We had traveled to Kelowna with our team to compete in 3 competitions over two days. The first being the Mystery Wine Pairing, details on this event can be found on our previous blog post.

Day two of competition was the Black Box. It begins with all the chefs meeting very early at Okanogan College giving up their cell phones and sitting in a private room waiting to be called into the kitchen to have their six mystery ingredients revealed.

Each chef and their Sous Chef was brought into the kitchen at random and given a box of unknown ingredients from across the country. They then had ten minutes to plan out 2 dishes using all six ingredients in at least one dish. Once they had decided what they were going to prepare each team submits their menu items and they have 50 minutes to cook and plate 24 dishes for the judges.

As if the mystery ingredients and time restraints are not enough the chefs are being filmed with live commentary for a live online feed and the kitchen was filled with 20-30 spectators.
The ingredients are made public via the live feed as well as multiple social media sites. As I was preparing to head to the event (as a spectator) the ingredients were revealed. The ingredients were; Lamb neck & shoulder, Black Kale, Goat Gruyere, Caviar, Pears and Red Fife Flour. Up to this point I was truly missing my chef’s coat, but when I saw the ingredient list and was already aware of the time restraints, I was happy to be in “retirement”.  I had a few hours to process the list of ingredients and try to figure out what I would do and I could hardly think of anything. I can’t imagine being one of the competitors. That’s where Shaun and our Sous Chef Tyler Gallant worked their magic.

I was front and center in the kitchen waiting for their turn to come up, which is never good on the nerves. They came into the kitchen very calm and ready to represent. As soon as they began to menu plan I knew they’d be fine (not that I doubted them, but again the nerves were getting the better of me). They planned their 2 dishes in about five minutes, which gave them an extra 5 minutes to cook. Once they started cooking I slowly started feeling more relaxed. I’m not sure they were relaxed but they seemed to just be in a zone, very focused on their dishes.
In true Chinched Bistro style, Shaun and Tyler managed to have fun while hustling around the kitchen. They both worked at a steady pace, never looking nervous and always with smile on their faces. With the commentary coming from the kitchen judge, there were some jokes being directed at Shaun for his laid back attitude and love of beer which Shaun was happy to confirm. He would have been happy to have a beer when the final plate left the kitchen but he settled for a confidant pose and hug from Tyler. Spectators were impressed to see how the guys worked together and seemed to enjoy each other’s company. Comments were made within the kitchen about how they were the only ones smiling during the black box. We certainly know how to have fun!

The hour came to an end quite quickly and even with the short window to produce 24 plates they managed to finish each plate and send them off to be judged with 1 minute and 30 seconds to spare (the record for the most time to spare in the event).

Dish number one (above) was roasted lamb shoulder served with braised black kale and a pear and caviar compote. For their second dish (below) Shaun and Tyler prepared braised lamb neck served over top if a red fife and gruyere pancake and finished the plate with a tomato jam. Both the dishes looked amazing and made the crowd of spectators hungry for the Grand Finale later that evening.

The dishes Shaun and Tyler presented look great and I’m sure they have the flavor to match. It was a wonderful day to be a spectator and to have the opportunity to cheer on our team. They did us proud and I think everyone was very happy with our experience at the Black Box Competition!

On the opening day of the Championships Tantalus Vineyards hosted the opening ceremonies.  The chefs had been touring the facilities they would be using throughout the competition and arrived after the venue had been filled, after entering the room to a hero’s welcome the fun began.  First each of the judges was introduced and given an opportunity to explain their background and who they were to the crowd. Newfoundland’s own Karl Wells lent his voice to the oft overlooked plight of the small restaurant travelling to such a large event with some great words of encouragement.

After the judges had everything squared away it was time to announce the Chefs.  Setting the tone for the week Chef Hussey of Chinched took the stage with a smile on his face and a beer in his hand.  Before he was finished he had the whole room laughing, to say he did us proud would be an understatement.

After the judges and the chefs had their chance in the spotlight, everyone was assigned their culinary students and it was time for the wine.  Each Chef was provided with a box containing the wine and funds and we were ushered on our way.

We decided to gather the troops and head back to our condo to try and make sense of the wine and decide which direction we would go (the team in mid discussion below).  We quickly identified the wine as a Pinot Noir; we also assumed it was from the Okanagan although it turned out to be the Norman Hardie Pinot Noir from Prince Edward County in Ontario.  Once we had decided on the wine we identified the key flavors we would like to incorporate into the dish; mushroom, earth and pork were what we decided to feature, we also remarked that the wine was lightly oaked and decided to incorporate a smoked component if possible.

If you’ve eaten at Chinched then you know one of our staple menu items is Charcuterie. Chef Hussey wanted to stay as close to his roots as possible and as the discussion continued the idea of a gourmet hotdog emerged.   Keep in mind, serving 400 people on $500 leaves only $1.25 per plate so finding a balance of flavor and value was key; the hotdog covered both of these requirements in spectacular fashion.

Each component of the dish including the bread and condiments were made the day of the event, and it turned out to be a huge hit. The dish as served: The Beautiful Hotdog: pork sausage served on seared truffled potato bread with smoked mushroom ketchup, pickled mustard seed, dried apricot relish and finished with fresh baby greens (below).

We got some great feedback from the crowd and even heard positive things from Norman Hardie the winemaker himself.  Unfortunately the rankings for each individual event were not released so we can’t be sure of how we did, but from the positive things we heard and from tasting the combination I think it’s safe to say we had a very strong showing!

The Pop-Up deli was organized by Chef Roary MacPherson of the Sheraton Newfoundland, with the support of the Restaurant Association and participation from Bacalao, Todd Perrin (of the soon to be opened Mallard Cottage) and Adam Blanchard of Five Brothers Artisan Cheese.  Each participating chef set up a sandwich station in the ballroom.  As guests arrived to the event they made their way into the garden to find themselves a seat.  They then proceeded into the ballroom to make the big decision, what sandwich to choose?  The choice was not an easy one.  Chef Roary MacPherson of the Sheraton prepared a Pork Schnitzel with Caramelized Onions, Chef Mike Barskey of Bacalao prepared a Jigg’s Dinner Quiche, Adam Blanchard of Five Brothers Artisan Cheese prepared a Grilled Cheese Sandwich using his fresh mozzarella and Chef Shaun Hussey prepared Pastrami on Rye.  Each guest had a choice of some side dishes to accompany their sandwich.  You really couldn’t go wrong for $10.

It was wonderful to see so many of our regular Chinched Bistro guests and many new faces come out to support our Gold Medal Plates team.  We would like to extend a big thank you to everyone who has supported us over the past few months; our suppliers, the restaurant community, our guests and our staff.  Your support had been unconditional and so very generous, thank you all!

Cheers!

We were introduced to Photographer Sasha Okshevsky during the 2012 Gold Metal Plates competition.  He attended as part of the Aqua/Club culinary team.  He’s a multi talented man who takes surreal photos when he’s not working as a Chef in Mark McCrowes new Gastropub “The Club.”

The prints of Sasha’s we are currently displaying all have a Star Wars Theme, but that’s not all he has to offer.  His photo’s feature iconic shots of St. John’s and surrounding area with different aspects of pop culture super imposed on top.  Overall his work is very high quality and a ton of fun. A couple examples of his work we have in the bar right now are below:

If you’re interested in seeing any more of his work you can check it out at http://sashaok.tumblr.com/

All of his shots are for sale off our walls, so drop into the bar for some Tapas and a drink and check  them out!

Cheers!

On Thursday evening of last week Chinched Bistro along with a lot of help from our friends hosted the Gold Medal Plates Podium Dinner and Auction at the Quidi Vidi Brewery. The event was a fundraiser to help with the expenses for the Chinched Team heading to Kelowna BC for the Canadian Culinary Championships.

The event was a group effort with a lot of different hands involved.  Chef Mark McCrowe and Chef Roary McPherson (the other two podium finishers at Gold Medal Plates along with Chef Shaun Hussey of Chinched) each prepared two courses. The 6 course meal was then paired with wine and beer graciously donated by Dialog Wines, P&S Wines, Mer & Soliel and the Beverage Barron. Quidi Vidi provided the beer and  Collingwood Spirits provided a complimentary cocktail to start off the evening.  All in all the food and beverages were fantastic and we couldn’t have done it without all the help we received.

Throughout the evening there was both a silent and live auction taking place. The very entertaining live auctioneer Wayne Bartlett hosted the auction portion of the event and with his help we were able to sell every item we had (he even sold Shaun twice!). Wayne livened up the party and was a major help in the both the organization and execution of the evening.

The wonderful and talented Nancy Brace, Executive Director of the Restaurant Association of Newfoundland and Labrador was also involved from start to finish.  It would be hard to find anyone more knowledgeable and dedicated to the St. John’s restaurant scene than Nancy and without her help I’m not sure the event would have been nearly as successful as it was.

Through our partnership with the Restaurant Association we hope to start a fund for future culinary competitions to help support teams attending various events.

All in all it’s been a busy January but a successful one.  Thanks once again to everyone who helped us with the Podium Diner Fundraiser. We hope to make everyone proud in Kelowna!

Cheers

The culinary arts program with CONA consists of three separate blocks of in class training followed by a specific hour requirement in order to achieve a “Red Seal” certification.  As each hour requirement is accomplished Emily will return to school to complete the in school portion of her training.  She is currently working with us to reach her requirements for her 3rd and final apprenticeship of the culinary program before completing her Red Seal certification.

An interesting thing to know about Em is that her position with Chinched is her first job.  This is impressive for a variety of reasons, most notably for the number of hours she works.  For anyone not familiar with the life of a Chef in the service industry you’re typically in the kitchen beginning around 10 or 11 in the morning and you’re there until 11 or so that night.  During the winter we’re only open 5 days a week; however throughout the summer we were open for 6 nights with Emily here for every one of them.  One of the most memorable quotes from Emily over the summer was, “Sometimes I can’t even believe it’s the same day,” after working 6 straight 12 hour days. But she takes it like a champ and day in day out she does excellent work.

In her time at Chinched Emily has grown tremendously as a cook and is taking advantage of the opportunity to be creative.  She is currently in charge of the baking program as well as all of our house made ice cream and sorbet (currently we’re serving Rum Raisin Ice Cream and Crab Apple Sorbet). She also serves all of our Charcuterie, Deserts and many of our Appetizers.

Em will remain with us until she has completed her hours requirement and then she’ll return to school to work towards becoming a 3rd year apprentice. Given the hours requirement is rather hefty we expect her to be with us until next Fall; we couldn’t be happier to have a person and a cook of her quality in our kitchen!

In order to get the whole team across the island Chinched is teaming up with the  Quidi Vidi Brewery and the other  Gold Medal Plates Podium winning Chefs to host a fundraising dinner.  On January the 10^th Chef Roary MacPherson of the Shereton (right) the Bronze Medalist, Chef Mark McCrowe of Aqua and The Club (left) the Silver Medalist and Chef Shaun Hussey of Chinched Bistro (middle) the Gold medal finalist will be hosting a 6 course dinner at the Quidi Vidi Brewery. Each course of the meal will be paired with wine or local QV beer and the cost including the pairings will be $125 per person.

Throughout the dinner we will be holding a silent auction and there will be a live auction at the end of the evening hosted by Wayne Bartlett. There are sure to be other surprises throughout the evening and the whole event is shaping up to be a lot of fun.

Currently the menu has not been finished but as soon as it’s finalized we will be posting it to Facebook and our website, so be sure to keep an eye out!

Thanks for all your support and we look forward to seeing you at the Quidi Vidi Brewery!

Cheers.

This past Thursday Chef Shaun Hussey attended the 4^th Annual Gold Medal Plates competition representing Chinched Bistro.  He served Potato Wrapped Cod with Pressed Ham Hocks, Local Braising Greens, Smoked Apple Relish all finished with an Apple Cider Brown Butter vinaigrette, the dish was paired with the Tawse Winery Niagara Valley 2010 Sketches Chardonnay.  As happy as we were with the dish what happened at the end of the evening surprised everyone; Chef Hussey was awarded the Gold Medal and will be representing Chinched Bistro and Newfoundland at the National Gold Medal Plates Competition in Kelowna BC!

The National Competition is comprised of a number of different events and is sure to be a lot of fun.  The first is a blind wine event; the competitors will taste an unlabeled wine and then on a budget of $500 prepare a dish for 300 guests to be paired with the blind wine. The second event is the ‘black box’ event; the competitors are provided with a box of ‘mystery ingredients’ and are given a set amount of time to prepare 2 dishes for the 12 judges. The final event is similar to the event that was held here in St. John’s. The Chefs will prepare a dish paired with a Canadian wine for 600-700 guests.  All in all it’s going to be a whirlwind of a weekend.

Over the next couple months Chinched will be putting off a number of fundraisers to help with the cost of having the team travel across the country. The date’s aren’t set in stone but in January we will be hosting a 5 course meal by the Gold Medal Plates podium winning Chefs (below). Chef Mark McCrowe (left) of Aqua and The Club (2^nd), Chef Rory MacPherson (right) of the Shereton (3^rd) and Chef Shaun Hussey (centre) of Chinchedwill team up to serve a 5 course meal at the Quidi Vidi Brewery.  The meal will be paired with a combination of wine and local beer and is certain to excite the senses.

As we know more about this fundraiser and others we’ll post the information on Facebook and in the blog, so make sure to keep an eye out! Thanks again to everyone and we hope to see you all soon!

Cheers