The victor in a national young chefs competition set for this Friday will go on to try for greater glory in an international event next year in Turkey.
The Jeunes Chefs contest, being held in Dartmouth, N.S., will see up-and-coming chefs, including one from Victoria, strive to compete in Istanbul next September.
Friday's competition, sponsored by the gastronomic society la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, brings together regional winners from across the country.
Each chef, who is under age 28, will be given identical culinary "black boxes" containing certain mandatory ingredients from which they must create and execute a three-course menu (first course, main course and dessert) within four hours.
The chefs have the first half-hour to write up a menu while the remaining time is devoted to preparation.
The chefs have been practising for six months to get ready for the event, David Tetrault, president of la Chaîne Canada, said. "It is a true black box for a specific age group of young chefs," he said. "It is difficult and it is stressful."
The competing chefs, who must be working at a Chaîne des Rôtisseurs establishment, are: Brent Lukoni of Hotel Grand Pacific in Victoria; Ralph Barit of En Ville Event Design & Catering in Toronto; Shane Rutledge of Calgary Golf & Country Club; Daniel Ardies of St. Charles Golf & Country Club in Winnipeg; Brenan Madill of Seasons by Atlantica in Halifax's Atlantica Hotel; Antoine Corriveau of Restaurant Le St-Amour in Quebec City; Amanda Rose Ker-swell of L2Grill at Edmonton's Fantasyland Hotel; Tosh Agassiz, who works at Diva At the Met in the Metropolitan Hotel Vancouver; and Daniel Tipper of Old Vines Restaurant at Quail's Gate Estate Winery in the Okanagan Valley.
