If you don’t yet have plans for next Saturday afternoon, consider attending the fourth annual Culinary Arts Cook-Off at Mount Royal School. The event is a convergence of talented chefs and good food all in the name of arts education.
What: Culinary Arts Cook-Off
When: Saturday, April 18, 2015
Time: 11am-2pm
Where: Mount Royal School, 11303 55 Street
Every year, several community-minded chefs donate food and their time to contribute towards fundraising dollars to support arts core programming offered at Mount Royal School. The public is invited to attend and indulge their taste buds for a good cause – samples of the themed dishes are just $2 each, with all donations going towards the school. Of course, there is a competitive element involved, with chefs vying for awards in several categories: people’s choice, judges’ choice and kids’ choice.
2013 Culinary Cook-Off
I attended back in 2013, when the competition centred around sliders. It was clear the chefs had a great time flexing their creativity, and we found that the taster sizes were definitely generous. The Cook-Off was also a resounding success; the school raised over $16,000 that year.
The Marc’s contribution
This year, the theme is “noodles and doodles” – it’ll be interesting to see how the participating chefs interpret this, though I’m expecting at least a few versions of mac ‘n’ cheese. The ten restaurants on deck this year are: Craft Beer Market, El Cortez Tequila Bar & Kitchen, Lux Steakhouse & Bar, Noodlebox, Northlands, Pazzo Pazzo, The Red Piano, Smokehouse BBQ, Von’s, and Zinc.
To amp up the stakes even further, the winner of the judges’ choice category this year will also receive paid entry into the pasta category of the Canadian Food Championships in July. Ultimately, the winner of that competition will receive $2,500 and a trip to Florida to compete in the World Food Championships in November 2015.
I’m excited to share that Mack and I will be among the judges who will be tasked with selecting that winner on Saturday. Along with Tina Faiz, we’ll be joining some experienced judges who I’m sure will help show us the ropes. Good luck to all involved!
Hope to see you at Mount Royal School on Saturday!
Only Here for the Food 