The Second Annual Chef's to the Field

A little overdue, but the Second Annual Chef's to the Field event held in Richmond was another huge success! This year, I was able to take quite a few photos and sample a lot of wonderful food. One of the prettiest food samples, I thought, were these edible flowers designed by one of the competitors, Pan-o-Pan.

Soon after the chef's had their harvest orientation, they were racing through the fields gathering all the needed produce. They had only 90 minutes to create 4 dishes.

The mystery ingredient this year: fresh B.C. sardines!

The first-place winner of the coveted "Green Cuisine Award" was Raincity Grill. Using local produce and ingredients is certainly not foreign to them. Just visit their restaurant to sample some delicious Pacific Northwest cuisine. Congratulations also go to Aurora Bistro for their 2nd place finish and Tapenade Bistro with 3rd placement. You can visit Terranova's website for more detailed information about the event.

It was great to see so many people come out and support Ian Lai's vision and the Terranova Schoolyard Project. Click here for more pictures from the day and see you next year!

Tagged as: [ competition culinary organic richmond terranova ]

Chef's to the Field | Sunday, August 10 (11am to 4pm)

It is incredible that almost a year has gone by! It's time to join Chef Ian Lai for the 2nd Annual Chef's to the Field event on Sunday, August 10. Come out and support the Terranova Schoolyard Project and sample some of the best gourmet food in town. Twelve teams are going head to head this year to win the 'coveted' green cuisine award.

Location: Terra Nova Rural Park (2631 Westminster Highway, Richmond, BC)
Date: Sunday, August 10, 2007
Time: 11am - 4pm
Parking: Limited. Please try to bike or walk. A shuttle bus is being provided from the City Works Yard (5599 Lynas Lane, Richmond, BC) to the event every 15 minutes.

Tagged as: [ blackbox competition culinary nwcav organic ]

Chefs to the Field | A Fruitful Event

This post is somewhat delayed, but the numbers have been tallied. Chefs to the Field drew an impressive crowd and managed to raise a whopping $12,000.00 in approximately 5 hours! The day, while a bit of a whirlwind for the volunteers, was a complete success. I didn't get to see too much of the competition, but the food looked wonderful, and Chef Jason Lloyd from Terminal City Club won first place in the Black Box Competition. If you didn't get a chance to come out this year, don't worry...Ian Lai is already planning for the second annual Chefs to the Field, which will surely be bigger. It's wonderful to see Ian's project continue to blossom.

Urban Diner posted a press release yesterday if you'd like to read more.

Tagged as: [ blackbox competition organic restaurants ]

Chefs to the Field | Tomorrow! Richmond, BC

Chefs to the Field is tomorrow! Please join us from 11am to 4pm at the Terra Nova Rural Park in Richmond, BC. This fundraiser will help support the Terra Nova Schoolyard Society and the Organic Friends of the Future.

 Below is the program for the day:

11AM		Gates Open
		Children's Activities (located at entrance to site)
		Silent Auction opens
11AM - 2PM		Food Sales - Summer Lunch
11 AM		Farm Tour (Richmond Fruit Tree Sharing Project)
		Please meet at north side of the site
11:30AM - 3PM		Live Music (located at south side of site)
11:30AM		BONKERS!
12:45PM		Company B
2PM		Evan Arntzen Trio
12NOON		Farm Tour (Richmond Fruit Tree Sharing Project)
		Please meet at north end of site
1PM		Opening Ceremony (Brad Reid, MC)
		Cynthia Chen, Acting Mayor of Richmond
		Mike Redpath, Manager
		Parks, Programming & Design
		Joan Glossop, Richmond Fruit Tree Sharing Project
		Ian Lai, Host - Terranova Schoolyard Society
1:30-3:30PM		Green Cuisine Competition
1:30PM		Chefs garden orientation and harvest
2:30PM		Cook-off
3:30PM		Judging
3:30PM		Silent Auction Closes
4:30PM		Awards and Closing
		Cynthia Chen, Acting Mayor of Richmond
		Ian Lai, Host

Click here to see the impressive list of what's up for grabs at the Silent Auction table (sorry for the poor scan)! Double click on the document to zoom in.

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Location: Terra Nova Rural Park (2631 Westminster Highway, Richmond, BC)
Date: Sunday, August 19, 2007
Time: 11am – 4pm
Parking: Limited. Please try to bike or walk. A shuttle bus is being provided from the City Works Yard (5599 Lynas Lane, Richmond, BC) to the event every 15 minutes.

Tagged as: [ blackbox competition organic restaurants ]

Chefs to the Field | Sunday, August 19th - Richmond, BC

Time flies! Chefs to the Field is less than one week away. Please join us from 11am to 4pm on August 19th, rain or shine, at the Terra Nova Rural Park in Richmond, BC. This fund raiser will help support the Terra Nova Schoolyard Society and the Organic Friends of the Future. Aside from obtaining some fabulous giveaways just for attending, these wonderful items have been secured for the silent auction. Here are just a few teasers from the list:

• Memberships for online culinary instruction
• All-inclusive weekend yoga retreat in Tofino (some restrictions apply)
• A round of golf for two (power cart included)
• Gift certificates for restaurants, caterers, and gourmet/pastry shops
• Specialty food baskets and culinary/cultural tours
• A year of CHOCOLATE
• Massage therapy
  

Chefs to the Field will also feature live entertainment and children’s activities. General admission is free, however, between 11am and 2pm, and for only $3.00 per plate, you can sample food from some of Vancouver's finest restaurants and schools.

In addition, come out and watch the exhilarating Black Box Cook Off. Chefs have recently received a list of what will be available to harvest from the field for the competition. In addition to the participants listed below, two more have joined the match to compete for the coveted Green Cuisine Award. They are: Wild Rice and Tapenade Mediterranean Bistro.

The competition commences at 2pm. Teams of professional Chefs and one culinary student will be given one mystery ingredient just before starting. They will have one hour to quickly harvest produce from the field and use those items to create four separate dishes. Teams will be judged on: the care they took while harvesting the garden, flavor, presentation, originality, and organization. Come and see how these Chefs strut their stuff! It will be a fantastic competition to watch some of Vancouver's top Chefs in action.

Learn more about what Chef Ian Lai (founder of the Terra Nova Schoolyard Society) has been busy creating by joining us on Sunday and referring to these past posts:

Location: Terra Nova Rural Park (2631 Westminster Highway, Richmond, BC)
Date: Sunday, August 19, 2007
Time: 11am – 4pm
Parking: Limited. Please try to bike or walk. A shuttle bus is being provided from the City Works Yard (5599 Lynas Lane, Richmond, BC) to the event every 15 minutes. 

I will be the on-site volunteer coordinator. If you would like to participate by being a volunteer, please contact me as soon as possible.

Tagged as: [ blackbox competition organic restaurants ]

Chefs to the Field Event | Sunday, August 19th - Richmond, BC

Mark your calendars! We are just 4 weeks away from holding the much-anticipated Chefs to the Field event. Please come and join us, rain or shine, for a day filled with delicious food, entertainment, and festivities. This fund raiser will help support the Terra Nova Schoolyard Society and the Organic Friends of the Future. Come out to learn and see what Chef Ian Lai (founder of the Terra Nova Schoolyard Society) has been busy creating. Refer to these posts for more information regarding his project:

Chefs to the Field will feature live entertainment, children’s activities, and a silent auction where wonderful local products, gift certificates, and memberships will be available to bid on. General admission is free, however, participating food booths, containing some of Vancouver's finest restaurants and schools, will be available from 11am to 2pm. Tickets to sample food items from these establishments are only $3.00 per plate.

The most exciting part of the day, for all of you foodies out there, is a Black Box Cook-Off! Between 2pm and 4pm teams of professional Chefs and one culinary student will compete against each other. The Chefs will be given one mystery ingredient just before the competition begins. They will then have one hour to quickly harvest produce from the gardens and use those items to create four separate dishes. Teams will be judged on: the care they took while harvesting the garden, flavor, presentation, originality, and organization. Confirmed participants, to date, include:

Come and see how these Chefs strut their stuff! It will be a fantastic competition to watch some of Vancouver's top Chefs in action.

Location: Terra Nova Rural Park (2631 Westminster Highway, Richmond, BC)
Date: Sunday, August 19, 2007
Time: 11am – 4pm
Parking: Limited. Please try to bike or walk. A shuttle bus is being provided from the City Works Yard (5599 Lynas Lane, Richmond, BC) to the event every 15 minutes. 

I will be the on-site volunteer coordinator. If you would like to participate by being a volunteer, please contact me as soon as possible.

Tagged as: [ blackbox competition organic restaurants ]

EAT! Vancouver

EAT! Vancouver was a great way to spend the afternoon today. The entry fee was very reasonable, at only $12.00 per person, if you brought with you a non-perishable item for donation to the food bank; otherwise, admission was $14.00. There were an impressive number of exhibitors who were eager to share their products, free samples, and information. If that wasn't enough to satiate the appetite, you could purchase additional tickets to sample food and drinks from participating restaurant booths and liquor vendors.

The participants from the culinary competition created and displayed some incredibly beautiful dishes, which were so detailed, colorful, and elegant. They were absolutely gorgeous to look at. I thought this particular dish was so pretty:


Over at the Chocolate Stage, I witnessed a chocolate-eating competition, where one young fellow ate 30 gourmet chocolates in 2 minutes! Why didn't I put my hand up when they asked for a volunteer contestant from the audience?


Today the Professional competitors in the Belcolade Chocolate Competition certainly showed off their stuff. These chocolate skates were a fantastic showpiece, representing the 2010 Winter Olympics.


I'm also happy to report that Pekka Tavela, a recent graduate from our Professional Pastry Class at NWCAV, and currently the Pastry Chef at A Kettle of Fish here in Vancouver, took home Bronze for his three dessert creations. The first dessert shown is a chocolate taster, which Pekka created for the restaurant. It is currently on the dessert menu at A Kettle of Fish.


Congratulations, Pekka! Job well done!

Click here to see more pictures from EAT! Vancouver. Tomorrow is the last day of the festival.

Tagged as: [ chocolate competition culinary showpiece vancouver ]

The Belcolade Chocolate Competition | May 25-27, 2007 - Vancouver, BC

Conducted by the BC Chefs' Association, the annual EAT! Vancouver Festival will be hosting a new and exciting event this year. Belcolade, North Leaf, and Rubens will be sponsoring the first Chocolate Competition where pastry professionals and students can enter to show off their skills and creativity. Three wonderful categories are open for entry:

• Chocolate Showpiece (Theme - Thrive for Gold, 2010 Winter Olympics)
• Plated Desserts
• Bonbon and Praline

North Leaf will provide each competitor with 1kg of dark and 1kg of light Belcolade chocolate at no extra charge. The application deadline is May 11, 2007. Good luck to all of the contestants!

Tagged as: [ belcolade bonbon canada chocolate competition dessert pastry praline showpiece vancouver ]

Salon du Chocolat Competition, Vancouver

This past Saturday, I assisted Monique, a student from our school, who was brave enough to enter the 2nd Annual Salon du Chocolat competition here in Vancouver. It was held at the Art Institute of Vancouver (Dubrulle Culinary Arts). It was fun to see how the participants put Michel Cluizel's fine chocolate to work. There were three categories in the competition: bon bons, showpieces, and plated desserts.
 

I helped Monique put the final touches on her plated dessert which consisted of three components: 1) figs baked into a Financier cookie; 2) a Linzer cookie with blackcurrant sorbet, candied lime zest and hibiscus flower; and 3) a chocolate mousse cake that had a layer of chocolate sponge and a cube of hibiscus jelly inside, topped with a beautiful chocolate glaze. The outside was decorated with long chocolate rectangles and gold leaf in the middle.

Out of 22 contestants, congratulations to Monique for winning Silver for her dessert! It looked lovely and, most importantly, tasted delicious. Two other students from our school, Pekka (submitted a plated dessert) and Marcus (submitted 3 chocolate bon bons), did a great job as well. Kudos to you guys for all of the hard work on top of the school load!

Click here for more pictures from the competition. Perhaps I'll be courageous enough to be a contestant next year...
 

Tagged as: [ chocolate competition vancouver ]