Atelier's Marc Lepine wins culinary championship
KELOWNA - Nine of Canada's best chefs competed for top honours during the coveted Gold Medal Plates Canadian Culinary Championships on February 10th and 11th, 2012 in Kelowna, BC.
The new Champion, Marc Lepine from Atelier, in Ottawa, won with his delicious dish of Quadra Island Scallops with potatoes, truffle, chanterelle, chorizo and lemon - paired with Hidden Bench 2009 Estate Chardonnay from the Beamsville Bench in Niagara. His reaction when he realized he won - "I could not have done it without my team, I looked around to make eye contact and thank them all. I was so happy for them and for us, this truly was a team event!"
Jean-Phillipe St-Denis, from Kitchen Gallerie Poisson, Montreal, took the bronze, and the silver was awarded to Rob Feenie of Cactus Club Restaurants, Vancouver.
The two-day event started with a Friday evening Mystery Wine Pairing at the Hotel Eldorado, where chefs prepared a dish they felt perfectly suited the mystery bottle of wine (a 2008 Old Vines Riesling from Chateau des Charmes in Niagara) they had received the evening before. They were also given $500 to shop for ingredients to provide small plate nosh for the 300-plus guests in attendance. Invited guests were able to taste the chefs' creations and cast their own ballot. Emerging as the people's choice winner for this single event was in fact the ultimate winner - Chef Marc Lepine.
The second event, a Black Box Challenge held at Okanagan College, had the nine competing chefs given one hour to prepare two dishes for each of the judges using six mystery ingredients from across Canada. From Newfoundland - jars of bakeapples (also known as cloudberries); from Mariposa Farm outside Ottawa - goose breasts; from Montreal - a firm blue cheese called Le Rassembleu; from Manitoba - a one-pound bag of Shoal Lake Oh Canada wild rice; from Saskatchewan - Lake Diefenbaker steelhead trout; and from Calgary - two pounds of parsley roots.
The Grand Finale at the Delta Grand Hotel saw the nine chefs competing in an all-out slamdown competition; dishes were partnered with their chosen winery.
This memorable two-day event will be held in Kelowna for five years with proceeds from Gold Medal Plates given to the Canadian Olympic Foundation to support high performance athletes.
TOP PHOTO: Marc Lepine wins gold at the 2012 Canadian Culinary Championships in Kelowna. Vancouver's Rob Feenie from Cactus Club Cafe received the silver medal while Montreal's JP St-Denis from Kitchen Gallerie Poisson received the bronze. (courtesy of Gold Medal Plates Inc.)
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