Five Ottawa-area chefs will vie for a spot at the 2026 Canadian Culinary Championship

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Five chefs from Ottawa and the Outaouais will cook off against each other next month, hoping to qualify for the 2026 Canadian Culinary Championship next January.

Three of the chefs at the Sept. 22 event are newcomers to the annual competition, which is called the Ottawa edition of Canada’s Great Kitchen Party, but in past years was known as Gold Medal Plates. These chefs include Simon Beaudry, the 31-year-old chef at Les Fougères in Chelsea, Simon Laroche, chef at the pasta-focused restaurant Caméline in Gatineau’s Hull sector, and Michael Hauschild, the private chef who runs the Kanata-based catering company InHaus Cooking.

Returning competitors are Chef Jason Sawision of Stofa Restaurant on Wellington Street West and Mitch Lacombe of Gitanes on Elgin Street. Sawision came in second at last year’s qualifier, and Lacombe finished third.

Last year, chef Lizardo Becerra of Raphael Peruvian Cuisine on Elgin Street prevailed over Sawision, Lacombe and three other Ottawa chefs to win his spot at the national competition, which was held in Ottawa last winter. A B.C. chef won gold, following the grand finale event on Feb. 1 at the Rogers Centre Ottawa.

Becerra, who recently opened a second, more casual restaurant called Barrio on Rideau Street, is hosting the Sept. 22 qualifying event at Raphael Peruvian Cuisine. All of the event’s 80 spots have already been sold.

In 2024 and 2023, the qualifying event was held at the Fairmont Château Laurier, and at each six chefs competed during an event that saw guests move from chef’s station to chef’s station and then eat at high tables.

When asked about the change of format this year, Lisa Pasin, senior vice-president for Canada’s Great Kitchen Party, said organizers wanted to stage “something different and more intimate — and concentrate our efforts on the Canadian Culinary Championship.”

Over the years, Ottawa chefs have performed strongly at the Canadian Culinary Championship.

Chef Briana Kim, who is expected to open her new restaurant Antheia later this year, won the national event in 2023. Marc Lépine of Atelier won the 2012 and 2016 Canadian Culinary Championships. Chef Yannick La Salle, formerly of Les Fougères in Chelsea, but now the chef for the Supreme Court of Canada, won the national competition in 2019.

Their four wins make Ottawa the top scorer among cities and regions participating in the national competition program.

The 2026 Canadian Culinary Championship is to be held Jan. 30-31 in Ottawa.

phum@postmedia.com