Top Chef Canada

Top Chef Canada is a Canadian reality competition television series and is considered one of the most prestigious culinary competitions in Canada. The show premiered on April 11, 2011, on Food Network Canada.[1][2][3] The first season consisted of 13 episodes, with 16 contestants vying for a grand prize of $100,000 and a GE Monogram kitchen valued at $30,000.[3][4] Like the original American series, each week the chef contestants compete against each other in culinary challenges. Contestants are judged by a panel of professional chefs and other notables from the food and wine industry, with one or more contestants being eliminated each week. The Canadian edition uses the same graphics and music as the American version of the program.

Top Chef Canada
Genre
Starring
Country of originCanada
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons10
No. of episodes67 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersBarbara Bowlby and John Brunton
Running time42 minutes
Production companiesInsight Productions
Universal International Studios
Release
Original networkFood Network Canada
Original releaseApril 11, 2011 (2011-04-11) –
present (present)

The first season of Top Chef Canada was one of Food Network Canada's most highly rated programs. The network renewed the program for a second season, which began to air on March 12, 2012.[5] Top Chef Canada returned in 2017 with an all-stars edition for the fifth season.[6] Season 6 of Top Chef Canada returned April 8, 2018, with a lineup of 11 chefs from the next generation.[7]

The tenth season premiered on September 26, 2022.[8]

Judges, guest judges, and special appearances
Mark McEwan and Thea Andrews discuss Top Chef Canada in 2011

The host for the first season of the Canadian program was Thea Andrews.[9] After giving birth to her second child, Andrews stepped down from the position.[10] On November 15, 2011, actress Lisa Ray announced that she was named as host.[5][11] Beginning in Season 5 Toronto-born Eden Grinshpan took over hosting duties.[12] Trained at Le Cordon Bleu Grinshpan is co-founder and executive chef at Middle Eastern restaurant DEZ in New York City and host of Eden Eats and Log On and Eat with Eden Grinshpan on the Cooking Channel.[13]

The head judge is Mark McEwan, chef and owner of several restaurants in Toronto, including ONE in Yorkville and Bymark in the Toronto-Dominion Centre as well as host of the Food Network Canada program The Heat with Mark McEwan.[14][15] In preparation for elimination challenges, contestants shop for ingredients at McEwan Gourmet Grocery located at the Shops at Don Mills.

The "resident judge" (the position held by Gail Simmons in the original version) was Shereen Arazm, a Toronto native and owner of several Los Angeles-area restaurants.[16] Beginning in later seasons, the show introduced three new resident judges, who include Chris Nuttal-Smith, Janet Zuccarini and Mijune Pak.

In Season 6, guest judges included chef-owners of distinguished Toronto restaurants, such as Lynn Crawford (Ruby Watchco), Susur Lee (Fring's, Lee), Rob Gentile (Buca, Bar Buca) and Alexandra Feswick (Drake Devonshire). Top Chef Canada alumni returning as guest judges included Steve Gonzales of Baro, Dustin Gallagher of 416 Snack Bar as well as Top Chef Canada: All-Stars winner, Nicole Gomes of Calgary's Cluck ‘N’ Cleaver. Additionally, Evan Funke, L.A.-based chef and co-owner (with Janet Zuccarini) of Felix restaurant, and Danny Bowien, chef-owner of New York's Mission Chinese Food join as guest judges.[7]

Seasons
Main article: List of Top Chef Canada episodes
Season Winner Runner(s)-up Air Dates
1 Dale MacKay Rob Rossi April 11 – July 4, 2011
2 Carl Heinrich Trevor Bird March 12 – May 28, 2012
3 Matthew Stowe Danny "Smiles" Francis March 18 – June 10, 2013
4 Rene Rodriguez Terry Salmond March 10 – May 12, 2014
51 Nicole Gomes Dustin Gallagher April 2 – June 4, 2017
6 Ross Larkin Mark Singson April 8 – May 27, 2018
7 Paul Moran Phil Scarfone April 1 – May 20, 2019
8 Francis Blais Lucy Morrow
Stephanie Ogilvie		 April 13 – June 1, 2020
9 Erica Karbelnik Billy Nguyen April 19 – June 7, 2021
10 Trevane "Tre" Sanderson Deseree "Dez" Lo September 26 – November 14, 2022

Notes

^Note 1: Season 5 was an "All Star" season; Gomes originally appeared in Season 3, and Gallagher originally appeared in Season 1.

References
  1. Channel Canada. "Top Chef Canada will Heat Up Food Network Canada in Spring 2011". Channelcanada.com. Archived from the original on 2010-09-22. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
  2. Food Network Canada. "Top Chef Canada". www.foodnetwork.ca. Archived from the original on 2011-02-09. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  3. "More Top Chef Canada details trickle out". www.torontolife.com. 2011-01-26. Archived from the original on 2011-02-05. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  4. "Shaw Media and Insight Productions Announce Official Sponsorships for Top Chef Canada". www.channelcanada.com. 2011-01-26. Archived from the original on 2011-02-03. Retrieved 2011-02-20.
  5. Rita Dimontis (2011-11-18). "Lisa Ray to host Top Chef Canada". Toronto Sun. Sun Media. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2011-11-23.
  6. McKnight, Zoe (2014-06-06). "Top Chef Canada gets out of the kitchen". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 2018-07-03. Retrieved 2015-10-07.
  7. "New Season of Top Chef Canada Introduces Next Generation of Canada's Culinary Elite". foodnetwork.ca. Archived from the original on 2020-10-24. Retrieved 2018-03-25.
  8. "Food Network Canada's Top Chef Canada Will Air Season 9 on April 19, 2021". premieredate.news. Archived from the original on 2021-04-19. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  9. "Interview: My Chat with Top Chef Canada Host Thea Andrews". foodnetwork.ca. Archived from the original on 2011-03-14. Retrieved 2011-02-14.
  10. Craig Takeuchion (2011-11-17). "Who is Top Chef Canada's new host? Canadian star Lisa Ray". The Georgia Straight. Archived from the original on 2011-11-21. Retrieved 2011-11-23.
  11. "Television: Top Chef Canada's New Host". Shaw Media Inc. 2011-11-15. Archived from the original on 2012-07-31. Retrieved 2011-11-15.
  12. "Eden Grinshpan". Food Network Canada. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020.
  13. "Samantha: Co-Founder + Creative Director". DEZ. Archived from the original on April 16, 2019.
  14. "The McEwan Group | Canada's Premier Hospitality Companies". The McEwan Group. Archived from the original on 2021-07-25. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  15. "Top Chef Canada Signs on Culinary Expert Mark McEwan as Head Judge". Newswire.ca. Archived from the original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
  16. "Top Chef Canada is Ready to be Served". Shaw Media. 2011-02-28. Archived from the original on 2012-07-22. Retrieved 2011-03-06.
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