Kamloops Chefs in the City Event
As I write this I’m laying on the couch with a very full belly and a giant smile on my face as I was lucky enough to be an invited guest at the 4th annual Chefs in the City hosted by the good people at the Kamloops Rotary club. For a city such as Kamloops -that often feels more like a town- we have some incredibly stellar chefs.
What’s better than an amazing meal prepared by a wickedly talented chef? How about having 15 of them under one roof readily handing you plates of deliciousness while you wander about with a glass of wine or a locally crafted beer all while enjoying a little live jazz? Yeah. It was pretty fan-freaking-tastic. Events like these are really great because they give people an opportunity to sample the offering of multiple restaurants, wineries & brew houses all at once and for a ridiculously low price. Ok- let’s start off with a few photos and then I’m going to make you really jealous by describing some of the things that I happily crammed into my mouth.
Among my favorites of the night were the Black Creek Ranch grass fed beef sliders with tomato jam from Ora (who also served an amazing beef carpaccio), the pork two ways- pepper crusted tenderloin and wuxi braised pork belly with sweet potato pave from The Brownstone (also serving house made baklava and a lentil, roasted beet, walnut & chevre salad with orange tarragon dressing) and the porcini ravioli from Chef George Moutsos from the Columbo Lodge (who also served mini frenched drumettes with sage glaze and an amazing tuna tartar in a sesame cone). Other participating restaurants that I happily “dined at” included;
Ric’s Grill- Serving lobster bisque with aged cheddar & smoked paprika cracker and braised beef with hunter sauce.
Sanbiki- Serving tuna tataki salad, squid stir fry & California & dynamite rolls
Terra- Serving Qualicum Bay Scallops with organic squash & BBQ pork on a crostini
Crush on Victoria- Serving tandoori chicken skewers with a creamy curry sauce and Asian citrus salad.
The Commodore- Serving Guinness braised lamb with cauliflower mashed, a chocolate fondue and an Angus beef tartare.
Embers- Serving baked polenta with smoked Gruyere and pesto prosciutto as well as a black & green tapenade on a tomato, herb and goat cheese croissant as well as mini crab cakes.
Hoodoos- Serving Butternut squash, apple & pepper bisque with carrot creme fresh and seared tuna on top of a basil chive & cumin spatzel with roasted red pepper aioli
Maurya’s- Serving chicken tikka with butter sauce, coriander & tamarind chutney & a vegetable pakora with spicy mint chutney.
Cafe Motivo- Serving a layered dessert with chocolate mousse, Grand Marnier butter cream & praline, a vanilla bean panna cotta with caramel apple salsa and two fantastic single origin coffees.
At Your Service Catering- Serving a trio of; beef cheek ravioli (wow do I love ravioli) Dungeness crab in a lobster cream sauce and a prosciutto cup with marinated mozzarella and fresh melon
Students from the TRU Culinary Arts program- Serving a braised beef “cigar” with single malt scotch infused consume.
Beverages included Tinhorn Creek wines, Hester Creek wines, Recline Ridge wines, Granite Creek wines, Crannog Organic ales and The Noble Pig Brewhouse (which also happens to be my local neighborhood hangout.)
So…. are you jealous yet? Or maybe hungry? It really was a rather decedent evening complete with a silent auction, raffle draws, and two $2500 bursaries given out to a couple of very promising TRU Culinary Arts students by the name of Brynn Hill & Nicolas Von Hausen.
Oh. And a guy named Frankie won a wheel barrel full wine. I’m not kidding- I think it had almost 60 different fantastic bottles in it. Damn you Frankie!
Thanks again to Chris Lewis for the tickets and a great big thanks to all of the amazing local restaurants & chefs who came out to show off their unbelievable talents! You’ll be seeing some of them in my “Guest Chef Recipe” section soon!
If you have the chance- attend a Chefs in the City event. Trust me when I say that you won’t regret it.
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