The Okanagan Gold Medal Plates event for 2018 has brought together 11 chefs from across Canada.
“This is the biggest and most serious national competition for Canadian chefs,” National Culinary Advisor James Chatto said. “Victory is a career-changer.”
Competitors received their mystery wine Thursday evening in Kelowna and have 24 hours to analyze it before coming up with a dish it can be paired with.
That dish, created with a $500 budget, will be served to 400 people Friday night.
Saturday morning, the chefs will come together at Okanagan College for the black box competition.
Given one hour, the competitors will have to create a dish with the seven unique ingredients in the box.
The finale is Saturday night, when chefs create their favourite dish and pair them with a Canadian wine, spirit or beer.
They will be judged by a panel of 13.
Gold Medal Plates is a major fundraiser for Canada’s Olympic team.
Since 2004, the event has raised $12 million from net proceeds.
Chefs Competing at the 2018 Canadian Culinary Championships:
Alex Chen – Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar, Vancouver, representing British Columbia
Shane Chartrand – SAGE, representing Edmonton
Blake Flann – BLAKE from Canmore, representing Calgary
David Vinoya – Wild Sage Kitchen & Bar, representing Regina
James McFarland – University of Saskatchewan, representing Saskatoon
Mike Robins – Sous Sol, representing Winnipeg
Lorenzo Loseto – George Restaurant, representing Toronto
Briana Kim – Café My House, representing Ottawa
Éric Gonzalez – L’Atelier Joël Robuchon, representing Montreal
Barry Mooney – Gio, representing Nova Scotia
Nick Jewczyk – The Fifth Ticket, representing St. John’s
Limited tickets are still available to the Kelowna event at the Gold Medal Plates website.