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Meet the five Toronto contestants on Top Chef Canada season three

(Image: Top Chef Canada)

Season three of Top Chef Canada kicks off on March 18, and earlier today Food Network Canada unveiled the slate of 16 contestants, including five from the GTA (that’s one less than in seasons one and two). Returning this year are host Lisa Ray, head judge Mark McEwan and resident judge Shereem Arazm, and just like last season, the winner takes home $100,000 and a new GE Monogram Kitchen (plus a custom Caesarstone countertop installation, which was the prize in episode 12 last year). The celebrity guests will include Montreal chef-hunk Chuck Hughes, U.S. Top Chef season six champ Michael Voltaggio and Food Network regulars David Rocco and Robert Irvine, as well as the usual sprinkling of CanCon’s finest like Trish Stratus, Russell Peters and, gloriously, Jann Arden. Below, we suss out the Toronto contestants’ chances.

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People

December 3, 2012 | 3:05 pm

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Q&A: Guy Fieri on shooting Diners, Drive-ins and Dives in Toronto

(Images: Caroline Aksich)

Guy Fieri, the frosted-tipped host of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, hasn’t had a great month thanks to Pete Wells’ hilarious (if perhaps over-the-top) New York Times review of his newest restaurant, Guy’s American Kitchen and Bar. We caught up with Fieri just after he wrapped up filming an upcoming Toronto episode of DDD and right before he hosted the Chef’s Challenge, a fundraiser that supports breast and ovarian cancer research at Mount Sinai Hospital. Here’s what he had to say about his personal connection to the cause, his impressions of Toronto and the already-infamous review:

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The Dish

Food Events

December 3, 2012 | 3:00 pm

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GALLERY: Guy Fieri presides over a roster of celeb chefs (and their fans) at this year’s Chef’s Challenge

(Image: Caroline Aksich)

Saturday’s Chef’s Challenge was a chance for Iron Chef wannabes—or “masochists,” as event host Guy Fieri called them—to flex their cooking talents on stage in front of 400 of their fellow food-loving philanthropists. The third annual fundraiser was in support of breast and ovarian cancer research at Mount Sinai hospital, and took place this year at the Royal York. This was no ordinary ticketed event—all attendees were required to raise a minimum of $2,500, with the top 50 broken up into groups of 10 led by a celebrity chef (Chuck Hughes, David Rocco, Mark McEwan, Lynn Crawford or Michael Smith) who coached them through three rounds of Iron Chef–inspired challenges (those not in the top 50 ate their Fieri-conceived five-course dinner in peace).

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The Hype

TIFF Talk

September 10, 2012 | 1:10 pm

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TIFF PARTY: Ms. Lauryn Hill set the room on fire at the big annual One X One party

While most A-listers chose to spend their Saturday night downtown, anyone looking to have some real fun was at the Kool Haus for the annual One X One fundraiser. One X One is one of those parties that gets a lot of hype, because it’s such a festival staple, it’s for an indisputably good cause—the charity aims to improve the quality of life for children all over the world—and it’s always a good time. Toronto rapper Kardinal Offishall kicked the night off, getting the crowd sufficiently pumped with special guests like Solitair, Jully Black and K’naan (who moved Kardinal almost to tears with his song). And then Ms. Lauryn Hill came on. And Ms. Lauryn Hill was awesome.

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The Hype

The Velvet Rope

May 15, 2012 | 5:35 pm

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Gallery: David Miller, Jully Black and others share the one thing you should know before you die at the Top Ten Event

(Image: Jenna Marie Wakani)

Here’s the concept: nine notable Torontonians (chef David Rocco couldn’t make it)—or honorary Torontonians for the night—each get 10 minutes to share the one thing they think everybody should know before they die. Last Thursday, former Toronto mayor David Miller, singer Jully Black, TIFF CEO Piers Handling and others showed up at the Winter Garden Theatre to offer their collected wisdom at Stuart Knight’s second annual Top Ten Event in support of the Stephen Lewis Foundation. We showed up to receive said wisdom (and, of course, to fraternize with the bold-faced names at the exclusive after-party—Sandra Shamas now wants to be our Facebook friend. Just sayin’.).

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The Dish

People

November 28, 2011 | 2:32 pm

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With Bobby Flay at the helm and six celeb chefs on deck, this year’s Chef’s Challenge fundraiser proved a relaxed affair

Host Bobby Flay has a refreshment (Image: Yves Freypons)

At last year’s Chef’s Challenge, the famously potty-mouthed Gordon Ramsay ended up throwing the chefs off the stage after a skillet caught fire. This year, the annual fundraiser for Mount Sinai’s breast and ovarian cancer research was led by grill master Bobby Flay, meaning there were no fires—although there was a good deal of impaired cooking by the end. Mark McEwan was swigging limoncello from the bottle, while Flay downed prosecco and Lynn Crawford tried to curry favour with the judges with some frozen mojitos. Who knew the night would end in such delightful debauchery?

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People

September 29, 2010 | 12:10 pm

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There’s still a chance to be yelled at by Gordon Ramsay when he comes to T.O.

Jamie Kennedy, David Rocco, Massimo Capra and Mark McEwan show off their creations at the George Brown cooking school (Image: Karon Liu)

The city’s celebrity chefs converged at the George Brown cooking school yesterday at a media launch for Chef’s Challenge, November 20’s Hell’s Kitchen–esque fundraiser for Mount Sinai hosted by Gordon Ramsay. The premise is that five of the city’s top chefs—Mark McEwan, David Rocco, Jamie Kennedy, Massimo Capra and Lynn Crawford—will head up a team of 10 (consisting of the top 50 fundraisers) and cook the same three-course menu. Ramsay and a panel of yet-to-be-announced judges will determine who cooked it best.

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People

August 20, 2010 | 10:48 am

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Gordon Ramsay, Mark McEwan and Lynn Crawford head up epic celebrity cook-off at the Carlu

Normally, we have to watch celebrity chef battles from our couches, but this November, we’ll have a chance to see it all live and, just maybe, get screamed at by Gordon Ramsay. The Chef’s Challenge takes place on November 20 and 21 at the Carlu, with Ramseay hosting a cook-off between teams led by top T.O. chefs David Rocco, Jamie Kennedy, Lynn Crawford, Mark McEwan and Massimo Capra. Participants must raise a minimum of $2,500 (the money goes to Mount Sinai Hospital), and the top 50 fundraisers will be put into the cooking teams.

More information about the event is available here.

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People

April 23, 2010 | 11:33 am

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Food Network’s answer to the demand for cheaper, edgier programming: Canadians

American kids don’t seem to connect with Paula Deen and Emeril, so the owners of the U.S. Food Network is getting hip with the young ’uns by launching an all-new cooking channel—creatively titled the Cooking Channel—on May 31. What’s interesting here is that in an effort to find “grittier” and more “low-key” programming, the Cooking Channel is importing a wok-load of Canadians.

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Random Stuff

February 27, 2009 | 5:02 pm

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Suburban food festivals, the Ritz bites the dust, Ottawa chefs come to Toronto

The Ritz that never was

• David Rocco and Jamie Oliver taught us the importance of nutritious meals for kids, but obsessing over their diets could in fact be detrimental to their health. [National Post]

• Plans have been nixed for the construction of Vancouver’s Ritz-Carlton skyscraper. Toronto’s Wellington Street location—complete with high-end restaurant—is progressing toward its 2010 opening. [Globe & Mail]

• Winter prix-fixes aren’t just available to downtowners this year. Two Vaughan foodie festivals—SavourVaughan and Beyond Restaurant Week—are underway. [YorkRegion.com]

• Unpaid overtime, late nights and unpredictable shifts—few customers know what happens on the other side of restaurants’ kitchen doors. [Toronto Star]

• Ottawa isn’t regarded as a major player on the country’s food scene, but its chefs are trying to change that. Next week they’ll be heading to Toronto en masse to show off their culinary talent. [Ottawa Citizen]

All stories relating to david rocco

The Dish

Food TV

Meet the five Toronto contestants on Top Chef Canada season three

The Dish

People

Q&A: Guy Fieri on shooting Diners, Drive-ins and Dives in Toronto

The Dish

Food Events

GALLERY: Guy Fieri presides over a roster of celeb chefs (and their fans) at this year’s Chef’s Challenge

The Hype

TIFF Talk

TIFF PARTY: Ms. Lauryn Hill set the room on fire at the big annual One X One party

The Hype

The Velvet Rope

Gallery: David Miller, Jully Black and others share the one thing you should know before you die at the Top Ten Event

The Dish

People

With Bobby Flay at the helm and six celeb chefs on deck, this year’s Chef’s Challenge fundraiser proved a relaxed affair

The Dish

People

There’s still a chance to be yelled at by Gordon Ramsay when he comes to T.O.

The Dish

People

Gordon Ramsay, Mark McEwan and Lynn Crawford head up epic celebrity cook-off at the Carlu

The Dish

People

Food Network’s answer to the demand for cheaper, edgier programming: Canadians

The Dish

Random Stuff

Suburban food festivals, the Ritz bites the dust, Ottawa chefs come to Toronto

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