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
Asking rent prices up 9.3% across Canada, Ontario sees only decline: report
A new report says the average asking rent for a home in Canada in April was up 9.3 per cent compared with a year ago, while a slight month-over-month increase was also recorded for the first time since January.
What is basic income, and how would it impact me?
Parliamentarians are considering a pair of bills aiming to lift people out of poverty through a basic income program, but some fear these types of systems could result in more taxes for Canadians who are already financially struggling.
'I may have some nightmares:' Man survives being bitten by 2 sharks in Bahamas
A man who was bitten by two sharks in the Bahamas said Thursday he's 'thankful that I'm here' while sharing his story of survival.
Magnitude 4.2 earthquake reported off Vancouver Island's west coast
A 4.2-magnitude earthquake was recorded west of Vancouver Island early Friday morning.
Mexico's president accuses press and volunteer searchers for missing people of 'necrophilia'
The administration of Mexico's president has accused the press and volunteer searchers who look for the bodies of missing people of 'necrophilia,' comments that drew criticism this week.
WATCH Expecting an interest rate cut in June? Don't bet on it after new jobs data
Canada's labour market rebounded in April, adding more than 90,000 jobs, a staggering number of new positions after four consecutive months of little change.
Out-of-control wildfire burning near Fort McMurray
As of 9 a.m. on Friday, the wildfire burning 28 kilometres southwest of the northeastern Alberta city was 25 hectares in size.
Prince William says wife Kate is 'doing well'
Prince William said on Friday his wife Kate was 'doing well' in a rare public comment about the Princess of Wales as she undergoes preventative chemotherapy for cancer.
'Irate male' assaulted Newfoundland officers with block of cheese, police say
Police in Newfoundland say patrol officers were assaulted Thursday by a "very irate male" wielding a block of cheese.