- 5 weeks ago
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00:00This program is rated PG and contains mature subject matter. Viewer discretion is advised.
00:14The search for Canada's top chef starts now.
00:18Let's go!
00:19The top culinary talent from coast to coast is here to show what Canada is made of.
00:25I came here to push myself.
00:27I want to be the best of the best.
00:28I'm not the best chef in the world, but I'm the best chef in this room right now.
00:32That's beautiful.
00:33Ten chefs, ten origin stories.
00:36I grew up hunting and foraging.
00:38I started in kitchens in Hong Kong.
00:40My dad owned a pub. I was pretty much born into the industry.
00:43Let's go!
00:44They'll show us who they are and what they've got.
00:48This tastes like fear and anxiety all at the same time, but delicious.
00:52It's a nice!
00:54This season is all about cooking with pride.
00:56I love being able to stand up here as a queer Asian female chef.
01:01This is definitely a pinch me moment.
01:03Creating dishes that honor our cultural identities.
01:08It's really beautiful.
01:10Seasoned with love.
01:12All while striking the perfect balance.
01:15Stunning.
01:16But this competition is no joke.
01:19Careful, careful.
01:19Oh, one of the hardest things I've ever done.
01:24Two minutes!
01:25Because of the pressure.
01:26The stress.
01:27Very stressful.
01:28Sorry, just need a minute.
01:30It's tough.
01:31Behind, behind, behind.
01:31Really intense.
01:32Come on!
01:33You question yourself along the way, like, is this worth it?
01:39Okay.
01:41Wait a minute.
01:44The table is set.
01:46This is unbelievable.
01:47And the judges with a roster of superstar guests are ready.
01:51The flavors are wild.
01:53This is what I would dream for a fried chicken dish.
01:56So good.
01:57So good.
01:57The best Restaurant Wars menu we've ever had.
02:01Wow.
02:02I'm gonna cry.
02:03Again?
02:04Yeah.
02:05One chef will rise to the top to win it all.
02:08And take home a life-changing prize.
02:11Jack bug.
02:13$10,000.
02:15Courtesy of Ninja.
02:17DoorDash delivery for a year.
02:19$10,000 from Premier Protein.
02:21The redesigned Volkswagen Tiguan.
02:25$100,000.
02:26Courtesy of McCain French Fries.
02:29And the title of Canada's Top Chef.
02:48After all these years of watching it, dreaming about it, the reality kicks in.
02:52I'm actually on Top Chef Canada.
02:56Arriving at St. Lawrence Market.
02:58Iconic.
02:59This is the place to shop.
03:00In Toronto.
03:01Let's do this.
03:02It's super surreal being here.
03:04My heart is racing.
03:06Holy s***.
03:08I'm here to take first place and win Top Chef Canada.
03:12The restaurant that I work in Quebec, La Taniere.
03:15And we just awarded two Michelin stars.
03:17On a deux Ă©toiles.
03:18No!
03:18No!
03:21Really big surprise.
03:22We expect one, but two was like the dream.
03:26To reach the Michelin star, to reach the perfection, you need to be perfect.
03:30Hi, Anthony.
03:31Hello.
03:31Nice to meet you.
03:32Congratulations on your two Michelin stars.
03:34We have big expectations.
03:36I'm ready.
03:42I'm the sous chef at Burdock & Co. in Vancouver.
03:45Burdock & Co. is a modern Pacific Northwest restaurant with one Michelin star.
03:50I grew up in Hong Kong, so I've been inspired by flavors that I grew up on.
03:55I want to find my own voice and cook the food that I love and push traditional Chinese cuisine out of the box.
04:02Hi.
04:03Welcome.
04:04I'm here to show that I can be a badass chef.
04:11I'm the culinary director for Our House Hospitality.
04:14My business partner is Matty Matheson.
04:16You might know him from Vice or The Bear.
04:18He's a dreamer, and it's my job to make those dreams a reality and have the skills to make it work.
04:24Colton, what you and Matty Matheson have accomplished, really quite incredible.
04:29Yeah, five openings in five years, so treating this like another opening and go as hard as we can.
04:35Yeah.
04:36I want to make Matty proud.
04:37He's my biggest critic, and he's always pushed me in the right direction to be a better chef.
04:44What kind of chef am I?
04:46I'm a salty girl from PEI.
04:48I do a myriad of things, Jill of all trade vibes, restaurants, fine dining, casual, family style, catering.
04:55And I just launched my new brand, Nice Cans, McCann Seafood brand.
04:59Yeah, this bitch has done everything.
05:01My style of cooking, I would call it maritime chic, okay?
05:04Take that however you want.
05:05It's like those earthy, down-home flavors, lobster, everything.
05:09So I keep my juicy figure, eating lobster.
05:12Yes!
05:12Yes!
05:13Colton Armstrong is here, everybody.
05:16Very, very successful.
05:17How did you get time off work?
05:18You know, I just didn't tell anybody, I just laughed.
05:22I'm the chef and culinary director at Five Sales and Global Restaurant in Vancouver.
05:31My passion is for fine dining cuisine, elevated French technique, refined with avant-garde style presentation.
05:39Hi Alex, hello chef.
05:40I take my food very seriously.
05:44Recently, I competed in the Canadian Culinary Championship.
05:47I won the gold medal.
05:49I competed with Shanti, the previous winner of Top Chef Canada, and I beat him.
05:55Hi.
05:56Hello.
05:57Hi, chef.
05:58Hi.
05:59How you feeling?
06:00Starstruck, so.
06:01What?
06:02They're right here.
06:03It's really crazy to see Mark and Eden and the other competitors.
06:16It's fierce competition, but I've been training for this pretty much my whole life without knowing
06:21it.
06:22I love to compete in cooking competitions.
06:25I have competed in the Hawksworth Competition, Garland Competition, and Boku's Door Competition
06:31for national selection.
06:33That was one of the biggest ones I have done, besides this.
06:41To win the title of Top Chef Canada would be pretty dope.
06:45I am more of a don't-like-the-rules-small-restaurant kind of chef.
06:50It aligns with my personality, which is chill vibes, good food.
06:53I'm known for having the restaurant where no one can get the same dish twice.
06:58I've been cooking for a long time, honing in on flavors and learning from some really great chefs.
07:03Welcome.
07:04Hey.
07:05I work for a guy named Chris Pine.
07:08Dudes are just running circles around everyone.
07:11My name is Christopher Pine.
07:13I worked at Michelin star restaurants in the UK, but now my wife and I live in the East Coast
07:17in Nova Scotia, where we raise our twin boys.
07:20I'm the executive chef of Lightfoot and Wolfill Vineyards in Wolfill, Nova Scotia.
07:24It's a fully biodynamic farm, and I oversee the whole operation.
07:29For me, I like gourmet comfort, but elevated in a way that excites you.
07:34I want to show my boys that I'm Canada's top chef.
07:37Hi, chef. Welcome.
07:39Thanks, chef.
07:40Chef?
07:41Everybody.
07:42How you doing?
07:43What?
07:44What?
07:45If I wasn't scared before, I am now.
07:46No messaging me for recipes now, right?
07:49Yeah.
07:51Chefs, welcome to Top Chef Canada.
07:57Season 12, baby.
08:00You've come from across the country to be here, to tell your stories, and most importantly,
08:06cook exceptional food.
08:08Okay, let's take this in.
08:11We're at the St. Lawrence Market.
08:12Look around.
08:13For over 200 years, this market is where chefs have launched culinary journeys, and you're
08:20about to do the same.
08:27For your first elimination challenge, you must create a dish that tells us all about your
08:32culinary origin story.
08:34Your dishes have to tell us how, why, and when you knew you had to be a chef.
08:40You'll need to talk this one out, because you'll be serving your dishes as part of a ten-chef collaborative dinner.
08:47Ooh!
08:48That's awesome!
08:49Back in the day, I'd have Jamie Kennedy, Susan Lee.
08:54We would all come together, and we would each bring what we thought was our best dish.
08:59We worked together, but we were also competing, because as chefs, that's what we always do.
09:04You'll be serving your collaborative dinner at Lenny's, one of the city's hottest restaurants.
09:10Just like any meal, when dishes hit the table, they need to make sense.
09:15There's ten of you, ten dishes.
09:17Make those dishes harmonize.
09:19I already got the dish, so we're good.
09:21Just fight over it now.
09:23The chef with the best dish will earn a very special immunity right out of the gate.
09:32And it has a game-changing power that I promise every one of you will want, badly.
09:38And of course, the chef with the worst dish will be going home.
09:43There's only one way to be safe in this competition, and that is to be the best chef.
09:49Easy peasy.
09:51All right, chefs, you have some planning to do.
09:53Get to it, and we'll see you tomorrow at Lenny's.
09:57For our collaboration dinner, to do it with ten people, ten chefs that you've never met before,
10:05not to mention ten chefs who are all competing for a $100,000 prize, it's quite the ask.
10:11I think we have to go around and everybody say their dish, because it's your origin story,
10:15and then build the menu from there.
10:17So, I'm Korean-Canadian.
10:19My grandmother heavily influenced me in my cooking, so I'm going to do a little bit of lobster,
10:25lightly glazed with gochujang.
10:27I'm from Quebec City, so I always love to work with foie gras, so I want to do the duck, foie gras duck.
10:34My origin story was working at my dad's pub, and my first main that I had to cook all the time,
10:38that I absolutely hated, was liver and onions.
10:41So, I was thinking about doing, like, a super bougie version with, like, foie gras seared on tenderloin,
10:45sherry, pickled.
10:46Do you want to work some food up?
10:48Honestly, I can switch up.
10:51I do live in Nova Scotia now, so I could do, like, a bougie clam chowder,
10:55or, like, a secondary starter, you know?
10:57Yeah.
10:58Um, uh, yeah.
10:59Okay.
11:00We need some appetizers.
11:01We only really have, like, one appetizer right now.
11:04Sorry, who wants to do appetizer?
11:05Me.
11:06I'm an appetizer.
11:07I'm an appetizer.
11:08And then two dessert.
11:09Is that enough?
11:10We're good.
11:11I'm trying to get my point across, but it looks like we have a lot of strong personalities this season.
11:17To tell your story.
11:18Yeah.
11:19But, hey, so we have our orders.
11:20I'm gonna have to kind of, you know, put on my big girl pants and use my chef voice.
11:31Let's go, let's go.
11:32Oh, great.
11:33Okay.
11:34Sorry, excuse me.
11:35Oh, that's a great fruit.
11:36And these are two pounds.
11:37I need fresh haddock, oysters.
11:38Can I get a discount because I'm cute?
11:39They have the good asparagus here.
11:41So we're doing a collaboration dinner with ten chefs.
11:44We all are very diverse and have our own cooking styles, but our menu needs to come together in harmony.
11:49I'll just do two packs of that.
11:51There you go.
11:52I need some kind of berry.
11:53For our collaboration dinner, I'm doing the dessert course.
11:56So my idea is to put sweet pierogies on a dessert plate.
12:00It could be really cool and progressive and interesting.
12:04On my mom's side, we have Polish and Ukrainian lineage.
12:08And I'm Okanagan silks on my dad's side.
12:11I'm kind of an Alberta prairie girl special.
12:14My mouth is full of cheese.
12:16And I love it.
12:17My style of cooking is contemporary indigenous cuisine using modern techniques and also celebrating ingredients from around the world.
12:25I'm definitely here to win.
12:27I'm queen of the kitchen.
12:29Let's run.
12:30That will be all.
12:32Yeah, perfect.
12:33Take my money, man.
12:34You can just throw it on the counter.
12:36I actually connected.
12:37That was nice.
12:38I think I forgot potatoes.
12:40And by I think I know.
12:43I was going to make my own salted haddock fish cake.
12:46But typically the potato is used to make fish cakes.
12:49I forgot to buy potatoes.
12:50Like as an East Coast girl, that seems like completely insane.
12:53That's a big deal.
12:54Did anybody else buy potatoes today?
12:56They're willing to donate to me.
12:58Yellow flesh preferably.
13:00Oh, look at this tiguan.
13:01Wow.
13:02Let's go for a rip, eh?
13:03Oh my gosh, we're going so fast.
13:04You drive like my grandma.
13:05So you just got a Michelin star?
13:06Does that have one?
13:07Two.
13:08You got two.
13:09Oh, shoot, man.
13:10Oh my gosh, I don't do Michelin star.
13:11That's amazing.
13:12Seeing the caliber of the other chefs, the level is super high.
13:15If it's not me today who's winning immunity, it's going to be Anthony or my guess, Zach.
13:20There is no Zach.
13:21What's his name?
13:22Eric?
13:23Who's Zach?
13:24Alex.
13:25Who's Zach?
13:26Alex.
13:27Who's Zach?
13:28Alex.
13:29Who's Zach?
13:30Who's Zach?
13:31Who's Zach?
13:32Who's Zach?
13:33Who's Zach?
13:34Who's Zach?
13:35Who's Zach?
13:36Who's Zach?
13:37Who's Zach?
13:38Who's Zach?
13:39Who's Zach?
13:40Who's Zach?
13:41Who's Zach?
13:42Zach is winning.
13:50Oh, let's go, let's go, let's go.
13:51Whoo!
13:52Let's go.
13:53This is so dope.
13:55Whoo-hoo-hoo!
13:56It looks amazing.
13:57First time in the kitchen, you walk in there, it's a gorgeous space.
14:01It's go time.
14:02Good luck, everybody.
14:03Good luck.
14:04Crush it.
14:05Lots on the line.
14:06Lots and lots of line.
14:07That's like three lotses.
14:08Three lotses on the line right here.
14:13It's gonna splash.
14:14For this elimination challenge, we have to create a collaboration dinner describing our origin story.
14:20Today I'm making a dish for the starter course.
14:23It has to be fresh, light, bold, and thoughtful flavors.
14:26Yes.
14:27We need to start strong.
14:28So, lots of pressure.
14:30I'm making Canadian lobster and blue crab custard, and lobster tail glazed with my own gochujang butter.
14:37Whoever wins the challenge will have the special immunity.
14:40So, that's what I'm going for.
14:42I was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, and I moved to Canada when I was 15.
14:46I spent my summer breaks with my grandparents in South Korea, doing a lot of traditional Korean cooking, like fermenting, pickling, charcoal grilling.
14:55That's how I fell in love with cooking.
14:57Today, I just have to get the right seasoning level for my custard base.
15:02I'm grinding the roasted lobster shells in my stock.
15:05I'm gonna strain this, and I'm gonna combine with my eggs.
15:08It's gonna add deeper flavor.
15:10I wanna make this dish really nice.
15:12Tastes like lobster, miso.
15:14Wanna try?
15:18I forgot how much I hate dessert.
15:20For the last course, I'll be doing dessert.
15:22I'm gonna start by getting a pound cake in the oven.
15:25My origin story is growing up playing in the forest with my family.
15:29My dessert is a pine flower pound cake.
15:33You take the inner bark of the pine tree to make flower.
15:36It's the craziest, most beautiful floristy flavor.
15:40I am putting some regular flower into it as well, because pine flower is very dense and very dry.
15:46I also have strawberries that have been stewed in a Labrador tea hujicha.
15:51There we go.
15:52I've torched the Labrador tea and then used that as a base for the strawberries.
15:57So it's smoky and beautiful.
16:00Oh my God, if I can just tell you how that smells.
16:02Growing up in Fort McMurray, my dad was a forester.
16:05So he would always take me fishing and hunting and eating the wild foods.
16:11He didn't call it foraging.
16:12It was just getting food.
16:13I love making people hungry for trees.
16:16Everything needs to be perfect.
16:19This is top chef.
16:21Green asparagus perfectly in season.
16:26Oh yeah.
16:27I'm responsible for one of the mid-course dishes.
16:30Peeling asparagus.
16:31It's about an hour of my prep will just be doing this.
16:33A mid-course needs to be something that's carrying the menu through.
16:36Do not feel too rich or filling.
16:38It should be short, sweet, presented really well and very beautiful.
16:43Today I'm making a green asparagus dish with snow crab and vernaise.
16:47You know, my origin is coming from a farm, eating asparagus.
16:51That was wild.
16:52And my mom making a hollandaise.
16:53So my dish is a love letter to my mom.
16:5545 minutes, chefs!
16:56We chef!
16:57Oh, don't worry.
16:58I'm just still here.
16:59Peeling.
17:00Yeah!
17:01Got that brandy going.
17:02Nick, what are you making?
17:03I'm making a Thai Caribbean tuna melon salad.
17:04For the starter course, I kind of want something cold and small and bright to start off.
17:21This is a horrible looking piece of melon.
17:23I'm Trinidadian.
17:24My first restaurant that I worked at was my uncle's Caribbean restaurant.
17:28So I'm using a lot of those flavors that I grew up with.
17:31I'm poaching some melon in lemongrass and elderflower syrup.
17:35Trini flavors and Caribbean flavors are very similar to Thai flavors.
17:39So I'm doing, like, a fusion, if you will.
17:41I hate that word, but...
17:42I am making, like, Caribbean riff on a Nuwak Cham.
17:47A Nuwak Cham is, like, a dipping sauce.
17:49It has fish sauce, sugar, lime, and chili in it.
17:52Oh, hell yeah, dude.
17:53I need to balance all my flavors.
17:56I need to make sure I hit this sweet spot with my sauce.
17:58I need more sugar.
18:00Five minutes!
18:02Oh, yes, yeah!
18:03Five minutes!
18:04Oh, my God.
18:05Everyone else is cooking so much.
18:07It's kind of stressing me out.
18:08I'm just making a salad.
18:10Yeah, I'm very worried.
18:11Nick always has that look on his face, though, like, something's wrong.
18:14I've worked with Nick in the kitchen before, and I know that guy knows his flavors, and if he gets his food on the plate tomorrow, he's going to have a strong dish.
18:27The Top Chef Canada small appliances are brought to you in part by Ninja.
18:34Let's go.
18:35Okay, guys, good luck.
18:36Good luck.
18:37For today's elimination challenge, we have to create a collaboration dinner that shows our origin story.
18:49We're looking good today, right, boys?
18:50Yes.
18:51Yes.
18:52The challenge is that we need to make a cohesive menu.
18:55We shared our plans together, but now everybody really has to execute it properly.
19:00The menu has to flow.
19:02That's really important.
19:03So nice.
19:05Going to St. Lawrence Market brought back memories of going with my grandmother, and we always like making doubles, so this is my interpretation of doubles.
19:14Doubles are Trinidadian street food, similar to, like, a taco.
19:19It's usually made with stewed chickpeas.
19:21I am reimagining it by adding lamb to it.
19:24This, I hate this oven.
19:26Being on the shorter side, it does affect me in the kitchen.
19:30I had a chef that used to call me the ant, because ants can carry ten times their body weight.
19:35Lord have mercy.
19:38Okay.
19:45Four minutes, guys.
19:46I just want to give it a nice charred flavor here.
19:49It's my tamarind sauce.
19:51Can't beat a double without tamarind sauce.
19:53Okay, let's look at the menus.
19:54Oh, my goodness.
19:55Oh, wow.
19:56Lamb doubles.
19:57Yummy.
19:58I'm really excited about those doubles.
19:59Chef, we're plating.
20:00Oh, God.
20:01That's really bad.
20:02This is the first dish going out to the judges in the competition, so plating is pretty important.
20:07I am absolutely rattled right now, but I'm hoping that the flavors are there.
20:14Good job, guys.
20:18Oh, you're leaving me hanging.
20:19Sorry.
20:20Thanks.
20:21You're so small.
20:22I didn't see you down there.
20:23Aw, so funny.
20:25You're starting off strong.
20:26Mm-hmm.
20:27Hello, judges.
20:28Hello, judges.
20:29Chef.
20:30Before we get started, I'd love to introduce you to the judges at our table today.
20:33Chef Mark McKeown.
20:34Hi, Chef.
20:35Janet Zuccarini.
20:36David Zilber.
20:37Hey, Chef.
20:38Me, June Pak.
20:39And hosting us here at Lenny's is Chef David Schwartz.
20:43Nick, tell us about your origin story.
20:46So, I grew up eating a lot of Trinidadian food.
20:49As I grew as a chef.
20:50As I grew as a chef, I realized that Thai and Caribbean are, like, pretty identical.
20:54Like, I have a Trinidadian-style Cuno Ceviche with variations of melon and dark rum.
21:01Newak jam.
21:02Cheyenne.
21:03So, for me, the first thing I thought of was doubles.
21:06So, today I made for you curry lamb doubles with a tamarind jus.
21:11And then I also did a cucumber mint chutney on the top.
21:15Alex.
21:16My fondest childhood memories is spending my summer breaks with my grandmother in South Korea.
21:21I have a Canadian lobster and blue crab egg custard flavored with miso.
21:25Lobster tail glazed with gochujang butter.
21:28And a crispy henna booze mushroom.
21:30Thank you, Chef.
21:33What do you think of Nick's Ceviche?
21:35I feel like with Nick's tuna dish, it comes off a little bit simple and basic.
21:39It's not finessed and the slices of melon are very inconsistent with, like, thicker pieces, thinner pieces.
21:44And I find it very rough.
21:46I do like the vision.
21:48You get these bright hints of lime leaf, the umami from the fish sauce.
21:51But I find it far too sweet.
21:53So sweet.
21:54I hear what you're saying, but I thought it was texturally fun.
21:57And I thought it was poppy and bright.
21:59It just needed a little rebalancing.
22:01My preference when I eat really nice raw fish is that you really taste that at the forefront.
22:07And it was just a bit muddled.
22:09All right.
22:12Cheyenne's doubles, they take me to, you know, my childhood growing up getting doubles after junior high.
22:17Yummy.
22:18It's really tasty.
22:19I found the braised lamb to be tasty, a little bit dry.
22:22But you do get some relief from the tamarind sauce.
22:25I thought the relish was a nice compliment.
22:27The flavors were good.
22:28I think that Alex is setting the bar really high.
22:34Such a delicious dish.
22:35There are bold flavors, but it's also so well balanced.
22:39This to me, I feel is a near perfect dish.
22:41The custard has a beautiful texture, but the flavors are just spot on perfect.
22:46I could eat a lot more of that.
22:47Very nice dish.
22:48There's a little bit of heat, a little bit of sweetness.
22:50The savoriness is just right.
22:52Every component deserves to be there.
22:54I think he nailed that.
22:55Looking at the rest of the menu to come, you know, the mid-course green asparagus,
23:00we have halibut mousseline on the way, some chowder.
23:03That they all started first with bright flavors.
23:06I think that was smart on the group's decision-making.
23:08To bring ten chefs together and have ten different dishes out of the gate is very, very hard.
23:13I think there were fun flavors.
23:14Yeah.
23:15Guys, the pot in the back with the lid on is mine, okay?
23:18Wait.
23:19Chris, Coulson, and I are all doing the mid-course, and my dish is halibut mousseline.
23:24I'm gonna pan fry it.
23:25I am always inspired by my Chinese background.
23:29So I'm making a classic Cantonese dish.
23:33It's like a pan-fried sea bream, and then you throw in, like, tomatoes and onions.
23:38So I wanted to elevate that with a French technique and make a halibut mousseline,
23:42which is essentially like a halibut sausage.
23:45On the line is everything.
23:47I think everybody's pushing really hard.
23:49I want to impress Mijun, because I know her from Vancouver.
23:53Mijun can be vicious, you know?
23:55She gives it to you straight.
23:57Ooh, where do I start?
23:59I was just so off-putting.
24:00The kimchi is absolutely offensive.
24:02What is this?
24:03What is that?
24:04I have no idea what's going on.
24:05I feel like I'm, like, licking the ground of a forest.
24:07I'm feeling okay so far.
24:09Happy, I think.
24:10Not gonna use the crab on my dish today.
24:13It's just not up to par with...
24:14Oh, man.
24:15A little bit funky, so we're just gonna...
24:17The asparagus is beautiful, man.
24:19That's it.
24:20It'll shine.
24:21I was gonna make a green asparagus dish with snow crab,
24:23but I'm making the decision to not serve something that is not up to my standards.
24:28So my dish is green asparagus, Bernays, and a wild leaf chive relish.
24:33Steaks are high.
24:34There's immunity on the line.
24:35I want to win.
24:36We'll see if the judges think it's an exceptional dish with just such simplicity.
24:41My origin story is 14-year-old Chris working at his dad's pub,
24:46making clam chowder every single Friday.
24:49I'm nervous because this time I'm not making chowder for the patrons of my dad's pub.
24:54I'm making it for some of the most esteemed pallets in the country.
25:01I gotta find a way to make it so they don't think this is your everyday chowder.
25:05I wanted to showcase scallops as my main protein,
25:08and I also don't want it to be really heavy.
25:10So I've also made a really silky potato velouté,
25:13but what's really gonna tie it together is this spiced grapefruit chutney.
25:17Just gotta get it on the plate now, chef.
25:18This is Top Chef Canada, and in previous seasons,
25:20I have seen some East Coasters have chowder be their downfall.
25:24So I really hope this plate doesn't send me home.
25:27We all like to play it a little risky, you know?
25:29Pretty cool, huh?
25:31Hello.
25:32Hi.
25:33Hello, judges.
25:34Hi, chefs.
25:35Hello, Mijun.
25:36Hi.
25:37Nice to see you.
25:38So up first is the asparagus.
25:39So my origin story is I grew up on a farm.
25:41I'm just doing asparagus.
25:42Bernays.
25:43Yesterday I was trying to buy a crab in the market.
25:44I did not like the crab so I admitted it from the dish.
25:45My origin story, I think of my mom.
25:46She makes
26:01which is a super classic Cantonese dish.
26:05She makes which is a super classic Cantonese dish.
26:10So what I've done here today is a halibut mousseline,
26:13a sauce that is made of tomatoes, garlic, and onions
26:18with some crispy leeks.
26:19My origin story comes from when I was 14 working for my dad.
26:23Every Friday, I had to make that clam chowder.
26:26Today, I made it a little bit more elevated
26:28with some beautiful brunoise mirepoix hiding underneath.
26:30And then you have a grapefruit chutney on top.
26:33But what really makes it nice and luxurious
26:34is the potato velouté.
26:36Thank you so much, chefs.
26:38Thank you, chefs.
26:41The asparagus is perfectly cooked.
26:43Bright green, just finished, tender inside,
26:45but a little bit charred on the grill.
26:47You get this unctuous coating of a perfectly made
26:50and velvety hollandaise.
26:51There's so much flavor in this dish,
26:53but the asparagus is the star on the plate.
26:56This is one of my favorite asparagus dishes I've ever had.
26:59Wow.
27:00Do you feel like Poulsen's snow crab
27:02could have elevated the dish?
27:04It's absolutely maturity to understand
27:06that something's not fresh and leave it off.
27:08Oh, for sure.
27:08I don't think that the dish suffered for its absence.
27:13My god, I am, like, freaking out about Katie's dish.
27:16This is so nostalgic for me.
27:18It's very hard to make a Chinese dish French
27:22and nail the flavors without going too far from the origin.
27:26That is exactly what that tastes like,
27:28but my mom does not make it like this.
27:31The mousseline is perfectly executed.
27:34I really respect the technique.
27:40Chris's chowder, it ate really well.
27:42Creamy, light, contrasting texture.
27:44It's a grapefruit.
27:45I like the balance.
27:46I like the flavors.
27:47Yep.
27:47Oftentimes, chowders are way too heavy.
27:49This I enjoyed.
27:51Very much enjoyed.
27:52I agree.
27:52I was really happy to see the scallop cooked perfectly.
27:55Scallops are criminally overcooked.
27:57I'm seriously coming for this restaurant.
27:59Each plate is delicious.
28:01It feels like I'm at one place.
28:03Really well done.
28:04I think we're going to have our work cut out for us this season.
28:06Let's go.
28:07Good first plate.
28:10Chef Anthony, what's up about this immunity?
28:12I want this immunity.
28:13You want the immunity?
28:14I want the teaguan.
28:15OK, so we're going to fight.
28:16I'm doing the main quest with Anthony.
28:18My dish is inspired by Atlantic Canada's heritage
28:21to where I am today.
28:22It's a fish duo.
28:24A beautiful piece of poached haddock
28:25and a salted haddock croquette.
28:28For something crispy, even though I forgot my potatoes,
28:30I was able to come up with something else.
28:31It's going to be a bagger.
28:32My dish consists of three different sauces today,
28:35creme fraiche, grabiche, and a smoked oyster mayo.
28:38So kiss of smoke gives me like a memory of just,
28:41you know, backyard with my dad.
28:44It's actually sort of a funny story.
28:45Well, it's maybe not appropriate for television.
28:47It's about my dad smoking cigarettes
28:49and shucking oysters for me.
28:52So kiss of smoke for dad.
28:54This is my duck, that green stuff.
28:56And it's perfect.
28:57I just finished your sauce right now.
28:58This guy is stressing me a little bit though,
29:00because he is a machine.
29:01Having a French chef beside me,
29:03he's pulling a dish out of here.
29:04He's making soup over there.
29:05He's making stock over there.
29:06He's got 16 sauces on.
29:07He's poaching stuff.
29:08Watch out.
29:09His technical skill level is very high.
29:10That's a touch.
29:11One more touch.
29:12Good.
29:12Meanwhile, I am keeping it tight
29:14and making it a really focused plate.
29:18That's it.
29:20Okay.
29:23Hello, chefs.
29:24Hello.
29:24Hi.
29:25Hello, chefs.
29:25So why don't you tell us about your dish?
29:27Absolutely.
29:28So instead of fish cakes, because I forgot potatoes yesterday during shopping,
29:32I pivoted.
29:33So this is a chicken hattie and haddock dish inspired by my roots in Atlanta, Canada.
29:38What is a chicken hattie?
29:39So chicken hattie is actually canned fish.
29:41So no chicken.
29:43No chicken, chef.
29:44All fish.
29:45I always loving to go foraging.
29:47So I bring already the forest in your plate.
29:50So in front of you, I just work with the duck and the foie gras.
29:53Just confit the leg of the duck.
29:56And I stuff between the skin and the meat with a stuffing mousseline made with some foie gras.
30:01For the sauce, we have three sauce.
30:03After this, we just have some chanterelle, some maitake.
30:06How many touches, chef, on the plate?
30:0852?
30:08A lot.
30:09Thank you very much.
30:11Thank you, chef.
30:12First bite, I love Charlotte's dish.
30:14And the more you eat it, the more you realize you can only take a few bites.
30:17It's very, very rich.
30:19It a little bit feel like two dishes.
30:21In one, yeah.
30:22Yeah, smashed together.
30:23I think this dish, what it required was to take the concept of this very homey
30:28East Coast dish and then strip it back a bit.
30:30Strip it back and make it more sophisticated.
30:35I had problems with the duck on Anthony's dish.
30:39Yours is really raw.
30:40Me, Jane?
30:40Yes.
30:41I'm looking right now at yours.
30:42Mine was beautiful.
30:43Yeah, I think there's a big inconsistency with Anthony's duck.
30:47But beautiful plate, saucing, very, very tasty.
30:49Lots of nice contrast on the garnishing on the plate.
30:52Every element on this dish is so flavorful.
30:56It's so rich.
30:57It's enthusiasm on a plate that needed to be dialed back just a little bit.
31:02The chefs in the mid-course, they actually felt like they might have talked amongst themselves
31:05and been like, what are you making?
31:06Here's what I'm thinking of making.
31:07How do we make this all work together?
31:09Right.
31:09Yeah, they didn't have a conversation.
31:11They just said, I'm doing fish and you're doing meat.
31:13Yeah.
31:13Let's open a restaurant.
31:17I'm going to be on the station for a little bit.
31:20I'm doing the dessert course with Tracy.
31:22I am doing a bison pierogi.
31:25Inside my pierogi, I have blueberries, cherries, I have dried bison.
31:30Bath of butter.
31:32I love having baths and I would do it in butter if it wasn't weird.
31:36And I also decide to put a dried bison and sugar together and I coat my pierogi.
31:41Almost like how you'd have a cinnamon sugar on a churro.
31:44Two minutes.
31:46Game face, game face.
31:48For my dessert, I've added in some fermented lilac cremeaux.
31:52That fermented lilac is so strong.
31:54Very nice.
31:5690 seconds.
31:58There's bison in our dessert pierogi.
32:00I saw that.
32:00Wow.
32:01I'm a little nervous because I've put bison on a dessert plate and it's a really fine line
32:07between being too savory versus dessert.
32:11Okay.
32:12Wow.
32:13Okay.
32:13Okay.
32:25Wow.
32:26Okay.
32:27Hi, chefs.
32:28Hi, judges.
32:28Hello.
32:29A final course.
32:30So why don't you tell us what you made?
32:31So I am indigenous.
32:33I'm Okanagan silks and then I am Polish and Ukrainian lineage.
32:38So I have done a bison pierogi and then you've got lovely cherries tied together with some
32:44chestnuts and an aged gouda.
32:46Okay.
32:47I did something inspired by my father.
32:49We used to make pine flower out of grinding the bark of a pine tree.
32:53So that's in your pound cake.
32:55And then on top of that, you have a fermented lilac cremeaux.
32:59I made a hujicha and then stewed the strawberries in that.
33:03Excellent.
33:03Thank you, chef.
33:05All right.
33:05Bon appetit.
33:08Holly's, the meat as a filling in a dessert is just wild to me.
33:12But the fact that she seared the pierogi and you got a little bit of crispy dough on there.
33:16You had the whip and you had the red fruit.
33:18I found it ate really well together.
33:21I find the pierogi itself to be very doughy.
33:24You barely know there's bison in it.
33:26Yeah.
33:26Yeah.
33:27But it grew on me.
33:28The dish actually works.
33:32Well, why don't we talk about this pound cake then?
33:34Yeah.
33:35I find Tracy's pound cake good.
33:38I think I was maybe more excited reading the description.
33:41It just seemed really floral and creative.
33:43And the way it just comes in the palette is a little bit more basic.
33:47Pound cake needs a little bit of help.
33:49It needs a syrup.
33:50I was missing complexity.
33:52And I find it dry.
33:53It was very heavily smoked.
33:54And I'm guessing that's from the tea.
33:56I almost found it off-putting in my first bite.
33:58You got it too.
33:58I'm 100% with you.
34:00It was something smoky.
34:01It was something powerful.
34:02There was something perfumey.
34:04And it's too much.
34:05In fact, my tongue is a little bit numb.
34:06It threw the whole dish off for me.
34:08It showed promise, but it kind of disappointed.
34:10It fell flat.
34:11It was very, very safe.
34:12How do we feel about this menu overall as a collaboration dinner?
34:18I think it was amazing.
34:19Lots of great food.
34:20Very creative.
34:21David, thank you so much for hosting us.
34:23Thank you for being here.
34:24Thank you for having me at the table.
34:26It'll make for some tough decisions for you, I think.
34:28Someone is going to win that very special immunity.
34:31And also someone is going to go home.
34:33Big day.
34:34Yeah.
34:42Chefs, you worked together to create a collaboration dinner
35:01that shared each one of your culinary origin stories.
35:04The chef with the best dish will earn a very special immunity.
35:13Yes, sweet.
35:17Chefs, there are three knife blocks in front of you.
35:21Each holds a knife with a different level of power.
35:25And the winning chef will get to choose one of those knives.
35:29The bronze knife grants immunity in the next elimination challenge.
35:35The silver knife offers immunity that can be used once
35:39in the next three elimination challenges.
35:43That's powerful.
35:44And if you pull the golden knife, you'll have the opportunity to use immunity once
35:51in the next five elimination challenges.
35:55Wow.
35:56There are some really talented chefs here.
35:59I'm talented too, but at the end of the day, it just takes one bad dish to get sent home.
36:04Community, this is huge.
36:09Collaboration dinners are not easy at all, especially out of the gate with 10 of you.
36:14That's a tough menu.
36:15Standard of food was at a very high level.
36:18Well done.
36:19Chefs, these are the best dishes we've ever had in the first challenge of a season.
36:24And the chefs with our favorite dishes are Alex,
36:32Coulson,
36:36and Chris.
36:36Oh, thank you so much.
36:44Alex, the flavors of your lobster custard were spot on.
36:47They looked to be a very, very simple dish, but there was a lot that went into it,
36:51and I thought you absolutely nailed the dish.
36:53I feel like I want to come back tomorrow and have that dish again.
36:56You're setting the standard here.
36:58That standard is very high.
37:02Chris, you served us chowder, homey comfort food.
37:07Yeah.
37:07Well, you knocked it out of the park.
37:11Chris, that was definitely not an ordinary chowder.
37:14Yours was just so perfectly balanced and elegant,
37:17which is what made the dish stand out.
37:19Thank you very much.
37:20Coulson, on the menu, you promised us snow crab.
37:24But instead, it was a simple dish of asparagus.
37:28It was the best asparagus dish I've ever tasted.
37:31It was a showstopper.
37:32Chefs, this is a very tough decision.
37:36But the chef of the best dish of the dinner is...
37:39Alex.
37:52I'm super happy.
38:12I know it's not going to be easy, but I'm one step closer to my goal, winning Top Chef Canada.
38:20Alex, as the winner of this elimination challenge,
38:23you earned an immunity that can make a huge difference to you in this competition.
38:28Please choose a knife.
38:29Go with your gun.
38:30Go with your gun.
38:40You pulled the silver knife.
38:42You have immunity that can be used once in the next three elimination challenges.
38:47Congrats.
38:48I have this special immunity.
38:50The goal is not to use it, but I'm glad it's in my back pocket just in case.
38:59Katie, Cheyenne, Anthony, and Holly.
39:04You're safe and you can join the others.
39:06Oh, that's good.
39:12Good job.
39:16Nick, Charlotte, and Tracy.
39:19Unfortunately, you had our least favorite dishes of the dinner.
39:25Nick, how did you feel about your tuna ceviche?
39:27I wasn't 100% on it, if I'm being honest.
39:30When I have a ceviche, I want it lighter and fresher and brighter, more acidic,
39:34instead of sweet forward. And I think it was a little bit lacking in finesse.
39:41Charlotte, let's talk about your chicken hattie. Were you happy with the final plate?
39:46I felt like it had a good combination of texture, flavors.
39:51You had a lot going on on the plate. The grabiche, the hollandaise, the fish.
39:55It came off a little bit clunky.
39:58Someone said it felt like two dishes kind of smashed into one, and now I feel like I can't
40:03look at it another way. Tracy, your pound cake, the fermented lilac,
40:09it tasted a little bit off-putting. It was very strong. It had all these romantic ingredients,
40:15and then it just kind of tasted like strawberries, cream, and some dry cake.
40:19The fermented lilac ramo, it wasn't exactly what I wanted. The pound cake, I had the pine flower in.
40:26It, I could have put more regular flour. I feel like I fell short in displaying the skills that
40:34I am capable of. I could have done better. Chefs, you can head back to the Top Chef Canada Ninja
40:42locker room while we make our decision. Thank you. Thank you.
40:45That was tough. Done desserts for like 20 years. I don't understand what happened.
41:05All right, we have a tough decision, but someone has to go. Where do we start? I mean, you know,
41:10this is the best of the bottom that we've ever had. There wasn't one that was unanimous across all
41:15judges that we all didn't like it. Everybody had wins and losses. You know, if you take Charlotte's
41:20dish, the composition of the dish was quite amateur, but she cooked the fish well. If you broke that into
41:27two dishes, I preferred the croquette, and I think that could have been a very good dish. For me,
41:32Charlotte is safe. Yeah. And now I've got a debate between Nick and Tracy. And we have Nick,
41:37whose dish was very simple. I could put that together in 15 minutes. Yeah, like it hit three
41:42hours. With that much time, let's have some better knife skills. Yeah. Beyond the knife skills, the
41:47flavors, I couldn't get past that hit of sweetness. Tracy's dessert conceptually read great, but my
41:54initial bite was very off-putting. As was mine. She screwed up. She used the time better than he did.
42:00Yes. But if you're going to add all of these flavors and ingredients, they have to show up.
42:07It's a tough call.
42:28Chefs, your challenge was to create a dish that told us your culinary origin story,
42:34and serve it as part of a 10-chef collaborative dinner.
42:39Nick, your tuna ceviche lacked technique, and we found it overly sweet.
42:45Charlotte, your chicken hattie was overly rich and unfortunately lacked refinement.
42:52Tracy, your pound cake had off-putting flavor and didn't deliver what you promised.
42:57Nick, please pack your knives and go.
43:13This competition rattled me a lot more than I thought it would. Thank you for your time.
43:17Thank you, Nick. Thank you, Nick. Thank you.
43:22I definitely didn't think I would go home this early.
43:27It was me. The pressure just got to me, and yeah, it got me cut.
43:33You were supposed to help me along the way, man.
43:36I know. I know.
43:36I'm going to go back home with my wife, see my cats, and get back to work.
43:41Next time on Top Chef Canada.
43:49On your marks, get set, go.
43:53This is a quick, quick fire.
43:5520 minutes? Like, that's unheard of.
43:58Are you okay, Chef?
43:59We're going to be celebrating Imaginative's 25th anniversary,
44:03and catering a party of festival VIPs.
44:05This woke me right up.
44:07It could have gone a little further for me.
44:08I'm having a little bit of a hard time eating it.
44:11Whatever. It's like a zero pressure competition.
44:14Sorry. Just need a minute.
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