Canadian Culinary Championship 2025: Celebrating Canadian Culinary Excellence!
- KoW Connected
- Dec 3, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 31
Ten Chefs From Across Canada Compete In Ottawa
January 31 and February 1, 2025
NEWS RELEASE
December 3, 2024
Ottawa, Ontario - Canada’s Great Kitchen Party is proud to announce the details and the participating Chefs for the 2025 Canadian Culinary Championship (CCC), which will be held in Ottawa on January 31 and February 1st.
Regional competitions were held nationwide in cities stretching from the Pacific to the Atlantic with each gold medal-winning chef qualifying for the Canadian Culinary Championship, which consists of three events: Mystery Wine Competition, Black Box Competition and the Grand Finale Competition. Reigning Canadian Culinary Champion Jasper Cruickshank from Wild Blue Restaurant + Bar, Whistler, BC will also be featured during the Grand Finale, presenting a dish for the VIP guests.
The ten regional Chefs who have qualified for the 2025 Canadian Culinary Championship are:
Region | Chef | Restaurant | Wine Pairing - Regional Event |
Vancouver | Alex Kim | Five Sails Restaurant | Tinhorn Creek 2019 Blanc De Blanc Sparkling, Golden Mile Bench, BC |
Calgary | Matthias Fong | Primary Colours | Upper Bench 2022 Riesling, Naramata Bench, BC |
Edmonton | Doreen Prei | Riverview at Glenora Park | JoieFarm 2023 A Noble Blend Okanagan Valley, BC |
Saskatoon | Taszia Thakur | Calories Restaurant & Pique Cafe | Bench 1775 2021 Marechal Foch, Naramata Bench, BC |
Winnipeg | Austin Granados | Cake-ology | Peninsula Ridge Beal 2013, Cabernet Franc Ice Wine, Niagara, ON |
Toronto | Ryan Lister | The Dorset | Picone 2020 Reisling, Niagara Peninsula, ON |
Ottawa | Lizardo Becerra | Raphaël Peruvian Cuisine | Charles Baker 2022 B-Side, Riesling, Niagara on the Lake, ON |
Montreal | François-Emmanuel Nicol | Tanière 3 | A cocktail built around Acerum from Mitis Distillery Mont-Joli, QC |
Moncton | Jordan Holden | Tony's Bistro | Noaska Baker red wine, Clair, NB |
St. John's | Nicholas Walters | The Merchant Tavern | Lightfoot & Wolfville Brut Rose, Annapolis Valley, NS |
The CCC’s two-day competition will start with the Mystery Wine Pairing on Friday, January 31, 2025 where chefs will be tasked with creating a dish using local ingredients that best complement the mysterious vintage. They have a limited time window and are given a minimal set budget. As a guest, you have the pleasure of sampling these creations. The event is a stand-up cocktail reception featuring a selection of wines, local craft beer, cocktails and artisanal food products.
The second competition is the Black Box held at the La Cité collégiale Culinary School Saturday, February 1, 2025 (a.m). Chefs are given a black box containing a small array of diverse foods, and must produce and plate two spectacular dishes for the national judges. Guests won’t get much closer to watching an Iron Chef-type competition than this! There will be a fantastic mini-market featuring local products for patrons to enjoy that will include Egg Farmers of Canada and La Cité culinary students.
The Grand Finale on Saturday February 1, 2025 (p.m.) will be held at the Rogers Centre Ottawa and is sure to be the hottest ticket in town. Already over 60% sold out! 550 guests will be on hand not only to sample the best dishes these chefs can offer, but also mingle with celebrity guests and revel in the incredible talent of Johnny Reid (multi-platinum, Juno Award winning artist, producer and playwright) along with keyboardist Michael Shand. The evening will be capped with the crowning of the 2025 Canadian Culinary Champion!
A portion of proceeds from The Canadian Culinary Championship in Ottawa will support national and local charities MusiCounts, Spirit North, Ottawa Network for Education (ONFE) and BGC Ottawa (formerly Boys and Girls Club).
“We are excited to host the Canadian Culinary Championship in the nation’s capital”, said Karen Blair, COO of Canada’s Great Kitchen Party. With four Canadian Culinary Championship titles coming from the Ottawa-Gatineau Region (Marc Lépine twice, Yannick LaSalle and Briana Kim) the city’s culinary scene is very strong! We look forward to bringing the best chefs from across Canada to experience this scene as we celebrate the best of Canadian excellence in the culinary arts, sport and music. And we are very proud that so far, over 18.5 million dollars has been raised by Canada’s Great Kitchen Party as we work to ensure Canadian youth have equitable access to sport opportunities, music education and food security."
For more information on the Canadian Culinary Championship, please contact:
Karen Blair COO and National Media Director Canada’s Great Kitchen Party - National 647-267-6530 |
-more-
ABOUT CANADIAN CULINARY CHAMPIONSHIP (CCC) | The Canadian Culinary Championship is an annual national event in Ottawa. The winning chefs from ten different regional qualifiers (called Canada's Great Kitchen Party) are flown in to compete in three challenging and entertaining competitions: Mystery Wine, Black Box, and the Finale. To be invited to compete locally is a notch in the belt. To win regional gold and be on the podium is a significant achievement. To be eligible to compete against each regional gold winner at the national competition the following year is a thrill. To be crowned the top chef in Canada at the Canadian Culinary Championship is a career changer!
ABOUT CANADA’S GREAT KITCHEN PARTY | Canada’s Great Kitchen Party is a social enterprise dedicated to "Building a More Inclusive Canada'' by elevating and celebrating Canadian cultural excellence. Staged in ten cities across the country, each event is a regional culinary competition that qualifies the winning chefs to move on to compete at the Canadian Culinary Championship on January 31 and February 1, 2025 in Ottawa. Chefs, musicians, business leaders, and philanthropists all come together for a spectacular experience and to ensure Canadian youth have equitable music education, sports, and food security opportunities. We proudly contribute to the following beneficiaries: MusiCounts, Spirit North and a local food charity. As the most extensive exposition of Canadian wines, over 200 wineries, local breweries and spirit companies are profiled at our events. For more information, visit greatkitchenparty.com.
Thank you to the following sponsors:
PRESENTING PARTNER - MNP
NATIONAL PARTNERS - Ottawa Tourism, The Globe and Mail, Encore, The Targeted Strategies Group, Great Taste of Canada
PODIUM PARTNERS - Egg Farmers of Canada
REGIONAL PARTNER - La Cité collégiale