The Foodie-file: Gold Medal Plates
Melissa Craig of Bearfoot Bistro in Whistler was crowned top chef over seven competitors from across Canada. The lead up to the final involves iron chef type competitions in Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa-Gatineau, Montreal and Halifax. The winners from every city come together in Toronto for three days of competition and foodie events. I attended Friday evening’s Mystery Wine Pairing, where chefs prepared a dish to match the mystery bottle of wine they had received the evening before. Closson Chase Winery in Niagara supplied the Chardonnay the chefs were pairing. The chefs were given four hundred dollars to shop for ingredients to feed the over one hundred and fifty people who cast ballots choosing their favourites. Each night of the weekend is ticketed separately or packages are available that group various culinary events together, Gold Medal Plates is a fundraiser to support Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes; on Friday night, my old friend from university and Gold Medal Olympian Marni McBean spoke eloquently on behalf of the athletes.
The winner is chosen over the three days of the comptetion – Chef Craig was the real underdog having filled in at the last minute for another contender that was not able to attend the competition.
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