Ottawa chef Yannick LaSalle tops the podium at the Canadian Culinary Championships
Kelowna was cold and grey this year, but the atmosphere inside the Delta Grande was warm and sunny. Chefs and sous, along with helpful students from Okanagan College’s Culinary Arts wrangled their way through three separate competitions while we judges, sequestered in quiet rooms, passed judgement on their efforts. It’s not something we take lightly. We know every chef has worked furiously to get to Kelowna and that they carry the dreams and aspirations of their kitchens and their communities. But, somebody has to place one, two and three and this year it was Yannick LaSalle, Christopher Hill and Dave Bohati. Our home town pride, Davina Moraiko of RGE RD, created a stellar final dish but it wasn’t quite enough to lift her on to the podium.
Congratulations to all the competitors.
Gold: Chef Yannick LaSalle
Les Fougères, Chelsea, Quebec
Chef Charles Part was in the stands at the Black Box competition this year. His shoulders appeared—to me anyway—mighty close to his ears as he watched his protégé, Yannick LaSalle, parade into the Okanagan College kitchen and meet the dreaded box. Was Part re-living the anxiety he had felt ten years before, when he had represented Ottawa at the same competition back in 2009? Probably. But for this judge, who had the privilege of seeing both these fine chefs compete ten years apart, it was a pleasure to witness the master watch the student. Particularly when they were representing a restaurant I’ve admired immensely, for all its three decades.
Les Fougères is nestled in the woods of Chelsea, Quebec, across the Ottawa River and fifteen minutes up the road from Parliament Hill. It is a national treasure, one that consistently, confidently puts Canada and the Capital Region on the plate in loving ways. LaSalle has helmed its stoves and tended its extensive gardens since 2015. His food is simple, thoughtful, and ingredient-proud, but there’s an alchemy of sensuality on his plates that was evident all weekend. It was a roller coaster ride for some chefs this year, winning one of the three CCC challenges, only to stumble dramatically at the next. LaSalle was steady. Placing consistently in the medals all weekend. And when the final numbers were crunched, he emerged our champion. Congratulations to him, to his team, and to the Les Fougères family.
Anne DesBrisay, Ottawa-Gatineau judge
Silver: Chef Chris Hill
Taste Restaurant Group, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Judging by chef Chris Hill’s focused and stellar performance in Kelowna—Saskatoon’s first podium placement in the history of the CCC, and the highest podium placement for a Saskatchewan chef to date—it seems that opening three restaurants in Saskatoon in the last year has honed his skills to a fine point.
Chris’ team of talented and devoted chefs relied on their longstanding working relationship to carry them through the grueling challenges of the weekend. They passed the test.
They won the Mystery Wine Challenge with a braised pork belly, crisped and served with a squid ink agnolotti filled with a brandade of salted ling cod, potato and cream and finished with smoked tomato and brightly flavoured brunoise of fennel, celery and squash.
In the Black Box competition, chef Hill and his sous chef made a hand-held vegetarian taco that put all the ingredients to delicious use. He’s so pleased with the dish, you can now order a version of it at the restaurant.
His finale dish, titled After the Fire was a beautifully balanced mix of textures, flavours and colours. Confit duck leg was rolled with wild boar sausage and served alongside an aerated foie gras that I remembered fondly from our first introduction at Saskatoon’s Kitchen Party. The galantine was nestled among savoury vegetables and a beautifully cooked morel mushroom and decorated with (perfectly edible) crispy reindeer moss and a bitter salsify bark glazed with birch syrup. The wine, harvested in the midst of a smoky season in the Okanagan, paired deliciously with the smoke flavours as well as the juniper jus and sour cherry preserve that finished the dish. A delight to behold—and to savour.
Noelle Chorney, Saskatchewan judge
Bronze: Dave Bohati
Murrietas, Calgary
Staring down a challenging Black Box of sweet potato, chestnuts, saffron, sheep yogurt, buckwheat, quince and lion’s mane mushrooms, chef Dave Bohati came to some quick decisions. With no protein on board, he focused on the savoury nature of the mushroom and the delicate sweetness of the potato. Knowing that his challenge was to transform each ingredient into something tasty and creative, he ground the buckwheat into a flour and shaped it into a tuile. The judges, entranced by the delicate interplay of the flavours and textures, awarded chef Bohati high marks.
Bohati’s win in the Black Box, along with strong showings in the wine matching and gala events, carried him to the podium, earning him a bronze medal at the 2019 Canadian Culinary Championships. It was Bohati’s second visit to the event and he went home happy.
And to a new job. Bohati had been head chef at Calgary’s Teatro for the past couple of years, outlining a new direction for the classic downtown restaurant. Now, he is executive chef for both the Calgary and Canmore Murrieta’s. Having started his restaurant career as a dishwasher in Victoria over twenty years ago, Bohati has risen to the top echelon of Canadian chefs.
The highly tattooed chef is also looking to the future and contemplating his participation in competitive cooking. “Maybe it’s time to mentor some younger chefs to compete,” he says. “I’ve done a lot and I’d like to pass on my experiences.” Meanwhile he has to find a place to hang his latest accolade—his bronze medal.
John Gilchrist, Calgary judge