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Silver in hand after the event, L-R chef Jamie Stunt, Oz Kafé owner Oz Balpinar, and sous chef Simon Bell who couldn’t resist trying on the medal.
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FEB 11 13 – 9:40 AM — This is our final post from the Canadian Culinary Championship in Keowna, British Columbia, by my guest eyes and ears at the event, Allyson Bycraft (photo, right). I certainly appreciate her efforts.
And no less impressed are we at chef Jamie Stunt’s performance from Oz Kafé on Elgin Street, who as we all know captured the second-place silver prize among 10 top chefs competing from across Canada.
Breath-taking, well done all! If you want to examine all details from the perspective of the head national judge, here is James Chatto’s blog post with a comprehensive overview of the entire weekend.
Here’s is Allyson’s latest:
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By Allyson Bycraft
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Wow, what a night! Congratulations to chef Jamie Stunt and the team from Oz Kafé on placing second at the Canadian Culinary Championships!
First, what a feat of endurance for Jamie — and all the other chefs. After the harrowing black box competition, the teams barely had time to take a breath before prep for the grand finale began.
For the final event of the weekend, at least chefs were in more familiar territory preparing the dish that won them their respective city/regional championships. Just before they set off for the Delta Grand Okanagan Hotel, site of the evening’s event, I asked Jamie if he was ready.
“Oh, yeah!” he said. “This is the calmest I’ve been in weeks (after the black box competition).
“It’ll be a lot of work, but we know what we’re doing.”
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Clik here to view.And, indeed, they did. Jamie varied his plate (photo, left) a little from his Ottawa award-winning offering, preparing Tiraislin Farms yak tataki, tamari and honey-glazed Northern Divine caviar, cedar plank pioppino mushrooms, with pickled carrot, Beauty Heart radish, crispy barley and rice, sorrel, basil and shiso, spiced quince vinaigrette, and garnished with a single, perfect little purple flower. The plate was beautiful.
Indeed, it was an evening of beautiful plates and wonderful tastes all around. Earlier in the competition we saw dishes conceived and executed in just hours — or minutes — but for the finale, we got to see the absolute best the chefs had to give with time, contemplation, and experimentation on their side.
Last year’s champion, Ottawa’s chef Marc Lepine of Atelier Restaurant, cooked up some beaver tails with goose confit, foie gras, B.C. elderberry, Quebec Alexina cheese and pickled wild leeks for the evening’s V.I.P. reception, but otherwise was free to take in all the events this weekend.
“Over all three events, Jamie did awesome!” Marc said, as the crowd and chefs waited patiently through speeches and silent auction announcements for the final results.
“I think he has a really good chance,” he added.
Along with Stunt’s dish in the final event, Marc noted the offerings of eventual winner, Marc St. Jacques (Toronto), along with Mark Filatow (Kelowna) and Osten Rice (Winnipeg) as his favourites.
I took an informal poll (about 100 people) at the event, and Rice was a bit of a runaway favourite with attendees, including Olympic medal-winner and MC for the night, Adam Van Koeverden. Rice had a significant time penalty (+4 minutes) in the black box competition, however, which could have hampered his overall final score. Second-most popular in the room (by my count) was Nathin Bye’s plate (Edmonton).
Stunt was third in my poll, but everyone I talked to was enthusiastic about his dish — awesome cooking aside, I think he had ‘em at “yak tataki” (say that three times fast!) and won some points there. He paired his dish with Ashton Brewery’s custom-designed La Belle Terre, and was the only one to choose beer, as opposed to wine, as a pairing. Bold move.
It all paid off in the end. Of Jamie, head national judge James Chatto said, “we really like this guy’s attitude.”
Explained Lepine: “He’s so humble and quiet.”
When the final results came down, what a pleasure to see Jamie and the Oz team do so well! They definitely did not expect it (sous-chef Simon Bell told me earlier that the goal was to just come out of the weekend doing their best and being well-regarded). Such an exciting result for these young chefs!
Someone I’ve failed to mention until now is the Oz, of Oz Kafé, restaurant owner Oz Balpinar, who accompanied her team here. What a lovely person! Though in the background all weekend, Oz has spent her time here well. Whether it was running around in search of last-minute ingredients, or stuck to a wall at the wine-pairing evening, too nervous to eat, it’s been quite an experience for her. After all was said and done, she said of Jamie, “he’s like family. He’s so easy to work with. Just great. I’m over the moon.” High-fives all around.
Jamie, himself, was in a bit of a daze — the weekend had taken its toll — but so pleased with the results. “I feel amazing. We really didn’t expect this,” he said.
As to the question of the three of them (Jamie, sous chef Simon Bell, and cook Mike Bednarz) spending four days together — including sharing a hotel room — Bell said later it was a piece of cake. He and Jamie have been friends for years, they went to neighbouring elementary schools, and threw snowballs at each other over the fence. “There’s a reason I’ve been Jamie’s sous for seven years,” Simon said.
All had been leading up to this moment, and what a moment it was. Half-way through the evening, Jamie put his medal around Simon’s neck, a testament to the importance of teamwork in the process.
The team took an extra day in Kelowna, just to relax, hit some wineries, and maybe have someone cook for them for a change, before heading back to Ottawa.
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Twitter @roneade
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
