The Chef Collective’s live culinary battles return with a kick-off event in Toronto this fall hosted by some of the city’s most beloved faces in food and hospitality.
Made for chefs, by chefs; The Chef Collective announced it is bringing back its popular underground chef battle series after a three-year hiatus. Founder Chef Joe Friday will co-host with Chef Devan Rajkumar, taking over Toronto restaurant Boehmer (93 Ossington Ave.) on Monday, October 17.
Sounds like your kind of date? Your ticket will get you access to the event, with drinks and appetizers to complement the evening.
The Hosts
Chef Joe Friday
Chef Joe Friday is an acclaimed chef, restaurateur and entrepreneur, currently based in Toronto. Born in North Carolina, raised in Japan, and trained in French Cuisine, Chef Joe graduated top of the class in Restaurant Management from The Culinary Institute of America in New York. In 2013, Chef Joe Friday founded The Chef Collective, a chef driven organization committed to supporting local and worldwide chefs by providing them with a platform to showcase their talents through live culinary battles.
Chef Devan Rajkumar
Toronto born and raised with Guyanese roots, Chef Devan is a leading Canadian chef, culinary artist, progressive restaurateur and a regular on-air cooking expert for Cityline. He’s appeared a guest judge on Fire Masters (Food Network Canada), shares his recipes and stories on his Instagram and YouTube series ‘Chef Dev at Home’ and ‘Chef Devan Tastes’, as well as regularly hosts International pop-ups.
How it works
There’s rules to this. Each battle is a black box competition in front of a live audience and the chefs are only allowed to bring their knife kit and one ingredient to the battle.
Using a secret ingredient revealed to them at the event, the three Toronto chefs will have to create two original dishes in just one hour and impress a panel of industry-expert judges.
Surrounded by hungry, boisterous food fans, Chef Jerome Robinson, Chef Sam Medeiros and Chef Imrun Texeira will compete in an action-packed battle to win the competition title, prizes and bragging rights.
The Chefs
Chef Jerome Robinson
Based in Toronto, Chef Jerome Robinson is a beloved chef, a restaurateur and an on-air cooking expert for the Marilyn Denis Show. He is currently the owner and chef at The Heartbreak Chef, specializing in decadent comfort foods.
Chef Imrun Texeira
Based in Toronto, Chef Imrun Texeira has worked in some of the world’s best and most influential restaurants, including three-Michelin Starred Noma in Copenhagen. He was a semi-finalist on Food Network Canada series Top Chef Canada season eight and a finalist on the Food Network Canada series Chopped Canada Season three.
Chef Sam Medeiros
Born and raised in Toronto, Sam Medeiros knew the moment after graduating from George Brown Culinary School that she wanted to learn about different types of cuisines firsthand. She helped open a small bistro in Grignan, France, moved to Hong Kong where she became a Tournant for a Restaurant Group with 17 restaurants, then worked in Vietnamese, Cantonese, Italian and Indian restaurants while abroad. She returned to Toronto to work at La Palma Restaurant, where she became a Sous-Chef at age 23, and then their Chef de Cuisine at age 26, where she created dishes using highlight ingredients and techniques from different cultures and cuisines.
The Judges
An esteemed industry panel, including Top Chef Canada season nine winner Chef Erica Karbelnik, grill master Chef Robert Rainford, restaurateur and Iron Chef Canada season six winner Chef Paul Boehmer and Canada’s premier cheese expert Afrim Pristine, will judge the dishes and announce the winning chef that evening.
Tickets to The Chef Collective Toronto battle are $75 per person and available for purchase online.
$15 from every ticket sold will be donated to support Habitat for Humanity Canada.
Find more date ideas for this fall here!
