Gold Medal Plates

Recipe for Success: Take 13 chefs, 13 Olympic athletes, past and present, add scrumptious ingredients and dress it all up in fancy lighting and music. Cook until done. Raise $100,000.

That’s what happened last night at the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre. The occasion was the latest edition of Gold Medal Plates, a series of cross-Canada cooking competitions designed to raise money for our very best Canadian Olympic athletes.

Each star chef was paired with a current or former athlete. The chefs were to come up with a dish that represented the character of the athlete (some did, some didn’t) and the public, who forked out $250 for each ticket, got to gobble down the different dishes and then vote to see which team would emerge triumphant and carry on to the Canadian finals this coming weekend in Whistler.

One of my companions for the evening was champion food stylist Nathan Fong . Nathan, who has worked with Tojo of Tojo’s on frequent occasions, couldn’t resist re-arranging Tojo’s flower display as his serving station. He also couldn’t help noticing that Premier Campbell, who said a few words to VIP guests before the main event began, was wearing a grey suit which was ill-suited (pardon the pun) to his grey hair. My other companion for the evening, the lovely and talented Ramona Montagnes, director of the UBC Writing Centre couldn’t help noticing that as the premier began to speak, a wine glass (not his) was immediately swept away from the podium before anyone could take a photo.

Of course, I only noticed the food, starting with Tojo’s Fish in the Forest, a succulent piece of smoked sablefish stuffed with burdock root (gobo) and wrapped in a bamboo leaf, brilliantly presented on a vivid, red maple leaf. For the next two hours I gobbled down as many dishes as I could, all in the interest of fair play as I was entitled to cast a vote as well.

My personal favourite, mostly because I loved all the components, was that of Fairmont Chateau Whistler’s Executive Chef Vincent Stufano, with his Smoked Black Cod on venison short rib, butter sautéed pine mushrooms served with Pearl Onions in Port and Pumpkin Gnocchi. Which is not to say I didn’t have other favourites that evening, but I could only cast one ballot.

The best looking team of the evening was undoubtedly Charmaine Crooks and Vikram Vij of Vij’s, Charmaine resplendent in a gold sari outfit. And the food was great, too. Vikram’s Cumin Crusted Lamb Loin with Porcini Cream Curry and Spicy Cashews earned the Bronze award last night. The Silver went to Rob Clark, of C Restaurant with his Queen Charlotte Island ‘Kagan Bay’ scallop, quince-glazed pork shoulder, hazelnuts and citrus paper. Gold went to that perennial Vancouver favourite, Rob Feenie of Lumiere with a dish of his I have tasted many times, Roasted Butternut Squash Ravioli with Truffle Beurre Blanc. An old dish, but absolutely delicious. Feenie goes on to the finals in Whistler.

Simplest presentation: Michael Stadtlander, organizing chef for the entire tournament, with his Cortes Island oysters served with a tart mignonette, and Quadra Island mussels with coconut milk and a hint of lemon grass.

Best story: Rod Butters of Fresco, explaining how his farmer was out digging in the snow around Kelowna this week to find the ‘watermelon radishes’ garnishing his plate of tomato delights preserved from the Stony Paradise harvest this fall.

Most aromatic: David Hawksworth of West, who used pine mushrooms, truffle and horseradish to fine advantage in his beef shortrib ravioli, and Pino Posteraro of Cioppino’s, who blasted our sinus cavities with shavings of fresh white Alba truffles in his decadent risotto ‘Alba-style’ with foie gras foam.

Pork Fat Rules: James Walt of Araxi in Whistler scored high on my list as well with his braised pork belly accompanied by a weathervane scallop ravioli and crisp apple slaw.

Nathan, Ramona and I darted out before the winners were announced because we had to go and watch the latest episode of ‘The Bachelor’. But we watched it from where part of this episode happened….a bed in the luxurious Shaughnessy Suite at the Hotel Vancouver. Fairmont Hotels had offered three of their prime properties as ‘fantasy date locations’ to the show…so as we watched last night at the Fairmont-sponsored event, we saw the dates unfold in Whistler, Vancouver and San Francisco.

It was a little eerie/strange/gross to realize the people who were up there on the network TV screen had probably consummated their date on the bed on which we were lying…but hey, we still had all of our clothes on. If you want to relive the fantasy date, you can check out a ‘Bachelor Package’ at the Fairmont website. And to check out all the pictures from the evening, just click here.