason Sawision, chef and owner of Stofa Restaurant, will represent the Ottawa-Gatineau region. He joins a prestigious group of Ottawa winners, including Antheia’s Briana Kim, who won gold with a vegan dish; then-Les Fougères chef Yannick Lasalle; and Atelier’s Marc Lepine, won gold in 2012 and 2016. Several Ottawa chefs, including Coconut Lagoon’s Joe Thottungal, have won silver as well.
For the grand finale, chefs can remake their winning regional dish or something completely different.
The grand finale on Saturday night is always popular, and still has tickets, but the other events are equally fun and worth considering, especially given the lower ticket prices.
The competition kicks off Friday night with the mystery-wine event. Chefs find out what the wine is on Thursday evening, and are tasked with creating a dish using local ingredients that pair perfectly with the wine. It’s fascinating to see the breadth of dishes that emerge from the minds of these culinary geniuses. They have a time limit (with no food pre-ordering) and $500 to feed 300 people. Guests love this event as they get to sample the food of all 10 finalists at the stand-up cocktail reception that also features craft beer, cocktails, mocktails and nibbles from Seed to Sausage and Aurelius Fine Olive Oils and Balsamic.
The Black Box event is tailor-made for fans of Iron Chef. The competitors have to turn a black box of seven ingredients into two show-stopping dishes within one hour. Guests sample foods from market vendors and watch what’s happening in the kitchen on giant screens from La Cité Collégiale’s immersive theatre space.
When guests arrive at the Black Box event, chefs are introduced and organizers take away their electronics and ask them to wait in a holding room. There’s a commentator in the kitchen and an emcee in the guest area for this one-of-a-kind competition. Judges taste the dishes, but the guests don’t.
The Grand Finale takes place Jan. 31. Its 550 guests can sample the chefs’ finale dishes while Spirit of the West founding member Geoffrey Kelly, along with Barney Bentall, Luke Doucet and Matthew Harder perform live. At evening’s end, this year’s Canadian Culinary Champion is crowned.
The national event, presented by MNP with a host of national, regional and local sponsors supports several charities, including MusiCounts, which gets musical instruments into schools across Canada; and Spirit North, which supports Indigenous youth through sport and play. The CCC also supports Ottawa Network for Education + Nutrition Blocs. To date, the event has raised more than $19.1 million for its charities.
For additional information and to buy tickets – greatkitchenparty.com/ca/culinary-championship/
