This program is rated PG, and contains
mature subject matter.
Viewer discretion is advised.
Ten of the country's best chefs
put it all on the plate in the most
prestigious culinary competition in the country.
Come on!
But in the end...
Nick. Charlotte. Anthony. Tracy.
Holly. Shai-Ann. Chris. Katy...
Please pack your knives and go.
Now, only Alex and Coulson remain.
The whole thing you've trained for
comes down to this one day.
This is it. This is game seven.
I take my food very seriously.
Coming in second place wouldn't satisfy me.
And tonight...
Chefs, this is it. It's Restaurant Wars.
Did you think we'd forget?
For one night only...
Doors are open!
- Yes, Chef! - Oui!
Alex and Coulson open the restaurants
of their dreams.
Judges are locked in. Now we go.
Very impressive the way he did this.
Home run.
Oh my God.
That one bite could win this whole thing.
One of them will take home the biggest prize
in Top Chef Canada history.
$10,000 courtesy of Ninja.
DoorDash delivery for a year.
$10,000 from Premier Protein.
The redesigned Volkswagen Tiguan.
$100,000, courtesy of McCain French Fries...
And the title of Canada's Top Chef.
Chefs...
It's Restaurant Wars.
This is the finale, so Restaurant Wars will,
of course, be a little different.
Instead of working in a team,
you'll each be creating your own
dream restaurant as the executive chef.
We're doing Restaurant Wars.
Solo mission. Me versus Alex.
Everything's on the line, you know.
Restaurant Wars typically suffers from
a compromised vision.
This time, it's all of you.
From the moment we walk into your dining room,
every detail counts.
This restaurant has to be
more than just a collection
of the best recipes, of the best dishes
in your back pocket.
It should be a distillation of who you are as a person,
as a chef.
We're giving you a blank canvas to design
and build your restaurant, at The Symes,
a heritage building and event space.
I've dined at over a thousand restaurants,
and what I love about restaurants is the
ability to see a chef's personality.
I can't wait to see what both of you have to offer.
Good luck, Chefs.
You've done an extraordinary job up until now.
- Thank you. - Thank you.
Let the best chef win.
Me.
See ya.
Today we're gonna be shopping for
our five-course tasting menu.
My restaurant, the menu is inspired by growing up
on a farm, gathering vegetables from the garden,
and cooking with heart and soul and
not making things too complicated.
We're gonna do a little full circle moment, too,
with some asparagus for one of the dishes.
My family's growing up. Wife's pregnant.
There's so much on the line, like,
winning Top Chef Canada and winning the money,
that could be a house over our head.
I need lots of carrot tops.
How much are they per bunch?
I moved to Canada from Seoul,
and my food background is Korean.
However, I have opportunity to show the judges
and the guests I'm also a Canadian chef.
I want my guests to feel they're traveling
the five regions of Canada.
Winning Top Chef Canada would mean so much.
It would allow me to show everyone who I am,
in Canada.
I need the PEI mussels.
I am really proud of being a Canadian chef.
10 cents more. You have 10 cents?
No, I don't. 10 cent discount?
- Thank you, yeah. - Thank you.
Today we're at Element Event Solutions to design our
own restaurant and create a unique dining experience.
So, I want to call my restaurant Sovereign 1867.
1867 is the year that
Canada gained its own sovereignty.
I want to give a nice, upper, upscale fine dining vibe.
Why don't we start by looking at the chairs?
Great.
This, to me, is a little bit too rustic.
Oh, no, never mind.
This gives me kind of like an Asian vibe.
Do you have something that is not too gold?
People around me usually describe me as
very detail oriented person,
but the small details really matter.
That's great.
For me, this feels really comfortable
and just so clean and just like...
yeah, this feels right here.
My restaurant is named North of Nowhere.
I want a restaurant that, like, people hear it
and they're, like, curious, but it's fun, it's light.
Where is it?
Could be here, but it's north...
of here.
I love, like, repurposed barnwood, wildflowers.
I want my restaurant to feel open and airy.
It's so important to get my personality
through it as well.
This is elevated dining, but in a very chillaxed,
fun, casual setting.
Great.
Chefs, to run a restaurant,
every executive chef needs a strong and talented team
to support them.
We found some top notch talent that we think will be
suitable to support you in Restaurant Wars.
Do you want to meet them?
- Yeah. - Yes, I do.
Please welcome back Katy, Chris, Shai-Ann,
Holly, Tracy, and Anthony.
What up, gang?
I became really close friends with all these guys.
I mean, these are all super talented chefs.
- Welcome back, chefs. - Thank you.
We've missed you.
Figured we got one more in us, you know?
The order that you pick your team will be determined
by a three-round, head-to-head
mise en place skills race.
You're gonna be preparing a traditional mirepoix.
That's onion, carrots, and celery.
All cut to a small dice.
If you're first to finish and Mark
approves of your work,
you'll get to pick a chef for your team.
And then, your opponent will pick next.
If Mark doesn't approve, you'll lose your round
and your opponent will get to pick instead.
The first round you'll be racing head to head
to prep two onions.
And your time...
starts...
Now.
Getting the first pick is a huge advantage.
The chefs, we've been working side by side.
Seeing their flaws, seeing what they're great at.
Check.
Alex...
- Hi, Alex. - Hello, Chef.
Let's have a look here.
It's a little bit rough.
I'm gonna say no to that.
Whoa-ho-ho.
That means, Coulson, you win this round
and you get first pick.
Chris.
Chris won his Elimination Challenge cooking a raviolo.
I got pasta on my menu.
I need him on my team.
Alex, who's it gonna be?
Katy.
Katy is really strong, and she's the perfect person
to become my sous chef.
Next, we're moving on to celery.
Round two starts...
Now.
I want Shai-Ann on my team.
We've done two challenges together.
She understands me and my style.
I want Shai-Ann.
Her last couple cooks she was really shining,
she was really at the top, and I trust her.
Check.
Coulson, you're done first.
- Woo! - Good job.
Yeah, dice is excellent.
Well done.
Thank you, Chef.
Let's go Shai-Ann.
Alright, Alex? Anthony.
Oui, Chef.
Anthony has fine dining experience,
which will match with my concept.
For the third and final round,
you're gonna be working with carrots.
On your marks, get set...
Go.
Woo, anyone else holding their breath?
Check. Alex...
Okay, Alex. Your dice looks, ah...
That certainly makes the grade.
Very well done. Thank you.
Alex, you've won this round.
Who are you gonna pick?
Tracy. Thank you, Chef.
Tracy, I want her dessert skills.
Alright, Holly, that means
you're gonna be with Coulson.
High school gym class all over again.
No, I'm sorry, you were gonna be my pick.
Alex, Coulson,
before you get to work with your teams,
we thought that you should each get a little pep talk.
Coulson, first off, I love you, I miss you.
And, I'm proud of you.
And I'm so excited to see all of this happen.
I heard you gotta do some restaurant showdown
or something.
You know, I feel like you got this.
You've opened a couple restaurants...
and, you're pretty good at it.
At the end of the day, you just gotta cook.
Coulson, I love ya.
And, ah...
Good luck, buddy.
That's awesome.
That's nice.
Alex, how did that feel to get a message
all the way from Korea?
Yeah, it's so special.
In person, I haven't seen my grandparents in three years.
Now I'm even more fired up and,
I have to win.
I want to make them proud.
Chefs, you've got your teams.
We'll let you fill them in on your vision and
put them to work.
There isn't much to say.
You know what you need to do.
We'll see you tomorrow.
Good luck, Chefs. Good luck, Chefs.
- Thank you, Chef. - Thank you.
Can't wait. Thank you.
- Alright. - Okay, guys.
So, name of the restaurant: North of Nowhere.
North of Nowhere is like a farm restaurant
set in the Canadian landscape.
Everything's very light,
kind of veggie forward and refreshing.
There's so much nuance to, like,
running a team like this.
Chris, you're gonna do pasta dough.
I'm assigning them their own dishes.
Who's more comfortable with cleaning fish?
- You're good? - I'm good.
- Okay. - Yeah, I can do it.
Each chef, they have their own skillset so,
you gotta really hone in to like
what they're really good at it.
This is all the prep list.
Majority of it has to be done today.
Instead of each one of us working on one dish,
we're all working on all the components,
based on each chef's strengths.
Tomorrow, I want Katy to be a sous chef.
Okay.
I'm gonna be in and out, in and out.
I need somebody to cover my pass.
You guys know the Top Chef kitchen,
constantly running around. - Yeah.
The more we run around,
the less we run around tomorrow.
- Oui... Yeah. - Right?
Let's go, North of Nowhere.
Yeah!
- Yeah! - Yeah!
Let's go.
Pushing at our maximum, of course.
Don't forget to have fun, too.
Yes, Chef!
There's so much prep,
there's so many little jobs.
There's so many things to do for a five-course menu.
That's no easy feat.
My menu is bright and light.
This is peak summer.
It's all about putting these perfect things that have
never been created before in front of the judges.
It's, you know, the biggest cook of my life right now.
Holly's taking the lead on the second course.
The scallop crudo dish inspired by tomato season.
Holly, how you feeling?
Good, I'm in the zone.
So, Holly's gotta take these perfectly ripe
tomatoes, take the skin off using the blow torch,
and she also needs to make tomato water
to make the tomato dressing.
- Yeah, that's perfect. - That's good?
- Okay. - Yeah.
Chris, you on track?
Yeah, Coulson, I'm so glad you trusted me
to sweat over your pasta dough.
Chris, for the third course,
he's gotta make his pork sugo,
he's gotta make the pasta dough.
Biggest pasta cut of your life.
I need to make sure every single one of these bowties
is the perfect thickness, the perfect shape.
Yeah, that's really nice.
This is the Top Chef Canada finale, you know,
this pasta needs to be on another level.
The little bowtie there? Okay.
SHAI-ANN: I'm almost done with the fish.
Thank you, Shai-Ann.
SHAI-ANN: Yeah, my pleasure, Chef.
Shai-Ann is tackling my fourth course:
trout, cabbage, and roe.
Shai-Ann's pin boning these trout.
SHAI-ANN: I'm just gonna make sure this fish is
perfect for you, so that's why I'm taking that
extra time, to be honest. - Sounds good to me.
She can't miss a single pin bone, you know, like,
serving one pin bone to a judge,
that would be a disaster.
SHAI-ANN: Feel the pressure for you, man.
Yeah, there's a lot of pressure, that's for sure.
Over the last five years, I've opened five restaurants
with Matty Matheson. Now this is my restaurant,
and I'm so excited to tell my story.
You start strong, you finish stronger.
That's the name of the game.
Hey, Alex, when you win the $100,000,
you share with us?
I will ask my wife.
I'm putting five different regions of Canada
onto one tasting menu.
For the main course,
we're going to the Prairie region.
I'm making beautiful Alberta lamb loin
with carrot top salsa verde.
It's gonna have a little bit of ginger, mint,
but what makes it unique is the carrot top,
which will give nice green colour and the flavour.
I'm also using sablefish from BC,
foie gras from Quebec,
and Nova Scotia lobster.
I'm straining the lobster bisque.
I just blitz all the vegetables and lobster bodies.
It'll be super flavourful.
To dedicate a menu to our love for Canada...
it's an honour.
Beautiful cake. You're beautiful.
Ah, stop it.
For my dessert, I'm gonna have
Ontario strawberry cake
with Quebec foie gras ice cream.
We don't have any more foie gras, right?
- No. - Yeah, we have it.
- Oh, is there? - Yeah, yeah.
The foie gras ice cream is the riskiest item on the menu.
It has to be the perfect balance between
the sweet and savoury.
Not too strong, very subtle.
So it goes well with the strawberry flavour.
Overnight, I'm really hoping that the foie gras flavour
comes out maybe 10% more.
I want this dish to be perfect.
The Top Chefef Canada small appliances
are brought to you in part by Ninja.
Oh-ho-ho! Ha-ha-ha-ha!
Wow... Wow!
I'm flabbergasted. This is my vision.
From the ground up, every decision was mine.
This is the most personal restaurant I've ever opened.
It's just such a vulnerable thing to do.
Welcome to North of Nowhere.
This day's crazy.
Literally, we're opening a restaurant.
Like, I gotta meet the front of the house staff.
I gotta debrief, "Hey, these are the steps of service."
You know, "This is how we're crumbing."
There's $100,000 on the line.
But, this is what I do every day.
Day in, day out. And we're ready to go.
Okay, here we go. This is time.
Let's go, guys, let's go!
This is North of Nowhere! Let's go!
- Yeah! - Let's go!
The menu at North of Nowhere is original, thoughtful,
and it's seasonally driven.
For my first course,
I'm doing bluefin tuna sitting on a red fife lavash
and celery broth.
It's our welcome broth.
In the celery broth is trout bones and bellies,
roasted off and made into a fish fumet.
And then I've taken celery juice,
added those together,
clarified it, and that's my broth.
This restaurant opening could mean $100,000.
Let's bring it home.
North of Nowhere is officially open for business.
- Let's go. - Let's go.
That's exciting.
Wow.
- How are we doing today? - Good!
- Cheers! - Cheers!
The judges' table has arrived.
Great.
Okay, I'm going out to talk.
All these hours I've worked in restaurants,
20 years of experience.
The whole thing you've trained for
comes down to this one day.
This is it, this is game seven.
- How cool is this? - Yeah, it's great.
It's light, it's warm, it's welcoming.
There's a lot of wood, which is also very warm.
He's got a vision.
Hi, Coulson! Welcome...
- Thank you. - ...to North of Nowhere.
Where is North of Nowhere?
It could be anywhere in the Canadian landscape.
Farmland restaurant.
This menu tonight is the summer menu.
It's light, it's balanced.
It's everything that I've been cooking
to get to this point.
North of Nowhere is Coulson Armstrong.
- Love it. - Nice.
- So welcome. - Thanks, Coulson.
Thank you, Coulson.
The first look of the menu,
I like how it reads so far.
I really like the ingredient choices,
and I'm just really excited to dig into this.
I'm intrigued because
his combinations are different.
I think it's wonderful.
Judges are locked in, now we go.
Oui, Chef.
Just make sure that cracker stays flat.
Oh, wow.
Canadian bluefin tuna.
When it comes up the coast,
it always has to stay swimmin'.
And that's very similar to me, like,
I'm always moving. I'm always going.
And a lot of energy goes into this dish.
You got a red fife lavash as a cracker,
and then you have the bluefin tuna.
And that's seasoned with a little bit of celery salt.
The broth, it's celery, so it should be really light
and balanced with the tuna.
Thank you, Chef.
I'm just smelling this broth.
Celery, sweet.
There is so much body in this.
Celery is one of my favourite vegetables,
and it has such a sophisticated flavour to it.
This is the most sophisticated version of it
I think I've ever seen.
There's a lot of richness in the fattiness
of the fish and the mayonnaise.
It's a beautiful amuse.
You're wishing for another tuna, but it's...
it's good not to have any more.
That's the mark of an amazing chef-
he leaves you wanting one bite more.
Yeah.
- Great. - Nice work.
First course out.
So up next is scallop crudo.
There's some big flavours here.
It needs to be ice cold,
and everything just needs to be perfect.
- Yes, Chef. - Great.
Thank you very much.
The second course on my menu is scallops,
sea urchin and grape Sun Gold tomatoes.
So the scallops have been marinated in like a little
sesame, lime juice, fish sauce.
Okay, so we're doing five scallops per.
The centre's gonna be where the sea urchin lands.
Perfect.
My favourite combination is tomato
and sea urchin.
I find that they're so similar in sweetness,
but they're like so different that
it's just like these two flavours working together
to create something new.
This is our tomato water seasoned with katsuobushi,
kombu, tomato vinegar.
I haven't made this dish before, so like,
putting these things that have never been created
before in front of the judges is taking a risk.
- Beautiful. - Hi, Coulson.
Hi. Favourite season in the garden is tomato.
So it's Hokkaido sea urchin
on top of a beautiful tomato.
Then you have scallop crudo,
and then it's a tomato water seasoned
with kombu katsuobushi, tomato powder,
tomato vinegar.
- Looks beautiful. - Thank you.
- Thank you, Coulson. - Thank you, Coulson.
Mmm, oh, wow.
- Mmm. - Oh, my God!
The one bite could win this whole thing.
That bite had so much texture going on it,
with the creamy richness of the uni,
but like a clean juicy burst of acidity from the tomato.
The tomato water was just this perfect, velvety...
like cooling umami.
- It's like silky. - Yeah.
The scallops had the perfect unctuousness on,
on your tooth. So good.
I'm gonna go back to the name, North of Nowhere.
I don't know where I am, and now I really-
the name actually really suits this experience.
You know, he's delivering
something really special here.
Okay, Chris, go time now.
Yeah. You want me to drop first round pasta?
Yep.
For my third course, I'm serving
pork prosciutto sugo with farfalle pasta.
I just want to make sure that it's cooked nice
and it tastes delicious.
The pork and prosciutto are
the only meat on my menu.
'Cause it's a summer menu,
you need a little bit of acid, keep it light.
So, I got lemon juice already in the sauce.
And the garlic scapes we pickled.
And I'm putting green asparagus into the sugo.
It's adding a little bit of crunch into the soft pasta.
How much time is left on the next pasta?
33 seconds.
To serve pasta to this many people properly,
it's all timing, it's all precision.
It's such a dance.
Next six. Keep it up, Chris.
Now we're in the groove. Yes, Chef.
Next up, this is like a blanco sugo.
With a pork shoulder, and then prosciutto as well.
It's a farfalle noodle, seasoned with field spinach.
You have some pickled garlic scapes,
green asparagus, powdered parm, basil oil.
- Wow. - Thanks, Coulson.
Just the visual on this is like...
Stunning. That is so good.
You're getting so much unctuousness
and richness in that pork, it's delicious.
This is airy.
The garlic scapes have that little bit of acidity in there.
It just balances perfectly across your palate.
Totally.
This is melt in your mouth farfalle here.
There is so much flavour in this pasta dish.
My only critique is that for this pasta shape,
while the centre is al dente, the actual farfalle itself
was rolled a little bit thin.
Yeah, a little bit uneven.
But overall, it eats fantastically.
This is unbelievable.
- Good job. - Okay.
I'm so proud of you guys.
Next trout coming out right now, chefs.
Next trout, let's go.
Coulson, as an executive chef,
he's calm, he's collected.
We're flowing right now, we're going into our last
savoury course before dessert and, yeah,
it's going good so far, but...
Still two left to go.
Okay, pick it up, please.
Nice work.
This is a local trout.
It's been garnished with cabbage.
And then, it's a sauce of the trout roe with
some tobiko, and then fines herbes.
- Thank you, Chef. - Thanks, Coulson.
I love the combination of tobiko
as well as the cod roe in here.
The little bites of salty flavour, it's very delicious.
The fish is cooked really nicely.
It's beautiful.
And it's also rich with the butter sauce,
but also a balanced dish.
And I love that he,
that he kept the crunch in the cabbage.
There's a nice acidity to the cabbage
that balances out the butter sauce.
It's a very, very sophisticated plate.
It's a work of art.
It's like saying the most with a whisper.
You know what I mean? It's just deft.
Does anyone have a bone in their fish?
- No. - No.
I did. Like a little, little thing.
But, a thing. At the end,
if this is gonna be a, you know,
splitting hair competition- It might be.
You have to look at those details.
Let's go! 10 minutes, bring it on.
Okay, maple's on. Maple's on.
For my dessert course,
we're finishing with a warm maple tart
with this perfectly ripe Délice de Bourgogne cheese.
And you just pour maple syrup on top of that.
People think it's too much cheese
when they first see it,
and then they eat it, and they're like,
"Yeah, it was just enough cheese."
When you get the maple, you can go right over it,
and it's just like that much.
My dessert is a risk, but it's perfect,
and to this restaurant that's anywhere
in the landscape of Canada.
Okay, you guys can pick up.
Heard, Chef.
So, this is why we kept the meal light today.
This is feeling like a different kind of energy.
So, big thing is maple syrup season.
We've made a maple tart with a walnut streusel,
and then you have a big chunk of
Délice de Bourgogne. Thanks, Coulson.
Mmm, yes.
I mean, this is crazy good.
It's really decadent, rich, and heavy,
and I don't mind it at all...
because he was so light with all the other courses,
this menu can afford to go with a very heavy dessert.
I find it incredibly satisfying.
The pastry is nutty.
The cheese is beautifully rich and mild.
It looked like a lot of cheese,
but you needed every last bite of that cheese.
Does anyone fault him for taking what feels like
a very earthy, fall or wintertime dessert?
In his defense, maple syrup is a spring item.
It's not a fall item. It's just well done.
All the plates are out?
Good job!
- Good job, buddy. - Incredible, incredible.
I'm really proud of what I did.
That's it, you know-
I just wanted to make my family-
my wife, Taryn, and my daughter, Nora-
I just wanted to make them proud and...
I did it.
I know I did it, like...
for them, so...
This is so nice.
It gives an upscale, fine dining vibe.
Looking around this restaurant,
this is a dream come true.
My tasting menu is very unique because
I'm covering all five regions of Canada
and its iconic food ingredients.
We should be really proud of being Canadians.
I want my service team to really embody
the concept of fine dining.
So, ladies first. Pull the chairs out.
The first impression is really important.
All the small details will give them the
fine dining vibe.
I'm one service away from becoming Canada's top chef.
- Chefs! - Awesome, let's go!
As a Canadian chef, it is extremely important
to showcase Canada and be proud of it.
Yeah, a little more seasoning.
Little more seasoning.
For the amuse bouche course, we're gonna start off
with Northern Territories.
I'm serving Arctic char two ways.
Second course, we're going to Atlantic region.
We'll have a Nova Scotia lobster bisque.
For the third course,
we're going to the West Coast.
I'm using Haida Gwaii sablefish.
For the main course,
we're going to the Prairie region,
so beautiful Alberta lamb loin.
And, we're serving it with about
six different components.
Finally, for the dessert,
we have Ontario organic strawberry cake.
On top of that, we'll have a Quebec foie gras ice cream.
- It's getting there, Chef. - It's getting there.
There's zero room for error.
Chefs, doors are open!
- Doors open, oui! - Yes, Chef!
We're gonna be going coast to coast,
across five different regions.
- This is really nice in here. - It is really nice.
- Cheers. - Cheers.
- Interesting. - Oh, wow!
Oh, it looks very cool, huh?
Very glam.
Oh, thank you.
People love a tablecloth at night.
You cannot do fine dining without it.
- Hello, Judges. - Amazing.
- Hi, Alex. - Hi!
Welcome to Sovereign 1867.
The last few challenges, I was working really hard
to show the Korean side of me as a chef.
But this is perfect opportunity for me
to show you how much I am proud
and passionate for Canadian ingredients.
Thanks for coming to my restaurant.
- Amazing. Thank you, Chef. - Thank you.
So much confidence. Bring it on.
We should be ready for the first course, chefs!
- Oui, Chef. - Yes, Chef!
We're gonna start off with amuse bouche
and a bread course.
We're gonna serve bannock crostinis with
smoked Arctic char and herb spread.
And then, as amuse bouche,
I'll have an Arctic char barley salad.
It's got a pleasant heat.
It's gonna be stuffed in a seaweed roll
with some citrus gel.
The flavour is gonna be sweet,
little bit spicy 'cause I'm using
fermented chili dressing.
The Arctic char is super flavourful.
It's gonna be nice.
Okay, grab those.
I want the amuse bouche and the bread
to come out together.
This is the land of Indigenous culture,
Arctic beauty, and adventure.
We're going to Northern Territories.
What we have here is Arctic char two ways.
As amuse bouche, I have the Arctic char barley salad in
the crispy seaweed roll with my fermented chili dressing.
In the middle is sort of the bread course.
We have bannock crostinis with a smoked Arctic char spread.
- Thank you. - Please enjoy, thank you.
I love how crispy that seaweed roll actually was.
The technique was beautiful,
and I love the presentation of it.
It was like spicy and sweet, but not overly so.
The mousse is fantastic.
It's light, it's airy, it's fatty.
But there's also this lovely acidity.
The Arctic char spread,
very impressive the way he did this.
Home run, home run.
They were really great starters.
Made me excited for the rest of the meal.
We're gonna have to start thinking about the
next course, which is the lobster bisque.
Katy, take the lead, please.
I can make a really good lobster bisque.
My lobster bisque has lobster claw salad,
croquettes, mussel salad,
some egg yolk gel, and lobster tail meat.
What's gonna wow the judges is that I'm doing something
very classic with my skillset and technique.
I really hope that they enjoy it.
Can I show you guys how much we pour?
Maybe this much.
And the soup will be served French style.
It will be poured at the table side.
This is a fine dining restaurant,
and the presentation has to be on the same level.
Soup's ready, let's go.
Synchronized, please, synchronized.
- Oh, okay. - Here we go.
Round two.
- This is stunning. - Yeah.
We're going to the Atlantic region.
We have the Nova Scotia lobster bisque,
PEI mussel salad,
and Newfoundland salt cod croquettes.
- Please enjoy. - Beautiful.
- Thank you. - Thank you, Alex.
That is good bisque.
So much flavour and a lightness to it,
and a depth to it. It's really beautiful.
And the crunchiness of the croquette was just the
textural difference that you needed in this plate.
The texture I think is one of the best parts,
that it is silky.
There is not a particle to this broth.
There's a lot of work that went into this.
There's basically three different
protein servings on here that all could have,
on their own, stood up in this dish.
- Oh, it's so good. - My favourite dish so far.
Nice meeting you, good evening.
My name is Alex Kim, I'm the chef here.
Alex has gone to every table.
I think that's pretty incredible.
He's taking, you know, time away
from just focusing on our dishes.
He's thinking about everybody in the restaurant
and I can notice that.
- I'm from Vancouver. - Awesome, nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you too.
It's such an honour working with Alex.
First two out, chefs, three course left.
So cool to see his precision.
It's head in the game, stay focused for Alex, and...
that's it.
This is where we're from.
West Coast best coast, yeah?
West Coast the best coast.
Let's go.
We're going to the West Coast, where I'm from.
So we have the Haida Gwaii sablefish,
lightly marinated in my soy ginger
and little bit of garlic.
On the bottom, I have a BC Dungeness crab,
asparagus fregola, and then around it
I have a little bit of citrus and dashi foam.
- Please enjoy. - Thank you!
- Thank you, Chef. - Thank you, Alex.
- So much flavour! - Oh, my gosh, so good.
The sablefish is delicious.
This is almost like a Japanese technique on it,
the way he marinated it.
The precision on this plate is just immaculate.
Pretty flawless.
Everything Alex touches is very artful.
And it's super precise, and...
that's the beauty of it.
This dish was executed technically flawlessly.
My only critique is that a version of this
exact plate of food is something that I cooked
in my very first restaurant 20 years ago.
So, you know, it's been around the block.
It's not new.
How we're gonna serve is the...
lamb's gonna be on this side.
For the main course,
I'm doing beautiful Alberta lamb loin,
and we're serving it with about
six different components.
I have Saskatchewan chickpea panisse,
Manitoba wild rice stuffed morel mushrooms,
and local carrots.
Okay, it's time to grill.
I want this lamb to be cooked just at medium rare.
If we heat too much, it's gonna hover cook and...
Alex is going to kill me.
The lamb, it's got the nice flavour
through the herb crust. It's so good.
I know a lot of people like mint flavour with lamb,
but this carrot top salsa verde is my take on it.
It's a little bit sweeter, it's got nice freshness
and brightness to it.
Lamb is on the lefthand side, please.
I want the judges to see the technique on the plate
because every single detail counts.
Make sure the morels stay on top of the panisse, please.
Alright...
- Sharp. - Wow.
So for this course, the endless golden fields
under the big blue skies.
We're going to the Prairies.
We have lamb loin,
lightly herb crusted, from Alberta.
And we have Saskatchewan chickpea panisse,
Manitoba wild rice stuffed morel mushrooms,
local carrots.
I have the carrot top in the salsa verde.
- Please enjoy. - Thank you.
Thank you, Alex.
The cook on the lamb is just 100% correct.
100%.
And very deft, like, the crust adhered perfectly.
Beautiful dish.
And also, credit to him for not
making something heavy like a jus,
but to have a salsa verde be that vehicle at the end
to tie everything together is just fantastic.
And I like the crispy rice that he brought on-
the sweet, the crunchy.
To do this for Restaurant Wars,
he is very ambitious to serve 40 people this quality...
I think he took a lot of risk there.
This experience feels very Michelin level.
He really thought about every little detail.
You know, he's delivering on the full experience.
It feels like the team in the kitchen,
like they've done this for years.
On to the last course, let's go.
Chefs, you guys have been amazing today,
and every day.
- Ha-ha, you are amazing. - You are amazing.
We're going to have a little fun, savoury dessert.
Ontario organic strawberry cake.
On top of that we'll have a Quebec foie gras ice cream.
This one is nice. Good job, Tracy.
The last components needs to go on the dessert
is the maple tuile.
I moved to Canada when I was 15.
I love the nature, the culture,
and the people.
And ultimately, I want to be Canada's Top Chef.
Maple leaves just like this. Thank you so much.
- Thank you. - This is pretty.
Bustling metropolitans like Toronto and Montreal,
we're going to the central to finish.
We have Ontario local strawberries made into a cake.
And then we have Quebec foie gras ice cream,
maple Chantilly, and maple tuile on top.
- Please enjoy, thank you. - Thank you.
Well, this is beautiful.
Mmm. I actually wasn't sure if I wanted him
to end on, like, a foie gras ice cream,
but I like his interpretation of it.
And it's a really tasty, light dessert
that could have been really heavy.
I'm just not, I'm not getting the foie gras.
Just let me down a little bit.
What stands out most are the strawberries.
I would have almost written the menu to be,
you know, focused on that.
If he just gave us a little more foie,
this would have been
a completely different experience.
But it was delicious. I'm almost done.
So much technique, so much skill here.
What a pleasure to be at the table.
Yeah.
- Yeah, Chef! - Yeah!
Let's go.
- Tracy, come here. - Oh, sorry, I spaced out.
There's a strong feeling of accomplished.
Just the fact that I got this done.
I'm very happy, thank you.
And I missed you guys.
I just really enjoyed showcasing Canada.
Yeah, I'm just really proud of myself.
This is it.
Two incredible chefs poured their hearts
into their restaurants. Who did it better?
It's crazy how talented both of them are,
and the restaurants we had were literally night and day.
It is so hard to decide when it's really neck and neck.
I think Alex...
had a complete restaurant experience,
and I watched very carefully
the way he managed the service staff.
All the plates were dropped at exactly the same time.
It was really choreographed.
His meal, something that came up over and
over again while we were eating was technique.
Everything came out beautifully seasoned, cooked.
We thought it was perfection.
His bisque only needed one of
those garnishes to blow us away.
And he had three. And they were all perfect.
What I was missing was Alex.
Coulson delivered something that was very personal,
and he told his story, and it was bold
and it was loud and it was clear.
Coulson's menu also had heaps of precision.
Yeah.
Like there's only one dish I can think of where I'm like,
this feels a little bit sloppy- it was the pasta.
When I was finding uneven pieces of farfalle
and broken pieces,
but it didn't make the dish any less enjoyable.
I found the piece of bone in my trout,
and I know nobody else did, but for me,
finding a bone in the trout,
that's a pretty bad mistake at a finale.
With Alex, I loved his technique.
I loved his precision.
I just didn't love the experience as much,
as I found Coulson's was fresher.
Coulson, is it new to throw that dessert on?
Especially in the scope of the menu, where he said,
"I'm giving you light, I'm giving you seasonal"?
I would say that Alex's theme was
more cohesive in that respect.
Yeah, but his dessert, all of us were
very underwhelmed by his dessert.
I think he lacked the commitment,
whereas Coulson was like, people are gonna think this
is too much cheese, I know it's not too much cheese.
And he gave us a slab,
and he committed to everything he wanted to do
because he knew his food and he knew the ratios.
Whereas I felt like there's a little bit of hesitation
from Alex's side.
Alex, in my mind, I'm like,
brother, it is the finale.
Now is no time for caution.
Cheers, Alex.
Yeah, I wish you all the best and luck, you know,
whatever happens.
Competing against you in the final, like,
there was no other way I would want to go out,
you know? It's like, put it all on the table,
like, go against the best.
Not- you guys are all great.
You are not an easy...
competition because you're super skilled,
seasoned, experienced.
And I'd like to say thank you for making
my journey so special, unforgettable.
Well said. Thank you, Alex.
Alex Coulson, it's time.
The judges would like to see you now.
SHAI-ANN: Good luck. Oh, one last one.
Love it.
Bring it all in, guys.
- Hey. - Thank you so much.
Everything is on the line.
$100,000.
I'm sure whatever Alex did is so great.
I just know what I did, and it was the best food
that I've ever cooked in my life.
Now it's up to the judges.
Chefs, this is the finale,
and this was Restaurant Wars.
Coulson, North of Nowhere
showcased your creativity,
confidence, and personality.
I appreciate your attention to details
and how you pick your ingredients.
That's been something we've seen since day one.
Every bite was different and exciting.
It felt like a restaurant
that I would really want to go to regularly.
It was truly delightful.
Thank you.
Alex, Sovereign 1867
was a masterclass in technique,
refinement, and service.
Thank you.
Really felt like a fine dining experience
at a Michelin Star level.
Thank you.
The amount of work you did on this menu
blew us away.
Everything was so perfectly seasoned.
Every flavour, succinct.
Every decision, purposeful.
Thank you, Chef.
Gentlemen...
I've eaten top chef finales on a few continents now.
And let me just say,
what the two of you managed to pull off
would have won you every single one.
Probably the best match up...
in Top Chef Canada history, to be honest.
- Without question. - Thank you.
But only one of you can win the title.
Coulson...
You are Canada's Top Chef.
No.
Ha-ha-ha-ha!
Like, what?
You're an amazing chef.
I just won $100,000.
That's life changing, you know, for a chef.
There's no way in...
a million lives I thought I was gonna beat Alex.
And to come out on top, like, this is surreal.
It's unreal. Thank you very much.
Alex, we've never had a closer challenge
than this, ever.
Just so much technique, so much skill,
so much poise in the kitchen.
You're a real pro.
Thank you, everyone. I really enjoyed the journey.
I can't forget about this experience.
Thank you for having me on Top Chef Canada.
I didn't win the title,
but I got to show how passionate I am,
how proud I am as a Korean-Canadian chef.
My grandparents will still be very proud of me.
Yes, Chef!
Good job, buddy.
So proud of you, buddy.
Ah, yeah, forget about the bubbles, aw.
This is everything that I could imagine and more.
I want to make my family have a better life.
And that's why I push so hard.
And I'm so proud that I did.
Oh, no!
Good job, baby.
Being on Top Chef Canada, like,
it's worth every second.
To Coulson, Canada's Top Chef!
Cheers, Coulson!
- Coulson! - There we go.