This past weekend, Kelowna played host to the 2018 Canadian Culinary Championships (CCC), the final competition in the celebrated Gold Medal Plates series, which raises funds for the Canadian Olympic Foundation. Gold-medal winning chefs, from the 11 nation-wide city competitions, travelled to Kelowna where they demonstrated their culinary prowess at the three CCC events: Mystery Wine Pairing, Black Box Competition, and Grand Finale.

After a gruelling two days of competition, Chef Alex Chen, of Vancouver’s Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar, was crowned 2018’s Canadian Culinary Champion, winning gold at Sunday night’s Grand Finale. Taking second place was Chef Éric Gonzalez, from Montreal’s L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, while third place honours went to Chef Barry Mooney, from Gio in Halifax.

In addition to celebrating the best in Canadian cuisine, the CCC also celebrates Canadian wine, beer, and spirits. Kelowna’s own Tantalus Vineyards was awarded gold in Best of Show for their 2015 Riesling.

This year saw the introduction of Gold Medal Pints, an invitational competition for Canadian breweries. Burnaby’s Dageraad Brewing took home the gold medal in this inaugural competition with their Dageraad Blonde.

Tourism Kelowna is a proud regional supporter of the Canadian Culinary Championships. The esteemed culinary event creates travel-worthy experiences, drawing visitors from across the country to explore our growing food and drink scene. Tourism Kelowna centered a culinary media tour around the CCC events, hosting media from Toronto and Vancouver.