Vancouver’s Next Rising Star Determined at Black Box Culinary Competition
9/11/2007

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(Photo Credit: Ron Sangha Photography Ltd.)

Congratulations to Robert Lockwood from The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, the first prize winner of this year’s 12th Annual Rising Star Black Box Competition, which was held Tuesday night at The Art Institute of Vancouver – Dubrulle Culinary Arts. Lockwood prepared an exciting appetizer of crispy calamari and garden squid salad and a main course of pork loin wrapped in pork belly to win top honours in the culinary competition. William Beere from the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre took home second place and Anna Yeh from The Fairmont Vancouver Airport took home third place, both with excellent runner-up dishes.

Twelve promising young and emerging chefs eagerly anticipated the revealing of this year’s mysterious Black Box. The mysterious ingredients included: patty pans, cipollini onions, popcorn sprouts, brown tomatoes, striped baby beets, purple potatoes, tuna, calamari, quail, pork loin, and pork belly. The strictly timed competition began at 4:00 p.m. with competitor’s opening their Black Boxes; the judging commenced at 6:30 p.m. when our 6 industry-professional judges, including executive chefs, restaurateurs, and culinary writers, were served with an appetizer and entrée. Chefs utilized the mystery ingredients as well as items available to them on a common table for their creative recipes and subsequent dishes. These competitors were nominated to participate by their Executive Chefs on the basis of career potential, current position, and years in kitchen, which could not exceed three years.

Judging categories included presentation, taste, originality, and the use of the ingredients. Most importantly, the identities of each competitor were not revealed until the judging was complete, allowing judges to savour and critique each dish fairly. Judge Margaret Chisholm, Executive Chef of Culinary Capers, was thrilled to “keep the tradition up” of encouraging emerging chefs to challenge their skills in the kitchen.

The Art Institute of Vancouver is one of The Art Institutes (www.artinstitutes.edu), with over 35 educational institutions located throughout North America, providing an important source of design, media arts, fashion, and culinary arts professionals.

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Contact

Cliff Jones
Director of Public Relations
The Art Institute of Vancouver
Ph: 604.639.5117
email: cjones@edmc.edu

Kathleen Ong
Public Relations Specialist
The Art Institute of Vancouver
Ph: 604-298-5492
email: kong@aii.edu