Canada’s Great Kitchen Party 2026

It was quite the coincidence that the two chefs I elected to profile in advance of Canada’s Great Kitchen Party would take the Gold and Silver Medals in the finals. We’ll come back to that.

You always wonder if it’s your imagination but I had the feeling that there was a focus, execution excellence and demonstration of imagination that surpassed previous years. 

I think of Emily Butcher of Winnipeg’s Nola restaurant. She married elements of her mixed heritage on the opening night Mystery Wine competition.  She presented a dish of slightly acidified grilled cabbage with a black garlic chestnut babaganoush and a five-spice crisp of chicken skin.

A previous Championship-winning chef of my acquaintance thought very highly of it and while I didn’t think all the components worked together, that chicken skin was one of the finest tastes over two days. In fact I suggested that she put these in a potato chip bag.

Montreal’s Isaël Gadoua of Chez Jean-Paul demonstrated an imagination on fire over two nights, and I have a feeling he’s a chef to watch. 

On the Friday night Mystery Wine challenge, he brought a creation heavy on Jerusalem artichoke topped with a mushroom meringue. It had the glacial aspect of a Lawren Harris painting.

I understand the ascribed health benefits of Jerusalem artichoke. I can eat it but I’ve never acquired a taste for it. 

I did however, appreciate the inventiveness of the chocolate and mushroom cake and the inspired, and delicious, mushroom meringue. Thanks to the chef I’ll be trying my hand at this component.

A day before, the chefs had been presented with an unlabelled “mystery wine” which they were to taste and create a dish around. 

At the end of the evening and the mystery wine reveal, Toronto’s Park Hyatt Chef Jonathan Williams was the only competitor to correctly guess that the wine was a Gamay Noir. 

I had tried this wine on two occasions during the evening. Both glasses had TCA (cork taint), leaving me in a state of confusion. How could flawed bottles like this be poured? Then I tried a third glass and all was right with the world. 

I raised this issue with the individual responsible for the wines at this competition and was told that the wine, being under screwcap, couldn’t have TCA. 

As someone who has a formal education in winemaking, I can assure readers that cork taint does not solely originate from a cork (although it’s a chief source), so a screwcap guarantees nothing

Chef Williams presented a duck and pork paté en croute with red berry sauce and strawberries rehydrated in black tea and that was an inspired touch. A signal that this was a serious competitor.

Jay Park of Boulevard in Vancouver created a fresh pasta stuffed with braised duck leg, beet puree and a memorable duck jus. For the next hour, the room was abuzz with the general excellence of the execution and the sublime texture of the fresh pasta. It sounded like the hit of the evening.

The wines over the course of the competition were of a very high quality with many standouts including a Closson Chase Churchside 2023 Pinot Noir (Prince Edward County) that took top prize as Wine of the Year on the final night

Kelly Mason was present with a superb Cabernet Franc demonstrating that she must be considered one of Canada’s rising star winemakers and that her win for a Chardonnay two years ago, was no fluke.

A personal favourite was Thomas Bachelder’s elegant Frontier Block Chardonnay. Throughout his career Bachelder has focused on the production of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. It’s generally agreed that he’s a master. And I mean that in a global context. His wines are worth seeking out and cellaring and you can start your journey here.

While there was a depth of talent across the board, a few chefs stood out. One was Kevin Monych of Hearth restaurant in Saskatoon. On both evenings, he demonstrated confidence in his technique and his ability to harmonize components.

A number of chefs, coincidentally, had opted to work with rabbit. Chef Monych’s bacon-wrapped saddle of rabbit with sides of potato/parsnip pavé and fondant celeriac was both sophisticated and comforting at the same time. This was one of two sleepers I felt might creep into the top three.

Isaël Gadoua of Montreal was back with his singular creation of a French fry pannacotta smothering a leek vinaigrette. A gastronomic trick causing confusion between the eye and the palate.

The warm cream indeed tasted of French fries, with the vegetable underneath helped cut the richness but it was all a little much for me. Truthfully, I did want to eat more but I couldn’t manage it.

Tyson Wright of The Old Red Barn in Edmonton produced a comfort meal that somehow took me back to my childhood. It was straight-up home cooking with an old-world embrace. 

Here was tear-inducing tender bison cheek glazed in black garlic on a pillow of pureed parsnip and a side of macerated Saskatoon berries. While so many other contending dishes were remarkable in other ways, Chef Wright's dish hit me where I live.

Gathering all elements on the fork simultaneously, every bite had me thinking, “I want a full meal of this.” I wasn’t certain that this dish might not sneak into a podium position, and it had won my heart.

Readers may recall my profile of Chef Jonathan Williams and the description of his short rib pastrami with a “very good carrot.” 

In terms of flavour, the dish certainly delivered. It was deliciously seasoned and smoked and was so good, it made you crave more of that sensation.

Because it was a thicker cut than what you’d get as a pastrami sandwich at a deli, the layers of sinew between the meat fibres made it more difficult to cut. Yet without it, that beef was tender and succulent.

The carrot had been put through an elaborate process and provided a satisfying and savoury foil to the beef. Direct, unambiguous flavours that delivered big sensations.

Jay Park’s Journey (as he named his dish) involved memories of the chickens on his grandmother's farm. From the flesh to the liver, heart, fat and skin, every element had been carefully crafted to bring out its most desirable traits.

The composition in its myriad forms was playful and artful. Then there were the sensations both texturally and flavour-wise. Every bite held a surprise, and while you wouldn’t necessarily consider this an average and complete meal, the experience was eye-poppingly good and memorable. Jay Park came to win, and he did.

In the end, Jay Park took the Gold, Jonathan Williams was awarded silver and hometown favourite Jason Sawision of Stofa received the bronze for his dish of seared scallop with adobo, almond pudding, chorizo shrimp toast, mango salsa, poblano pepper sauce etc.

As happens every year I missed a few dishes due to the line-ups at certain chef stations and that included Chef Jason’s. I did however, have this winning creation at the regional championships last September and I still crave another bite of that inspired “chorizo shrimp toast.”

The other fine talents who competed but were not yet mentioned were: Dean Fast of Calgary’s Rouge Restaurant, Lacey Coffin of St. John’s, Nfld. Vu Resto Bar and Niguel De Leon of Atelier Tony in Moncton, N.B.

One of the most significant aspects of this celebrated Canadian tradition is that Canada’s Great Kitchen Party has, over the years, donated tens of millions to charity. Aside from donations to local food banks wherever these events are held, this organization supports both Music Counts and Spirit North, ensuring that youth across Canada have access to sport, musical instruments and mentorship. A noble endeavour of which we can all be proud.