On January 13, 2010, eleven up and coming chefs from Vancouver's top restaurants competed for the top prize at the 14th Annual Black Box Competition, hosted by The International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Vancouver. go2’s Dennis Green was one of the judges for the competition.
Competitors were given just under two and a half hours to create an appetizer and an entrée, using the mystery items in the Black Box, which this year were whole local sole and whole fresh duck.
Above: Finished dishes on display (Photo provided by The Art Institute of Vancouver)
Jasper Cruickshank of Aramark Canada took Gold in the competition. His winning dishes were an appetizer of pan seared sole with leek fondue stuffed gougères and a sour apple reduction, and an entrée of pan roasted duck breast, with potato pavé, a carrot purée confit, tomato relish and natural jus.
Above: Winner Jasper Cruikshank with his winning entrée dish (Photo provided by The Art Institute of Vancouver)
At the awards ceremony following the competition, guests from Vancouver’s hospitality scene witnessed the awarding of second place to Nick Surowy from The Fairmont Waterfront, with third place going to Jonathan Boerboom of The Fairmont Pacific Rim.
Above: Top 3 of Black Box Competition 2010 (from left): Jonathan Boerboom, The Fairmont Pacific Rim, Jasper Cruickshank, Aramark Canada, and Nick Surowy, The Fairmont Waterfront. (Photo provided by The Art Institute of Vancouver)
The competing chefs were selected by their Executive Chefs on the basis of career potential, current position and experience, which cannot exceed three years. The panel of judges assessing the culinary creations was selected from top industry professionals, culinary media and award-winning executive chefs. The identities of the competitors were not revealed until the judging was complete, allowing judges to critique each dish with complete objectivity.
Judges for this year’s competition were:
- Javier Alarco, Executive Chef, Sheraton Wall Centre
- John Cloutier, Corporate Chef, Garland Canada
- Dennis Green, Senior Manager Industry Training, go2
- James Kennedy, Corporate Training Chef, White Spot
- Andrew Morrison, Editor & Publisher, Scout Magazine
- Poyan Danesh, Captain, Culinary Team BC
- Dino Renaerts, Executive Chef, Diva at the Met Restaurant
Above: Judges and guest taste the dishes (from left): John Cloutier, BC Chef’s association and Garland Canada; Sylvain Cuerrier, Executive Chef, River Rock Casino; Javier Alarco, Executive Chef, Sheraton Wall Centre, and Andrew Morrison, Editor & Publisher, Scout Magazine. (Photo provided by The Art Institute of Vancouver)
