Canada’s best young chefs battled it out at this year’s National Jeunes Chefs Rôtisseurs Competition on Saturday, September 21, at Calgary’s Culinary Campus at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) in the School of Hospitality and Tourism.

The five contestants were all regional winners, representing the following Bailliages and sponsoring restaurants (from east to west):

Halifax: Meghan Carree, Rime Restaurant and Bar
Toronto: Luca Maglietta, The Omni King Edward Hotel
Winnipeg: Eejay Chua, Black Bird Bistro
Calgary: Nolan Moskaluuk, Calgary Golf and Country Club
Vancouver: Gus Koenigsfest, The Pear Tree Restaurant

Ruth Grierson, Vice-Chargée de Missions of Vancouver pointed out “this was only the second time that a National and International competition was held on the same weekend at the same venue with the same black box.

Contestants were judged on taste, originality, creativity, presentation, portion size, nutrition, dress, kitchen cleanliness and timing by a team of Professional and Non-professional members under the watchful eye of Chef Instructor Jan Hansen, Conseiller Culinaire.

At the Awards Ceremony Chef Hansen led the five young competitors into the room and seated them in the front row, where they anxiously awaited the results of the competition. Each was presented with a medal, certificate and a Wüsthof knife as participants.

After thanking SAIT for their amazing kitchen facilities, the Calgary team for their organization, and recognizing the judges, Chef Hansen announced that the 2019 winner of the “Fulgence Charpentier Trophy” was Vancouver’s Gus Koenigsfest.

Gus has now earned the right to represent Canada at the 2020 International Competition in Paris. He was also recognized for having the highest kitchen score and received the “Paul Mastalir Award for Kitchen Excellence” along with a Wüsthof Knife attaché set.

Runner-up was Calgary’s Nolan Moskaluuk and in Third Place came Winnipeg’s Eejay Chua.

Thanks go to the sponsors, Wüsthof Manufacturing, Germany and Chef’s Hat Inc., Canada. Donations to the competition were given by Cargill as well as Cattleboyz and Hotel Arts.

Eric Jones
Chargé de Presse

Photos courtesy of Tori | Food Sparks Joy

The kitchen judges were:
Max Labhardt, Vice-Conseiller Culinaire, Calgary
Jeremy Langemann, Maître Rôtisseur, Winnipeg

The tasting judges included:
Steve Lepine, Chef Rôtisseur, Calgary
Georg Windisch, Chef Rôtisseur, Calgary
Liana Robberecht, Maître Rôtisseur, Calgary
Michael Dekker, Vice-Conseiller Culinaire Honoraire, Calgary
Michael Frayne, Chef Rôtisseur, Calgary