A resounding success: the first edition of the

“Presenting: Quebec Chefs and Cheeses” competition

crowns its winner, chef Sophie Ouellet of DNA

Montreal, Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 16 original culinary creations by 4 chef finalists, 16 Quebec cheeses, 400 guests/judges, 6,400 dishes prepared and served by a brigade of over 50 chefs, cooks and servers, 192 kilos of cheese for the recipes and 70 kilos for the cheese board centrepieces, 9 Great Wines of Portugal, 225 bottles of wine and 125 bottles of port, 3,600 glasses of wine, 400 glasses of water, a dozen people assigned to coordination and technical assistance, 1,600 votes compiled and a grand prize of $5,000! The numbers tell the tale-the inaugural edition of the Presenting: Quebec Chefs and Cheeses competition, launched cooperatively by the Fédération des Producteurs de Lait du Québec and the MONTREAL HIGH LIGHTS Festival to showcase the incredible talents of our local chefs and artisans, was as undeniable highlight of the events presented during the SAQ Wine and Dine Experience presented by Air France program at this 11th edition.

During this major culinary competition of our Quebec cheeses, four chef finalists of the Festival’s 50 Finest Tables-Jean-Mark Leon of the Beaver Club (Fairmont Queen Elizabeth), Laurent Saget of Nuances (Casino de Montréal), Laurent Godbout of Chez L’Épicier and Sophie Ouellet of restaurant DNA- admired the hard work of various culinary brigades busily creating their masterpieces in the kitchens of the Grand salon in the Hyatt Regency Montréal. Declared finalists after a preliminary round of judging by the Festival jury-consisting of Jean-François Demers, special advisor and spokesman of the SAQ Wine and Dine Experience presented by Air France, Jean-Paul Grappe, chef-advisor, Yanick Villedieu, journalist and host of the Première Chaîne de Radio-Canada and food columnist for L’actualité, and Françoise Kayler, renowned journalist-the chefs presented four inspired culinary creations: cold entrées featuring goat cheeses, warm entrées featuring soft ripened bloomy rind cheeses, main courses featuring soft ripened washed rind cheeses, and desserts featuring blue cheeses. Among them: cassolette of clams and Riopelle de l’Isle, Coquille St-Jacques served on a bed of chanterelles with Le Noble foam, Roasted guinea fowl suprême stuffed with Presqu’île mushrooms, ratatouille jus, creamy herb polenta and Kalamata olives, a Pear soup with Rassembleu, white chocolat and caramelized banana…

Although all concerned surpassed themselves, to the delight of the many foodies in attendance to judge the dishes, one of the four finalists stood tallest, taking home the honours: DNA sous-chef Sophie Ouellet. A graduate of the ITHQ-and holder of a B. Music in jazz saxophone-our winner is a dynamic and passionate young nonconformist chef who displayed a limitless imagination and irreproachable technique. The Fédération des producteurs de lait du Québec awarded her a grand prize of $5,000, along with a platter created by a Quebec artisan glassblower. The Festival offers this promising young woman its best wishes for her brilliant future-a reaffirmation of the timely relevance of the special 2011 edition of the Festival, showcasing Ladies First.

Given the incredible success of the event, Festival programmers have confirmed there will indeed be a second edition of the culinary competition Presenting: Quebec Chefs and Cheeses as part of the 12th edition of the MONTREAL HIGH LIGHTS Festival, which will be held from Thursday, February 17 to Sunday, February 27, 2011. See you there!

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