Members of Kelowna's culinary community are headed to Erfurt, Germany where they will compete in the World Culinary Olympics.
Executive chef Iain Rennie and executive pastry chef Arthur Chen from Marriott Grand Okanagan Resort are set compete in what's been considered the pinnacle of culinary excellence since founded in 1896.
The Culinary Olympics, which is formally the IKA International Culinary Art Competition, are held every four years and bring together the best chefs from around the globe and serves as a world class venue to showcase culinary skill and to compete for the gold medal standing.
“We are honored to have two of Canada’s top culinary talents leading our team at the Delta Grand Okanagan and we are passionately cheering on Team Canada as they compete in the largest and most prestigious competition in the world this weekend”, said Daniel Bibby, General Manager.
A former executive chef himself, Bibby knows the intense commitment, concentration and teamwork required for this competition.
Chef Iain Rennie has been diligently preparing for the competition with the core team for the past year. Then entrée showcases Organic Beef Tenderloin, Sweetbread Chanterelle Terrine, Braised Daikon, Crusted Salsify, Sauerkraut Puree, Glazed Beef , Potato Barrel, Creamed Leek, Pomme Dauphine and Natural Jus. Decadent! You can follow Culinary Team Canada on Facebook and see their preparation as well as the competition submission. Chef Arthur Chen had the honor of masterfully creating and shipping out one of the centre pieces for the Canadian team and is also on his way to Germany to support the pastry team during the competition.
The competitions take place Oct. 22 to the 25: 18 glass kitchens, 120 judges and 53 countries are competing with over 2,000 chefs.