Friday, October 21

Steve Buzak wears two hats at the Royal Glenora Club, he is the executive chef and the director of food and beverage. His training includes NAIT and Vancouver’s Dubrulle Culinary School; his cooking experience ranges from the Rocky Mountaineer to running resort hotel kitchens. We love chef Buzak’s generous attitude towards his community; he features local suppliers in his menu offerings; he is a Gold Medal Plates competitor; he cooks at Capital Care’s Feast on the Field. He is also a champion ice carver.

“I’m doing this Japanese pub thing in Edmonton to show Japanese culture, and I’m doing the Tomato Stage at the Home Show to explain sushi. What is the difference between an izakaya and a sushi bar? An izakaya is a Japanese pub. In Japan an izakaya is about 80 per cent drinking, 20 per cent eating, whereas a restaurant is the opposite. People in Alberta like to drink—when I’m working I’m not drinking, but sometimes when I clock out I can drink too. I must have got the drinking genetics from my father.”

Jimmy Shewchuk is one half of the duo that created Sandwich & Sons, its first location in the industrial northwest end of the city. Now they have an outpost downtown, which makes sandwich lovers deliriously happy. House-made condiments and pickles along with inspiring meats make each sandwich a sublime craft experience.

The Glass MonkeyRob Filipchuk, the owner of Edmonton’s casual Glass Monkey, and Darcy Radies, the executive chef, show us how to coax flavour from the simplest ingredients. Chef Radies, who operated The Blue Pear for 10 years, understands how to take favourite familiar dishes into extraordinary territory and, coupled with Rob’s superb wine savvy, delivers a unique dining experience at the Glass Monkey.

Brandon Baker, Have Mercy & Tyler Gushaty, North 53Tyler and Brandon go shaker to shaker preparing three signature cocktails for the judging panel. Each restaurant will also prepare a sampler plate for up to 50 people in the reserved seating. Cash bar on site and the area will be reserved for this presentation only. Get your tickets early: edmontonfallhomeshow.com

Saturday, October 22

Century Hospitality GroupChef Le’s formal culinary education was at NAIT, but he credits following his mom around the kitchen for his early inspiration. Now, as corporate chef of the Century Hospitality Group, he inspires his team to exceed their guests’ expectations with beautiful, playful and delicious food meant to create warm and lasting memories.

Crave CupcakesShannon is the store manager and Rosalie is their head baker. Crave Cupcakes was started by two sisters from Alberta who wanted to share their passion for baking. Their sweet and simple baked products taste amazing and are made from real ingredients.

Attila The HUNgry Food TruckNAIT-trained Red Seal chef Levi Biddlecomb is best known for Duck Tots, a toothsome Asian-inspired riff on poutine: Thai-braised duck leg with deep-fried tater tots, hoisin aioli and Srirachi with lime. Levi’s training includes several years at the celebrated Le Beaujolais in Ban , Edmonton’s Lux and Zinc at the AGA. is is chef Biddlecomb’s second time on the Tomato stage. “I love competing, I like being on stage, I like the attention.” His next move is a bricks and mortar resto. Stay tuned!

Northern Fried ChickenOne of chef Cowan’s favourite things is pork and the other, fried chicken. Chef Cowan took silver at the 2014 Gold Medal Plates with his perfect slice of house-made ham and, later this year, opens a fried chicken joint called Northern Chicken with his good friend chef Matt Phillips. “We love fried chicken,” says Matt.

Sunday, October 23

Highlands Golf ClubPeter Keith has the Red Seal certification from NAIT, where he competed at over 15 events worldwide, winning gold at the 2012 Culinary Olympics. Besides cooking at HGC, chef Keith teaches at Metro Education and is co-owner of the soon-to- be-opened Meuwly’s Charcuterie and Preserves. “I’m excited about the direction the food is taking at Highlands. We make our own burger patties, dressings, some of the sausages and I want to showcase that.”

Shane Chartrand, Sage & Doreen Prei, Get CookingSeasoned competitors Shane Chartrand and Doreen Prei face off in the first annual Tomato Pro-Am. Chef Prei is a Michelin-star trained chef from Germany who won silver at her first Gold Medal Plates Championship and gold at the 2015 Canadian Food Championships, Seafood. Shane Chartrand hails from Alberta, has stood on the podium in Gold Medal Plates competition several times, appeared on Chopped Canada and is a Cook It Raw chef.Want to be their amateur partner?
Send a tweet, facebook or instagram message with the hashtag #tomatoproam, or tomatoproam@thetomato.ca.

Wildflower GrillChef Singh’s resume includes Miami’s Four Diamond VIX and top-notch hotels all over Canada. Now he brings a global (European, Indian, Thai and central Asian) culinary approach to Wildflower’s signature Canadian progressive cuisine. One thing he never forgets; “the trick is for food to always taste as good as it looks,” says chef Singh.

Pampa Brazilian SteakhouseChef Reyes Nelvin is looking to showcase the flavours of Brazil with two traditional foods, their gluten-free cheese bread (pão de queijo) made with tapioca and full-flavoured black bean stew (feijoada). “Being on the cooking stage gives me the chance to interact with people, see the smiles when they try the food.”

Huma Mexican RestaurantMariel Montero and Humberto Hernandez met in their home town of Puebla, the spiritual home of mole. Both have travelled, working in kitchens around the globe, and Mariel was a Chopped Canada contestant before opening Huma. “In Mexico you want to go to a place where it feels friendly and you can have good food every day. at was our goal with Huma. We’ll be making a Mexican comfort food dish which is, essentially, Mexican lasagna made with tortillas.”

Malt and MortarChef Daniel Huber loves bourbon, pop-ups and southern food, not necessarily in that order. Chef Huber is working on the newest addition to the Whyte Avenue landscape, the 250- seat gastropub called Malt and Mortar as well as upcoming Louisiana-style pop-ups with live music. “Bourbon has amazing food affnity, from salad dressing right on through to dessert.”