Canadian ‘top chef’ takes helm of Okanagan College restaurant

Former top chef contender Ruth Wigman is the new executive chef at Okanagan College’s Infusions restaurant.

Wigman’s 20-year career has taken her coast to coast and now she’s bringing experiences gained in those adventures to the restaurant Okanagan College, which is staffed by culinary arts students.

Wigman, who was a contestant on the Food Network’s Canada’s Top Chef program in 2014, most recently worked as the executive sous-chef at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport for more than three years. Before that, she worked at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge and the Fairmount Southampton in Bermuda.

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When she appeared on Top Chef, she was working at Bistro Sofia in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

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She also appeared on season 27 of the Food Network’s Beat Bobby Flay, released in Jan. 2022.

Now Wigman is gearing up for the Okanagan foodie event, Dine Around.

“I’m looking forward to sharing my passion for the culinary world with student chefs,” Wigman said, who started in her new role in January.

“Their energy and ideas are contagious. It will be my role to help them experience what it is like to work in a restaurant and show them how we can be inspired by local foods and the region in the dishes we prepare.”

Infusions is a fully-functioning restaurant located on campus at Okanagan College in Kelowna.