BT Calgary Blogs

What a fantastic night! Fabulous food, drinks, wonderful company and friends at the AGC Cooks this evening!  WOW!!!  Hosting was a pleasure and an honour!

This year six of Calgary’s top Chefs had the challenging task of coming up with tantalizing dishes in less than 48 hours. The Chefs had to prepare a four course meal, created around a the secret ingredient, chosen by food guru John Gilchrist and Dacey Cooper-Varga (Senior Director Events & Marketing at The AGC).

Each Chef received: 2 Bodacious Black Currant Melonel; 2 bottles of Buckaroo Buckwheat; 2 bottles of Ginger Snapped Metheglin, and 3 pieces of Honeycomb from the ”Chinook Honey Company”.

Guests  wined and dined as they rated the Chef’s meals based on presentation, creativity and taste.

The judges, John Gilchrist, Don House, Gail Norton and Food Network Chef Chuck Hughes, put their skills and taste buds to the test!

Finally the winners were announced at the end of the night!

The winners of the AGCcooks 2010 are:

Winner of The Media Food Critic Award and The AGCcooks Gilded Utensil Award…

Raw Bar!

Winner of the Sommelier Award…

 Bonterra!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

The participating restaurants this year were: Sky 360; Bonterra; BR&;  Raw Bar; Charcut; Saint Germain.

AGCcooks is taking place tonight, Wednesday 14th, at the Art Gallery of Calgary…I’m one of the hosts!

If you haven’t heard about it…listen up!

Calgary’s top Chefs go plate-to-plate in a friendly culinary competition. Each Chef will create a four-course feast designed around a “secret ingredient” chosen by Calgary food writer and critic John Gilchrist. The Art Gallery of Calgary (The AGC) will be transformed into a kitchen stadium for the annual fundraiser.

The “secret ingredient” was unveiled Monday. Last year the “secret ingredients” were Orange Passion Fruit (Granadilla), Banana Passion Fruit (Curuba), Lulo, Tamarillo supplied by More Than Mangos Exotic Fruit Co. and 2007 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon supplied by Cloudy Bay Vineyards.

This year we will have the pleasure of handing out three esteemed awards:

1. AGCcooks People’s Choice Award – winner to be determined by the guests;
2. AGCcooks Media Food Critic Award – winner to be determined by our renowned 2010 media food critics;
3. AGCcooks Sommelier Award.

* AGCcooks People’s Choice Award winner for 2009: Chef Joanne McFadden of Bistro Piq Niq.

* AGCcooks Media Food Critic Award winner for 2009: Chef Chris Walker of The Belvedere.

*AGCcooks Sommelier Award winner for 2009: We had a tie! Chris McFadden of The Belvedere and Brian Greenslade of Bonterra Trattoria.

Tonight, I had the chance to be one of the judges at the Salut Calgary Wine & Food, Fetzer Appetizer Challenge.  9 restaurants competed for a chance to win the grand prize, a 4 night, 5 day Gourmet Tour of Paris. A culinary adventure in Paris, wow!!!  We picked our favorites and I am pleased to announce the following winners:

The winner of the Appetizer Challenge – the Grand Prize of the Paris culinary adventure package went to…

First place: Raw Bar !

Second runner up: Farm!

Third runner up: Blink!

Also, The Consumer Choice Award went to Bonterra!!!!

Art Gallery Of Calgary was a great venue for this years Fetzer Appetizer Challenge! Great Job to Dacey Cooper who was the event coordinator!  BasicBlackDesigns for the great decor!

By the way YOU TOO CAN ENTER FOR A TEN-DAY FRENCH WINE AND FOOD TOUR TRIP FOR TWO TO PARIS!

To enter to win,and for rules and regulations click here

Contest closes May 31st, 2010. Good Luck!!!

It was all glitz and glamour at the 2nd annual 2010 Calgary Choice Awards , which was originally called the Calgary Oscars, until the Academy sent the organizers a letter to change the name.  As per request, the name changed a month ago to Calgary Choice Awards!  Over 400 people attended the red carpet gala – Sold Out Success!  It was a great opportunity for Calgary Small and Medium businesses to strut their stuff and feel like stars, on Saturday March 6th, at Flames Central. 380 companies were nominated by the public before Christmas. Over 5000 people (general public) voted on the nominees. Voting ran from Jan. 15 – Feb. 19, 2010.

Calgary Choice Award Winners

Here is the complete list of winners in each category:

Best in Arts & Culture – Alberta Ballet

Best in Spa/Beauty – CaVaBien Hair Studio & Spa

Best in Hotel/Inn – The Fairmont Palliser

Best in Auto Service – Heninger Toyota

Best in Fitness – Talisman Centre

Best Home Builder – Empire Custom Homes

Best Public Venue/Tourist Attraction – Calgary Zoo

Best Nightclub/Bar/Pub – Ship and Anchor Pub

Best in Children’s Retail – Coffee & S’cream

Best Transportation Provider – WestJet Airlines

Best in Casual Dining Experience – Peters’ Drive-In

Best in Retail Experience Crave Cookies and Cupcakes

Best in Fine Dining Experience – RedWater Rustic Grille

Best Media Personality/Celebrity – Barb Higgins

Best Medical & Health Care Service – Blink Eyewear

Best New Business (under two years) – Bass Pro Shops

Best Independently Owned Business – Cakeworks

Best Employer – Small Business (under 30 employees) – Cakeworks

Best Employer (over 30 employees) – WestJet Airlines

Everyday Hero – Eric Crowell

For more click here

March 2010,  a tasty month!

Dine Out Calgary brings ten days of excellent dining options between March 5-14th, 2010.  More than 80 restaurants in Calgary are participating. The City’s top chefs will present great samples and three-course dinning experience’s. Price varies from $15 – $35/person for Lunch and Dinner. The Gourmet Dine Out is $85/person, which will feature Chef’s favorites, including wine pairings.  For a complete list of participating restaurants click here

Gung Hay Fat Choy!
Xin Nin Kuai Le!
A New Year celebration that brings prosperity and good fortune.

Calgary’s Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (HKCBA) had it’s annual Chinese New Year Gala, celebrating the Year of the Tiger, at the Regency Palace Seafood Restaurant. The 25th anniversary of HKCBA was a perfect opportunity for the organization to give back to the community through student scholarships. Here are some of the awards that were handed out:

Emerson Musarurwa, Bow Valley College.

Maeghan Smulders, Mount Royal University

Guobiao Ma, SAIT Polytechnic

Alexandra Nuth, University of Calgary