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Ottawa Citizen
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Ottawa Citizen
These five Ottawa-area chefs will vie for a spot at the 2026 Canadian Culinary Championship
Article content Five chefs from Ottawa and the Outaouais will cook off against each other next month, hoping to qualify for the 2026 Canadian Culinary Championship next January. Article content Three of the chefs at the Sept. 22 event are newcomers to the annual competition, which is called the Ottawa edition of Canada's Great Kitchen Party, but in past years was known as Gold Medal Plates. These chefs include Simon Beaudry, the 31-year-old chef at Les Fougères in Chelsea, Simon Laroche, chef at the pasta-focused restaurant Caméline in Gatineau's Hull sector, and Michael Hauschild, the private chef who runs the Kanata-based catering company InHaus Cooking. Article content Article content Article content Returning competitors are Chef Jason Sawision of Stofa Restaurant on Wellington Street West and Mitch Lacombe of Gitanes on Elgin Street. Sawision came in second at last year's qualifier, and Lacombe finished third. Article content Last year, chef Lizardo Becerra of Raphael Peruvian Cuisine on Elgin Street prevailed over Sawision, Lacombe and three other Ottawa chefs to win his spot at the national competition, which was held in Ottawa last winter. A B.C. chef won gold, following the grand finale event on Feb. 1 at the Rogers Centre in Ottawa. Article content Becerra, who recently opened a second, more casual restaurant called Barrio on Rideau Street, is hosting the Sept. 22 qualifying event at Raphael Peruvian Cuisine. All of the event's 80 spots have already been sold. Article content In 2024 and 2023, the qualifying event was held at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier, and at each, six chefs competed during an event that saw guests move from chef's station to chef's station and then eat at high tables. Article content Article content When asked about the change of format this year, Lisa Pasin, senior vice-president for Canada's Great Kitchen Party, said organizers want to stage 'something different and more intimate — and concentrate our efforts on the Canadian Culinary Championship.' Article content Over the years, Ottawa chefs have performed strongly at the Canadian Culinary Championship. Article content Chef Briana Kim, who is expected to open her new restaurant Antheia later this year, won the national event in 2023. Marc Lepine of Atelier won the 2012 and 2016 Canadian Culinary Championships. Chef Yannick La Salle, formerly of Les Fougères in Chelsea but now the chef for the Supreme Court of Canada, won the national competition in 2019. Article content
Winnipeg Free Press
06-05-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Three Winnipeg restaurants on Canada's 100 best list
Three Winnipeg restaurants have been ranked among the best in the country. The 2025 Canada's 100 Best Restaurants list was released Monday and includes local fine dining spots Deer + Almond, Yujiro Japanese Restaurant and Nola. For Nola co-owner Mike Del Buono, it's a privilege to be included on the national restaurant guide for the first time. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Chef Emily Butcher (left) and Mike Del Buono of Nola 'It's a very cool honour to be recognized. I'm just so happy for the team; it's such an amazing recognition for all the hard work they've put in,' he says. Del Buono, founder of Burnley Place Hospitality, and chef Emily Butcher opened Nola at 300 Taché Ave. in 2021. Making Canada's 100 Best list has been a goal ever since. 'It's never been our North Star, but we knew that we would be in the conversation one day. We wanted to do this for Emily more than anything, she very much deserves to be on that list,' he says. This is the latest accolade for Butcher, who has competed on Top Chef Canada and earned gold at Canada's Great Kitchen Party during her tenure at Deer + Almond. She was unavailable for comment at press time. This is Yujiro's (1822 Grant Ave.) third appearance on the Canada's 100 Best list. Owned by prolific local chef and restaurateur Edward Lam, it's also the fine dining Japanese restaurant's best showing yet; having climbed the ranks from No. 92 last year to No. 65 this year. RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS FILES Ed Lam of Yujiro Japanese Restaurant The ranked restaurant guide is compiled and voted on by food professionals and enthusiasts from across the country. This year's roster included 160 chefs, food writers, diners, critics and restaurant owners. Deer + Almond (85 Princess St.) is now a fourth-time Canada's 100 Best honouree and, landing at No. 34 this year, is also enjoying its highest rank to date. 'It's incredibly humbling and with any craft that you hone and work on; the doors just keep opening and the opportunities keep coming up,' chef and owner Mandel Hitzer says. 'Deer + Almond's success story is the sum of its parts. It's the hundreds of people that have contributed and been part of the team.' Hitzer himself is celebrating some additional props this year, having earned the organization's annual community leadership award for his unabashed Winnipeg boosterism and for his work with RAW:almond, the annual winter pop-up restaurant. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Deer+Almond is a four-time Canada's 100 Best honouree. 'It's always been about building community and giving people opportunities. This is just a really great day, I'm really stoked and really honoured,' he says. Hitzer and Del Buono are both glad to be representing their hometown on a national scale — especially at a time when customers are eager to support Canadian businesses and as more travellers are opting for domestic vacations instead of trips to the United States. 'We've always prided ourselves on our restaurant scene in Winnipeg and if this gives us an opportunity to showcase that even further, that's a good thing for everybody. Hopefully that leads to more (local) restaurants getting on the list,' Del Buono says. 'There's nothing else out there that's celebrating our culinary artistry from coast to coast,' Hitzer says. 'It's also pushing creativity and pushing people like myself to try new things and keep working on what we do.' There were no Winnipeg restaurants included in the organization's Top 10 best new restaurant list this year. The 50 best bars in the country will be announced May 12. Eva Wasney Reporter Eva Wasney has been a reporter with the Free Press Arts & Life department since 2019. Read more about Eva. Every piece of reporting Eva produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press 's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press 's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
