Exhibitor award winners and a culinary champion among highlights of CRFA Show

In addition to attracting thousands of industry professionals to network and see new products, services and trends, the CRFA Show awarded exhibitor excellence and crowned a new culinary champion. Held March 4-6 in Toronto, the CRFA Show is the biggest event of the year for Canada’s $63-billion restaurant industry:
  • 12,000 visitors
  • More than 1,200 exhibit booths
  • 5 exhibitor awards
  • 1 winner among 16 chefs in the Discovered Culinary Competition
  • 5 high-level industry executive panelists and Keynote Speaker Ron MacLean at the Breakfast with Champions
  • 32 educational seminars
  • 6 chef demos
  • 12 VIP government visitors
  • 1 Stanley Cup
  • Industry Night Out featuring debut of “I am a Restaurant” film
Awarding exhibitor excellence
The CRFA Show awarded Bunn-O-Matic Corporation of Canada with the loyalty award, recognizing its 50 years at the show.
Four exhibitors won best booth awards: Gala Bakery for best small booth, Rational for best traffic-building booth, Embassy of Mexico Agricultural office for best large booth and Delicious World Corp for best first-year exhibitor.

“The entire restaurant and hospitality community came together to make this the most exciting CRFA Show ever,” says CRFA President and CEO Garth Whyte. “There were more opportunities than ever to do business, network and learn about the latest trends and innovation in Canada’s dynamic restaurant industry.”

Culinary champion crowned
Chef Brianne Nash won the Discovered Culinary Competition, beating out 15 finalists chosen over four months of preliminary competitions that involved more than 50 competitors and 23 judges. Chef Nash will take time off work at Saucy restaurant in Mississauga to enjoy her grand prize – a trip to Spain to train in the kitchen of Casa Gerardo, a Michelin-star restaurant.

Government VIPs tour the show
The Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association was pleased to welcome several special visitors to the show:
  • Mexican Ambassador Francisco J. Barrio-Terrazas
  • Mexican Agriculture Minister Counsellor Ernesto Maldonado
  • Illinois Governor Pat Quinn
  • Federal Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism Maxime Bernier
  • Provincial Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Glen Murray
  • MP Michelle Rempel
  • MP Blake Richards
  • Toronto City Councillor Doug Ford
  • Senator Frank Mahovlich
  • New Zealand High Commissioner Andrew Needs
  • New Zealand Trade Commissioner Melissa Trochon
  • U.S. Consul General Kevin Johnson
Giving back to the community
The Stanley Cup toured the show on March 5, giving fans a photo opportunity in exchange for donations to Friends of We Care, which assists Canadian children with physical disabilities.

Second Harvest collected 22,622 pounds of food from CRFA Show exhibitors, including fresh fruit and vegetables, canned goods and sauces, fruit juice, crackers and snack foods, breads, fresh salad and dips, meat and cheese.

The 2013 CRFA Show will return to Toronto’s Direct Energy Centre on March 3-5, 2013.

The CRFA Show is owned and operated by the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association, one of the country’s leading business associations with more than 30,000 members. Proceeds from the shows are directed to CRFA’s advocacy, research and member services in support of a growing and prosperous Canadian restaurant industry.

Chef Brianne Nash wins the 2012 Discovered Culinary Competition

Brianne Nash, head chef at Saucy restaurant in Mississauga, won the 2012 Discovered Culinary Competition at the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (CRFA) Show in Toronto. The Discovered Culinary Competition features Canada’s up-and-coming culinary stars competing against the clock in a mystery box challenge.
Chef Nash was eliminated in round 8 of the preliminaries, but later became one of two fan favourites eligible to compete in the semi-finals after receiving the most votes on the competition’s Facebook page.

The grand prize is the opportunity of a lifetime for Chef Nash: an all-expenses-paid trip to spend a week cooking at Casa Gerardo, a Michelin-star restaurant in northern Spain.

About Chef Nash
Born and raised in Mississauga, Chef Nash studied at Humber College in the culinary apprentice program, graduating in 2009. Her apprenticeship placement led to a full-time job at Saucy restaurant where she has worked ever since. Two trips to Europe, one as part of her Humber program, convinced her that food and flavour would remain her career path.
“The Discovered Culinary Competition has opened my eyes to future career ideas,” said Chef Nash. “It’s made me take risks. I’m ready to keep climbing this ladder I’ve been building.”

Mystery box ingredients
The ingredients the chefs were required to use in each dish were revealed only when they opened the mystery box on the cooking stage. With the clock ticking, they had only a few seconds to come up with a recipe that would "wow" the judges.

Appetizer round ingredients: Blood orange, Camembert, prosciutto and white wine.
Nash wrapped the prosciutto around asparagus and stuffed it with the Camembert cheese, then served it with a blood orange and white wine butter sauce.

Entrée round ingredients: Cilantro, flat iron steak, fresh corn and instant coffee.
Nash rubbed instant coffee and grainy mustard into the flat iron steak and created a boiled corn salsa with cilantro, red onion, green pepper, vinegar, salt, pepper and fresh garlic. To go alongside, she made a hash with caramelized onions, potatoes and prosciutto, and added poached asparagus with butter, salt and pepper.

Dessert round ingredients: Buttermilk, dried apricots, ground clove and mint.
Chef Nash pureed buttermilk with boiled apricots, strawberries, honey and a pinch of the ground cloves. She marinated strawberries, blueberries and sliced dried apricots with honey and ground cloves, and served the whole dessert with a whipped mint and honey cream.

Other finalists and judges
Other competitors in the final round were Dan Craig, chef at Ebo at the Delta in Burnaby, BC; William Serre, cook at Acadia Restaurant in Toronto; and Alejandro Winzer, chef at Ristorante Verdicchio in Sudbury.

The final judging panel included Donna Dooher, executive chef/proprietor at Mildred’s Temple Kitchen in Toronto; Jamie Drummond, sommelier and senior editor at GoodFoodRevolution.com in Toronto; and Eric B. LeVine, a New York chef, caterer and cookbook author.

For a complete list of competitors and winners, as well as photos, go to www.discoveredchefs.ca. The competition is sponsored by Discover and presented by Nella Cucina and the CRFA Show.