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Only three weeks to go, regional Gold Medal Plates winner at Oz Kafé feels pressure of the national stage
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Ottawa chefs plan 2nd “Weekend Takeover” event to keep Elgin Street resto open four days during big competition
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Surely to be hot tickets, “Takeover” reservations
now open for Feb. 6, 7, 8 and 9
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JAN 13 13 – 10:30 AM — Less than a month before the big, potentially career-changing party in British Columbia, Ottawa chef Jamie Stunt, 32, chef for eight years at the unassuming Oz Kafé on Elgin Street, is starting to feel anxious, a bit nervous, and indeed more than a little pressure at being among 10 Canadian regional Gold Medal Plates finalists to compete in the ultimate Canadian Culinary Championships this Feb 8 and 9.
Right, chef Jamie Stunt is starting to feel the heat of competition coming in less than a month.
That’s three gruelling cooking events involving a secret wine pairing, a mystery black box of ingredients, and a finale dinner for 600 people where Ottawa’s contestant, who is not formally trained in the ways of a kitchen, will find himself pitted against some of the brightest stars in Canada’s culinary firmament.
“Yeah, I would say I’m nervous,” Stunt confides, in a brief chat about his plans for competition.
And he especially appreciates the moral support at home where 20 volunteers among Ottawa’s close cheffing community are once again stepping up this year to keep the café lights on while the home team is off to the Delta in far-away Kelwona trying to bring back gold — for the second year — to the nation’s capital.
“I looked at the calendar and it’s a month away, but I feel we are where we should be as far as planning and organizing …
“But serving 600 people on the other side of the country and trying to make the best dish of anyone in Canada is maybe the craziest thing I’ve ever done. Literally. On top of the other competitions you’re thrown into — there’s three competitions over two days — that’s pretty crazy,” Stunt says.
Off to Kelowna, L-R Oz Kafé owner Oz Balpinar, executive chef Jamie Stunt, sous chef Simon Bell.
Recall many of the same volunteer chefs organized last year by chef Matt Carmichael staged what they dubbed a “Weekend Takeover” of tiny Atelier restaurant on Rochester Street so that chef/owner Marc Lepine, 37, and his staff needn’t worry about the home fires as they were off to the grand championship in Kelowna. Fact is, compensation by Gold Medal Plates organizers is not overly generous — it being a series of culinary contests to raise money for Canada’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes, after all — and the cost of staging a competition on the other side of the continent can easily ring upwards of $10,000 in lost revenue not counting hotel rooms, wages, airfare, and surcharges for the inevitable excess baggage to lug no end of secret ingredients and perhaps special gadgets to the contest.
Above, top winners at the regional Gold Medal Plates in Ottawa last November, from left chefs Jason Duffy of Arc Lounge.Dining (silver medal), Jamie Stunt of Oz Kafé (gold), and Jonathan Korecki of Sidedoor Contemporary Kitchen and Bar (bronze). All three were newcomers to the regional competition. As top winner, Stunt moves on to the Canadian Culinary Championship in Kelowna in less than one month, while the cheffing community in Ottawa rallies to keep Oz Kafé open four nights.
In that light, you can appreciate the gratitude Lepine felt last year to know his restaurant in Ottawa was in good hands, and that revenue would be coming in while he and staff were away. (Of the $150 ticket price in 2012, $50 went to the food bank. This year the price is a more modest $80, which includes $20 for the Ottawa Food Bank.)
As it turned out, Lepine was indeed successful at the finale contest and came home with the coveted Canadian Culinary Champion title.
“I know how he feels because I remember last year thinking it’s incredible that all these chefs I respect so much will be working in my kitchen,” Lepine recalls.
“Apart from that, I remember wishing that I could attend. It was such a cool dinner I just wish I could have eaten here on one of those nights because it was a pretty special thing.”
Above, chef Jamie Stunt’s winning yak dish served in November at the regional Gold Medal Plates in Ottawa.
Ironically, even though Lepine stepped in to organize the takeover nights this time around he won’t be able to attend any at Oz Kafé because, as last year’s big winner, he’ll be serving guests at receptions and meals in Kelowna next month.
“I met with Jamie yesterday morning and he had a lot of questions,” Lepine says. “I told him how we packed all our food in Styrofoam boxes and taped it up, and made sure things were vacuum-packed so they wouldn’t leak. I actually kept celeriac chips on my lap the whole way as carry-on because I didn’t want them to break. And it was expensive to pay for all the extra luggage — we each went with three checked pieces.”
This year Stunt expects to take with him Simon Bell, his sous chef, and cook Michael Bednarz, as well as café owner and enthusiastic supporter Oz Balpinar. Sommelier Alex Scott will remain behind to mind the restaurant as other chefs take over four nights.
Above, chefs in February 2012 toast a job well done as they volunteered to keep Atelier open through “Weekend Takeover” in solidarity with chef/owner Marc Lepine and his staff, who brought home top honours from Kelowna at the Canadian Culinary Championship.
Although Stunt isn’t giving away his entire battle plan, he does allow that his proposed plate for the finale will be a variation of the seared yak from Tiraislin Fold Farm in Maberly, Ont., prawn pickle, crispy tomatillo, smoked boar vinaigrette, herbs, citrus and spice that won him first place in Ottawa. Again, it will be paired with special brew created by Ashton Brewing Co., a brewpub in nearby Ashton, Ont. (Stunt also used some of the spent grains from the beer in his breading for the tomatillo.)
“Most say it’s wise to make the same dish, but because a lot of stuff we used the first time were seasonal we felt to try and recreate the same using out-of-season ingredients may actually produce a worse dish than we made in Ottawa. So our plan is to be even better by changing some ingredients to keep them seasonal while retaining the same idea.”
Left, Atelier chef/owner Marc Lepine wins the Canadian Culinary Championship in February 2012.
As of this writing (details may change), here’s the guest chef lineup each day at Oz Kafé. Reservations ($80 + tax + tip, includes $20 donation to Ottawa Food Bank) for this hot ticket are available by calling 613-234-0907. Limited to one seating of 50 tickets nightly:
Wednesday Feb. 6 – Marc Doiron, town; Jason Duffy, Arc.the hotel; Jonathan Korecki, Sidedoor; Chris Lord, Union Local 613; Jon Svazas, Fauna; Simon and/or Ross Fraser, Fraser Café; Caroline Ishii, Zen Kitchen.
Thursday Feb. 7 – Charles Part, Les Fougères; Clifford Lyness, Brookstreet hotel; Yannick Anton, Le Cordon Bleu Signatures Bistro; Trish Larkin, Black Cat; Cesare Santaguida, Vittoria Trattoria; Michael Farber, Farb’s Kitchen.
Friday Feb. 8 – Matt Carmichael, El Camino; Arup Jana, Allium; Marysol Foucault, Edgar, Odile; Michael Moffatt, Beckta, Play, Gezellig; Chloe Berlanga, The Whalesbone Oyster House; Ben Baird, The Urban Pear.
Saturday Feb. 9 – Chris Deraiche, Wellington Gastropub; Michael Hay, Back Lane Café; Michael Radford, Izakaya; Murray Wilson, The Courtyard; Michael Blackie; Pat Garland, Absinthe; Peter Robblee, Juniper Kitchen.
“This is a huge deal for us and we’re very excited,” says Oz Balpinar, owner of the cafe.
“It’s a lot to wrap our heads around in terms of organizing, from travel arrangements to accommodations, to just being supportive for Jamie and Simon.
“And the support of other chefs helping out makes a huge difference in us actually being able to pay our bills the following month,” Balpinar says.
“Four busy days covers your rent, hydro, payroll … If we had to close those four days I think it would be really hard to afford this event so far away from home, to be honest. So it’s amazing the restaurant community is stepping up and Marc Lepine is heading it. It’s amazing the restaurant community is so close-knit in Ottawa, where everyone wants to help out.”
Says Stunt: “Oz has been absolutely unbelievable, she’s spared no expense. She’s given us total freedom to spend and do what we want, so we’re trying to be responsible about that. We’re had very good help with Canadian caviar donated from Northern Devine, but nonetheless this is still a very expensive undertaking for us.
“But Oz has total faith in us, which makes things a ton easier to try and bring home a gold medal to Ottawa for the second year in a row.”
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Twitter: @roneade
