Written by the Tidings Staff | 02 November 2010

Article Index
Gold Medal Plates
Toronto
Calgary
Ottawa
Kelowna
All Pages

Gold Medal Plates is a celebration of Canadian Excellence in cuisine, wine, entertainment and athletic achievement. Taking place in eight cities across Canada in 2010, the event will feature superb wines and the premier chefs in each city, paired with Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes, in a competition to crown a gold, silver and bronze medal culinary team in each city, and subsequently nation-wide. Founded in 2003, the goal of Gold Medal Plates is to raise substantial funds for Canada's high performance athletes, while celebrating Canadian excellence. Since 2004, this event has generated a combined net total of $4.1 million for Canada's Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

Chef Andrew Fung of Blackhawk Golf Course proved his culinary prowess when he took home the gold award at the Gold Metal Plates event held in Edmonton. Chef Fung went head-to-head with ten of the finest culinary masters at this prestigious culinary competition. He will compete at the Canadian Culinary Championships, the Gold Medal Plates Finale, held in Kelowna on February 18th and 19th.

To secure the win, Andrew, in a unanimous decision by the judges, plated his Duo of Alberta Beef - Braised Beef Short Rib and Foie Gras Tortelloni "Gyoza" with Apple Puree and Oven Dried Tomato Confit, Veal Reduction and Backtender Beef Tataki Ginger and Scallion Relish, Fresh Shallots, Shaved Asiago and Cold Pressed Olive Oil and Ponzu Sauce. The paired wine was Road 13 Jackpot Pinot Noir 2008 from Okanagan Valley, British Columbia. "It was a challenging and exciting competition and I am very honoured that the Gold Medal Plates judges chose my dish as the best," said Fung. "My team and I worked very hard and were better prepared this year as this was our second year competing. It was still stressful but at least this year we knew what to expect. I'm thrilled our efforts resulted in the gold. Now, I am looking forward to taking this to the next step, and competing for the national title!"

Chef Michael Brown of The Westin Hotel rose to the occasion as well, taking the silver medal. Chef Brown created a Study in Crab - Chilled Alaskan King Crab Salad Crêpe, Hot Coral Bisque, Jalapeño Creamed Corn Espuma and Parmesan Gougères. The paired wine was Tinhorn Creek Gewürztraminer 2009 from the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia.

Taking the bronze medal was Shane Chartrand of L2 Grill in the Fantasyland Hotel. His dish was a roll of steak tartare and monkfish dipped in dried squid ink with pea purée and orange caramel sauce. The paired wine was Wayne Gretzky Estates Vidal Icewine 2005 VQA from Niagara Peninsula, Ontario.

The guests were not only treated to the finest in food, they also had the opportunity to mingle with celebrated Olympians and Paralympians including keynote speaker and Vancouver 2010 Olympic hero, Alexandre Bilodeau who was inspiring and captivating in his hot stove interview with Terry David Mulligan as he allowed the guests to relive his gold medal moment, and entertained by Jim Cuddy, Colin James and Anne Lindsay.

Events in Montreal and St. John's have already sold out. But, there's still room at the Toronto, Calgary, Ottawa and Kelowna shows. Find date, time and place information in the Events Directory. Here's the line-up.