Trevor Ritchie takes first place for Canada in Santiago, Chile
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON February 9, 2010 – Queen’s Landing welcomed home its Restaurant Chef and triple-gold medal winner Trevor Ritchie last week. Trevor returned from South America where he earned his latest gold medal commemorating his win in the Hans Bueschkens Junior Chefs Challenge. Hosted by the World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS), this year’s competition was held in Santiago, Chile on January 24-28, 2010.
Ritchie’s recent prize was preceded by 2 successive gold medals in 2009. The young chef had exercised his culinary prowess in The National Junior Culinary Competition in Kelowna, BC last June, earning him the right to represent Canada in the WACS finals. Prior to that, he was named Ontario’s top junior chef placing first in the Ontario Junior Culinary Challenge held in Toronto in April 2009.
Upon his homecoming to Queen’s Landing, Trevor was clearly elated with his achievement, yet spoke of the experience with the modesty of a true professional. “My win in Chile was both the late end and the early beginning of a dream to reach the top. It has taught me to respect other talent and to face the competition with a fearless, but humble, confidence that I will carry with me for the rest of my career.”
Eligibility for the global competition was limited to chefs in WACS-accredited countries who were less than 25 years of age and had won the right to represent their country. Competition guidelines dictated a three-course meal be created for eight persons. In the ‘Mystery Basket’ Competition a list of ingredients was revealed to contestants just hours prior to preparation.
Trevor’s award-winning three-course menu featured the appetizers Roasted Chilean Sea Bass with Oyster Foam–Cold Smoked Chilean Sea Bass with Orange Gelée and Avocado Panna Cotta; a main course of Ribeye en ‘Coucotte’ wrapped with Prosciutto and layered with Portobello Mushrooms and Oven-Dried Tomatoes, Braised Beef Osso Buco with Shallot Soubise and Roast Garlic Infused Potato Fondant; and ended with a dessert of Dark Chocolate Pistachio Dacquoise, Pumpkin Mascarpone Sphere, Passion Fruit Sorbet, Raspberry Gelée and Caramel Sauce.
Candidates had five and a half hours to prepare all the dishes, plate the selections and serve them to the panel of judges. Competitors were each allowed one Mentor/Coach to accompany them in representing their country. Ritchie chose Chef James Olberg, a former member of Culinary Team Canada, and current Executive Chef of four-diamond Tiara Restaurant at Queen’s Landing in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario.
Christophe Luzeux, Executive Chef of the Halifax World Trade and Convention Centre and member of Culinary Team Canada 2000-2004, was one of the tasting judges in the Junior Chefs Challenge competition. Having personally experienced the menus of the 17 countries’ best junior chefs, Luzeux was impressed with Trevor’s culinary skill as well as his ability to stay cool under pressure and the Chilean heat.
Luzeux commented, “Trevor was well organized, had a well-balanced menu, and great techniques…His first plate set the level where you have to be to win this competition; great colour, texture, flavours… He sent a dessert that wowed every member of the jury panel. The final tally placed Trevor on top for the morning competition and no competitor from the afternoon heat was able to come close to what Trevor did that day.”
Trevor Ritchie joined the Queen’s Landing culinary team in August 2007 under the wing of renowned Chef James Olberg, a seasoned culinary competitor in his own right. A Waterloo, Ontario native and George Brown College graduate who started exercising his passion for cooking at age 15, Trevor has been competing, and winning for several years. As early as 2004, Trevor won silver in the Skills Canada, Culinary Arts competition, followed by gold in George Brown College’s Chefs in the City competition in 2007, and has successfully assisted at the prestigious Bocuse d’Or Canadian Selections in 2006 and 2008.
VINTAGE HOTELS
Vintage Hotels is a collection of CAA/AAA four-diamond hotels. Prince of Wales, Queen’s Landing and Pillar and Post in Niagara-on-the-Lake offer 374 guestrooms, 35,000 square feet of meeting space, three four-diamond restaurants, and two spas. 100 Fountain Spa and Secret Garden Spa are consistently ranked top spas by Spas of America. Vintage Hotels also owns the 24-guestroom Moffat Inn in Niagara-on-the-Lake. In 2008, the Vintage collection grew to include the Millcroft Inn & Spa located in the rolling hills of Alton-Caledon, 45 minutes northwest of Toronto. The Millcroft offers 52 guestrooms, 4,700 sq. ft. of meeting space, a four-diamond restaurant, and the renowned Millcroft Spa, Centre for Well-Being.
Offering classic style with modern sensibility, the hotel properties share a stellar reputation for delivering exceptional experiences in a unique destination. The elegant and refined Prince of Wales and the classic yet charming Pillar and Post were tops in Ontario on the Condé Nast Traveler Gold List 2006, with Prince of Wales repeating in the No. 2 spot in 2007 and in 2009 named Best Hotel in Ontario on Travel + Leisure Magazine’s List of 500 World’s Best Hotels. Queen’s Landing, voted number one Hotel in Ontario in the Condé Nast Readers’ Choice Awards 2009, sets the stage for everything from high-level corporate gatherings to romantic getaways in a Georgian-style waterfront mansion. The Millcroft Inn & Spa earned the Fodor’s Choice Award of Distinction in 2008 and placed 2nd in Ontario’s Finest Inns & Spas 2008 WOW awards as Top Spa, Destination & Dinner Experience. Vintage Hotels is a proud partner of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada. For more information: www.vintage-hotels.com.
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Dianne Turner, Marketing and PR Specialist
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