Ottawa chef wins Canadian Culinary Championship
An Ottawa chef has won Canada's top culinary prize.
Briana Kim, of Ottawa's Alice Restaurant, won the 2023 Canadian Culinary Championship, held this weekend in Ottawa. She was the winner of the Great Kitchen Party Ottawa last September, which qualified her for the national competition.
Kim was the unanimous first-place choice among judges this weekend at the championship. Her winning dish was a plant-based offering of onion tuile, smoked potatoes, rhubarb jerky, maitake mushrooms, pickled onion, dill, lacto-fermented green tomato and koji broth, the same dish that won her the regional title.
Chef Briana Kim's gold medal-winning dish: onion tuile, smoked potatoes, rhubarb jerky, maitake, pickled onion, dill sour cream, facto green tomato and koji broth. (Great Kitchen Party Ottawa)
"I feel overwhelmed and so excited," Kim said in a media release. "My team and I dreamt about winning the Canadian Culinary Championship. We couldn’t have prepared more for this competition, ever since we were selected for the regional event. We worked hard and our hard work paid off."
Kim attended the University of Ottawa before starting Café My House, a plant-based restaurant in Hintonburg. She closed it and opened the vegetable and fermentation-focused Alice in 2019, which was one of Canada's top 100 restaurants in 2022. This was Kim's second time appearing in the Canadian Culinary Championship.
The silver medal was awarded to Bobby Milheron of Homer St. Café and Bar in Vancouver for his dish of wild Canadian geoduck, BC spot prawn terrine, sunchoke and bull kelp in shellfish jus. The bronze was awarded to Serge Belair of the Edmonton Convention Center for his selection of desserts: warm chocolate cake, white wine sabayon, sous vide pear, gorgonzola roasted pear ice cream and citrus pear macaron.
The competition was interrupted Saturday when, during the second event, a power outage at the venue, Algonquin College, prevented the chefs from preparing their dishes. That meant that the judging was based on Friday's "Mystery Wine Competition", during which Kim won the People's Choice award, and the Grand Finale, which was held Saturday evening at the Shaw Centre to a sold-out crowd of 550 attendees.
Proceeds from the event go to support three Canadian beneficiaries: Spirit North, MusiCounts and the Ottawa Boys and Girls Club.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Person on fire outside Trump's hush money trial rushed away on a stretcher
A person who was on fire in a park outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump’s hush money trial is taking place has been rushed away on a stretcher.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
Senators reject field trip to African Lion Safari amid elephant bill study
The Senate legal affairs committee has rejected a motion calling for members to take a $50,000 field trip to the African Lion Safari in southern Ontario to see the zoo's elephant exhibit.
CFIA monitoring for avian flu in Canadian dairy cattle after U.S. discoveries
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is encouraging veterinarians to keep an eye out for signs of avian influenza in dairy cattle following recent discoveries of cases of the disease in U.S. cow herds.
She set out to find a husband in a year. Then she matched with a guy on a dating app on the other side of the world
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
DEVELOPING G7 warns of new sanctions against Iran as world reacts to apparent Israeli drone attack
Group of Seven foreign ministers warned of new sanctions against Iran on Friday for its drone and missile attack on Israel, and urged both sides to avoid an escalation of the conflict.
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
After hearing thousands of last words, this hospital chaplain has advice for the living
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
Vancouver firefighter in rehab at home after losing leg to flesh-eating infection overseas
A family trip took a frightening turn for Christopher Won when he was diagnosed with flesh-eating disease while in Hong Kong and now, after weeks of treatment overseas, the Vancouver firefighter is back home recovering.