Tag Archives: Food Network

Top Chef Canada

Top Chef Canada: All Stars turns up the heat

From a media release:

Top Chef Canada is back for its fiercest season yet! Turning up the heat for a brand-new season of Canada’s most prestigious and high stakes culinary competition, Top Chef Canada: All-Stars kicks off its return by introducing an all-star roster of talent to the judges’ table. Le Cordon Bleu-trained chef and television personality Eden Grinshpan (Chopped Canada) joins as host alongside Head Judge Chef Mark McEwan. Esteemed Resident Judges rounding out the panel include acclaimed restaurant critic and writer Chris Nuttall-Smith; Mijune Pak, food writer and creator of Follow Me Foodie; and powerhouse restaurateur Janet Zuccarini.

For the first time in Top Chef Canada history, chefs from past seasons return to face cutthroat challenges and bold critiques from Canada’s most refined palates as they battle for the title that has eluded them all. Top Chef Canada: All-Stars premieres Sunday, April 2 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network Canada.

Meet the Top Chef Canada: All-Stars host and judges’ panel:

  • Eden Grinshpan, Host: Graduate of both cuisine and pastry at Le Cordon Bleu, Eden is a judge on Chopped Canada and hosted her own food adventure series Eden Eats on Cooking Channel in the U.S.
  • Mark McEwan, Head Judge: Mark is a revered chef and restaurateur. As a leader in Canada’s food scene, Mark is owner of One Restaurant, Bymark, Fabbrica and McEwan Foods.
  • Chris Nuttall-Smith, Resident Judge: Chris is a critically-acclaimed food writer and restaurant critic, most recently spending 10 years as a columnist for the Globe and Mail.
  • Mijune Pak, Resident Judge: Mijune runs culinary adventure blog Follow Me Foodie, is a published author and regular food contributor for a variety of Canadian news outlets.
  • Janet Zuccarini, Resident Judge: Janet is a well-known Toronto restaurateur, owning Toronto hot spots Café Nervosa, Gusto 101 and PAI Northern Thai Kitchen.

This season, returning all-star chefs unpack their knives and come back to fight for a chance to win a $100,000 grand prize courtesy of Interac Flash and a Monogram kitchen valued at over $25,000. Stay tuned for more information on which all-star chefs are slated to compete in this must-see event.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

New competitors bring the heat to Chopped Canada this fall

From a media release:

Twenty-eight chefs from across Canada prepare to compete for the coveted title of Chopped Canada champion in seven new episodes of Food Network Canada’s #1 original series. * In each episode, beginning Saturday, September 3 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, four skilled chefs put their culinary expertise to the test in a battle against the clock and their fellow competitors as they create three gourmet dishes from daunting mystery basket ingredients.

The chefs featured will cook before a rotating panel of expert judges including Massimo Capra, Lynn Crawford, Eden Grinshpan, John Higgins, Susur Lee, Mark McEwan, Roger Mooking, Antonio Park, Michael Smith and Anne Yarymowich. Course by course, the judges critique each meal and chop the chefs from the competition until only one remains to win the $10,000 cash prize.

Episodes of Chopped Canada currently air Saturdays at 9pm ET/PT exclusively on Food Network Canada.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Shaw Media greenlights Season 4 of Chopped Canada

From a media release:

Shaw Media has green lit a super special fourth season of Food Network Canada’s hit series Chopped Canada. A country-wide casting call for the high-stakes culinary competition series is underway, searching for amateur chefs to compete in the prestigious Chopped Canada kitchen. Produced by Paperny Entertainment, in association with Shaw Media, Chopped Canada Season 4 includes six Juniors episodes (ages 9-13), five Teens episodes (ages 14-17), and four themed specials featuring grandmothers, firefighters, celebrities, and Chopped Canada judges. Broadcast details for the new season will be announced at a later date.

Chopped Canada is looking for grandmothers who rule their families’ kitchens, firefighters with a fiery passion for cooking, and young chefs between the ages of 9 and 17 who cook like pros. The series will be filmed in Toronto this Spring and all Canadians or permanent residents are welcome to apply. Online applications for Chopped Canada can be filled out by visiting choppedcanadacasting.ca. Deadline for applications is April 11, 2016.

Chopped Canada Season 4 sees Brad Smith return as host alongside the series’ esteemed panel of rotating judges – Mark McEwan (Top Chef Canada), Lynn Crawford (The Great Canadian Cookbook), Michael Smith (Chef Michael’s Kitchen), Susur Lee (Top Chef Masters), Roger Mooking (Man Fire Food), John Higgins (George Brown College), Anne Yarymowich (George Brown College), Antonio Park (Park Restaurant in Montreal), Massimo Capra (Restaurant Makeover), and Eden Grinshpan (Eden Eats).

Winners of the celebrity and Chopped Canada judges specials will each receive $10,000 to donate to the charity of their choice. Winners from each of the themed and teens episodes will each be awarded $10,000, and the winners of junior episodes will each receive $5,000. Celebrities and Chopped Canadajudges competing in the new season will be announced at a later date.

In each episode of Chopped Canada, four chefs compete before an all-star rotating panel of three expert judges. Armed with skill and ingenuity, the chef competitors race against the clock to turn the mystery ingredients from their iconic baskets into an extraordinary three-course meal. Course-by-course, the judges decide which competitor host Brad Smith will “chop” from the competition until only the winner remains.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Chopped Canada launches Season 3 with Chopped Canada Teen Tournament

From a media release:

Food Network Canada today announced premiere dates for season three of its hit, high-stakes culinary competition series, Chopped Canada. Season three kicks off with its new host, Brad Smith, and the world premiere of Chopped Canada Teen Tournament  (5×60) on Saturday, November 28 at 9 pm ET/PT. Chopped Canada’s third season continues with all-new regular episodes premiering January 9 at 9pm ET/PT.

Chopped Canada Teen Tournament  pits 16 of Canada’s best teen chefs against each other, battling it out for a chance to win $20,000 in this five-part special. In each episode, four young chefs face the clock – and each other – putting their skill and ingenuity to the test in an attempt to turn baskets of mystery ingredients into an extraordinary three-course meal. Competitors between the ages of 13 to17 from across Canada square off against each other, with the winner of each episode advancing to the finale. Course by course, the judges decide which teen chef Chopped Canada host Brad Smith will “chop” from the competition until only one remains. The last competitor standing collects the grand prize and will be crowned the first-ever Chopped Canada Teen Grand Champion. Competitor assets available at www.ShawMedia.ca/Media.

This season, celebrity chef, author, and television personality Mark McEwan joins Lynn Crawford, John Higgins, Antonio Park, Anne Yarymowich, Eden Grinshpan, Massimo Capra, Michael Smith, Susur Lee, and Roger Mooking at the rotating judges’ table, critiquing each meal and deciding which Chopped Canada contestants will be chopped.

CHOPPED CANADA TEEN TOURNAMENT PART I: Dukkah-ing It Out (1×60)
Four young chefs pull out all the stops to impress the judges in the first ever Chopped Canada Teen Tournament as they take on the sous vide, a CO2 canister and the anti-griddle.  Tensions run high as a kitchen mishap jeopardizes one teen’s chance of making it to the finale.

CHOPPED CANADA TEEN TOURNAMENT PART II: Lunchbox Letdown (1×60)
It’s back to school in the second competition of the Teen Tournament with four teen chefs testing the classic snack favorite, “Ants on a Log”, in the appetizer round. Things quickly heat up and snap, crackle, and burn in the entrée round.

Season three of Chopped Canada continues with all-new, edge-of-your seat episodes on January 9 at 9PM ET/PT.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail
Featured, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Corbin Tomaszeski cooks up truly Incredible prize on Food Race

Corbin Tomaszeski laments the fact that, with many having busy lifestyles, families aren’t able to enjoy quality time preparing or sharing dinner together.

They’ll get a little bit of both—in a seriously amped-up manner—via The Incredible Food Race. Debuting Wednesday on Food Network, celebrity chef Tomaszeski and ET Canada host Rick Campanelli serve as hosts and ringmasters as two families face off in physical challenges followed by a live cook-off in front of an audience; the audience then tastes both meals and votes for the winning family. What does the triumphant squad go home with? Groceries for a year courtesy of Walmart Canada.

“Competition shows usually award product, some kind of service or monetary amount,” Tomaszeski says. “There’s something really attractive and tangible when it’s food and you have the control over what you buy. And, hello, food is a basic necessity.” The former Restaurant Takeover host explains The Incredible Food Race is more about bringing people together and having fun, with a big prize at the end.

It doesn’t take long for the “fun” challenges to turn into a bona fide competition in Episode 1. The super-athletic Snyman family face off against the vegan Buddle-Gills in three tests designed to give distinct advantages during the final cook-off. The biggest of those three advantages? Several minutes with Tomaszeski coaching them while preparing food for the hungry voting audience. The Dinner Party Wars judge admits that, unlike feelgood co-host Campanelli, he wants to hear smack talk and see some tears because it makes for good TV. One of Tomaszeski’s favourite challenges is called “Sumo Sushi,” and features a team member rolling their own rice-based recipes … while wearing inflatable sumo wrestler costumes.

At this point, Season 1 is a mere six episodes filmed in Toronto, but Tomaszeski hopes, if a sophomore season is ordered, The Incredible Food Race can become a country-wide affair.

“I think we’ve only just scratched the surface with Season 1,” he says. “I think we should travel or have people from across Canada come here because there are so many different types of families and components of families out there that it’s a good idea.”

The Incredible Food Race airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network.

Facebooktwitterredditlinkedinmail