Canadian Culinary Industry Awards and Celebrations

The Good Food Innovation Winners 2018 !

2018 was a banner year! Once again the bar has been raised by the chefs of Canada in the annual University of Guelph Good Food Innovation Awards. The calibre of this year’s menus was absolutely outstanding! The depth and breath of our chefs’ commitment to the producers of Canada was the finest ever. (We DID trend at #1 on Twitter across the nation as we lit the CN Tower!) What pleases us so much is how many new Gold Award winners there are this year, men and women who can stand on any culinary stage in the world and how many others are returning. The reach of Food Day Canada is expanding and it seems that, if a restaurant is to be truly competitive, it needs to honour local ingredients and the producers who grow and harvest them! The new members of this elite group join many veterans who’ve made top notch local offerings the cornerstone of their menus. All the categories are filled with culinary game-changers. Check the links to each menu and then challenge anyone who says Canada does not have it’s own vibrant food scene. We rock! GOLD AWARDS 2018 These are our premier awards. The University of Guelph and President/Vice-Chancellor Dr. Franco Vaccarino annually host the new winners, showcasing the highlights of the culinary research that positions the school as “Canada’s Food University.” From there, these chefs make their way to Manhattan to cook at the James Beard House (that’s Jason Bangerter of Langdon Hall on the right), a testament to both their talent and their commitment. The 2017 award winners will be there on May 22nd, 2019. Let’s begin in British Columbia where From Scratch, A Mountain Kitchen in Fairmont Hot Springs has been a perennial Silver Award winner and now claims Gold. Chef Lee Cooper of L’Abattoir is Vancouver’s newest winner in that city while over on Vancouver Island, Chef Ronald St. Pierre presented a gorgeous menu at Locals in Courtney. Near Kelowna, Chef & Forager Aman Dosanj’s pop up restaurant Paisley Notebook used 100% ingredients from Canada. Once again Ontario had a very strong showing. We saw Abruzzi Restaurant in London with Chef /Owner Dave Lamers at the helm and Marc Lepine’s Atelier in Ottawa join the circle. Chef/Owner Ryan Crawford of backhouse in Niagara on the Lake is long overdue for this award. In Toronto, two new-to-Food Day restaurants and their chefs will be honoured…the CN Tower & Restaurant 360’, the purview of Chef John Morris and another downtown favourite Le Sélect Bistro which is the domaine of Executive Chef Laura Maxwell It’s great to see Fogo Island Inn and Executive Chef Jonathan Gushue claim Gold. The inn is known globally as a game-changer for both hospitality and tourism and with Gushue in the kitchen, it’s hit its stride in culinary excellence. VETERAN GOLD INDUCTEES 2018 Back again this year are Kelowna-based restaurants RauDZ Regional Table and Chef Mark Filatow’s Waterfront Wines Restaurant. Whistler’s Fairmont Chateau Whistler where Executive Chef Isabel Chung and Chef Derek Bendig held a full-on celebration of Canadian cuisine across the entire property. Once again Calgary’s Galesa Aden of Deane House (owner Sal Howell) join River Cafe (Sal Howell & Chef Matthias Fong). Milton Rebello and Louise Lu, a husband and wife team, from Regina are known over the city for Rebello Cooking Studio and Skye Bistro. A veteran of Ontario’s food scene; Todd Clarmo, led Bauer Kitchen to its second win as did Eric Neaves of Kitchener’s Fork and Cork Grill. Few restaurants have been so immersed in the produce of Niagara as Treadwell Farm to Table Restaurant in downtown Niagara on the Lake. Ottawa’s Fauna Restaurant is once again on the...

ANNOUNCING! The Good Food Innovation Awards 2016

Want to eat ‘Canadian’? Get ready to salivate! As we look forward to 2017, the summery menus of this year’s Food Day Canada chefs remind us of our immense Northern Bounty. Canada IS food and the world is, and will be, richer for it. With the greatest number of Innovation Award winners in our history, the menus reflect a culinary diversity unlike any other nation on earth. Congratulations to all the winners! You can check out their 2016 menus on the links provided. First of all, welcome to the new Gold Award winning chefs! They join a constant and exceedingly talented roster. Theirs is not world class cuisine, it’s Canadian-class cuisine in all its incarnations from Chef James Walt’s British Columbia Barkley Sound Sockeye that was pan-seared and served with fresh pea agnolotti at Araxi in Whistler to the fabulous wood-fired loin and seared pork belly of Chef Michael Smith at Fireworks on Prince Edward Island in the tiny community of Bay Fortune. Then there was the week long menu at Toronto’s now-iconic Canoe and spectacular pan-Canadian offerings at Ottawa’s Fauna which began with East Coast oysters and ended with an Okanagan plum tart. Check out the wine pairings! Jason Parsons, Peller Estates’ Executive Chef has a whole winery cellar to play with and his dishes were created with some of their best in mind. Imagine a perfect peach and tarragon gazpacho dolloped with goat cheese mousse and paired with a Private Reserve Pinot Gris! From the Fenwick...

The 2015 Winners Circle

The University of Guelph / Food Day Canada Good Food Innovation Awards were created to honour chefs and restaurants that, no matter where they are located, go the extra mile when preparing their Food Day Canada menus. The menus from 2015 produced the richest and most diverse group of honourees in the history of our Awards. Some chefs celebrated for one day; others for the weekend; still others for the entire week prior. In a...

Guelph’s Good Food Innovation Award 2012

The University of Guelph created the Good Food Innovation Award to honour food professionals from across the country who strive to provide innovative menu solutions based on Canadian ingredients. There are chefs and restaurants that are the virtual homesteaders of Canadian cuisine. In their evolution, they’ve traveled down different culinary pathways on extraordinary journeys that have led the way for others. They have created milestones. They have created history. The menus were judged on Canadian...

The University of Guelph Good Food Innovation Award 2011

There are chefs and restaurants that are the virtual homesteaders of Canadian cuisine. In their evolution, they’ve traveled down different culinary pathways on extraordinary journeys that have led the way for others. They have created milestones. They have created history. The University of Guelph created the Good Food Innovation Award to honour food professionals from across the country who strive to provide innovative menu solutions based on Canadian ingredients. In addition to Canadian content,...

The University of Guelph Culinary Innovation Award 2010

The University of Guelph Innovation Award is presented to restaurants from across Canada that approach food in a new and exciting manner with a particular emphasis on creativity and innovation. A menu design might solve a problem, add unusual flare to a traditionally prepared dish or perhaps highlight an original technique. Innovation can include one ingredient in a menu, or several menu items.This award is a great testament to Canadian chefs who are always...