At previous Chef’s Challenges, highlights included Bobby Flay and Lisa Ray tossing back limoncello from the bottle, and Guy Fieri proclaiming Lynn Crawford to be his “sister from another mister.”
This year, the fundraiser supporting women’s cancer research at Mount Sinai Hospital saw Giada De Laurentiis giving a bit of an Italian language lesson on the word ‘putana’ (it means, erm, whore) and warning Vikram Vij he best not put curry in his dessert (he didn’t). But the well-heeled crowd fell hardest for HGTV host Scott McGillivray when he quipped that a dish was “like a renovation in my mouth” and later announced he was excited to put David Rocco’s balls in his, yes, mouth.
Attendees paid $1,000 to gain a seat at the swanky affair, with those keen on cooking raising $2,500 to join the celeb chef-led teams for three rounds of cooking challenges. With De Laurentiis and You Gotta Eat Here’s John Catucci hosting, the teams of philanthropic wannabe chefs were under the guidance of boldfaced chef names: David Rocco, Mark McEwan, Bal Arneson, Vikram Vij and Derek Dammann, whose Montreal resto Maison Publique was recently named one of Canada’s top new restaurants by enRoute magazine. A panel of judges saw De Laurentiis joined by Maggie McKeown, Post City’s resident chef Grant van Gameren, looking spiffy in a tie and axe-shaped tie pin, George Brown Chef School’s John Higgins and McGillivray, who noted that he was the least qualified but the most famished of the lot.
At 11:03 pm, after a mere four hours of whipping up mains (using black cod), desserts (starring Nutella) and cocktails (featuring, yes, booze), the winner was announced, with Dammann’s creative team wowing the judges most. As the night came to a close, the well-vino’d crowd was whisked away in limos clutching goody-filled gift bags — well, save for one woman who was overheard saying she doesn’t eat “that” stuff.
Karolyne Ellacott is a features editor at Post City Magazines. She pedals around town in heels, eating sandwiches and drinking cocktails. She writes about that, and about other stuff too. She is also on Twitter.
