Top Chef Canada has revealed the 11 contestants who will be on the upcoming ninth season of the show and, for the second year in a row, a Kelowna chef will be competing.
Siobhan Detkavich, a chef at Mission Hill Winery’s Terrace Restaurant, will be gunning for the $100,000 prize when the new season premieres in April.
At just 21 years old, Detkavich is the youngest of the 11 contestants by a whopping six years and she’s also the first indigenous woman to compete on Top Chef Canada.
“From commuting three hours daily for culinary school, and working two full time jobs for years, it’s amazing to see what I’ve been able to accomplish by the age of 21,” Detkavich wrote on her Instagram.
“If I can do it, so can you.”
Detkavich’s culinary journey began as a teenager and she took the Industry Training Authority Youth Program through her highschool when she was just 16.
In grade 11, she left to attend the Culinary Arts Program at Okanagan College.
In a 2019 interview, she explained how she was the youngest person in the program at that time and the chefs at OC took her under their wing to expose her to the culinary world as much as they could.
“What really captivates me, and even still to this day, is watching the passion of others flow through their work,” she said.
“Seeing other chefs’ love and appreciation for the product that they're using, and how they utilize each ingredient, always reminds me of why I’m in this industry, and where I hope to see myself in the future.”
She’ll be competing against chefs from across the nation on Top Chef Canada, including two other BC representatives from Vancouver in Andrea Alridge, 30, and Kim Nguyen, 34.
It all begins on Food Network Canada on April 19, as the 11-contestant field will be whittled down to one champion over the course of two months.
Along with $100,000, the winner will also get a Lexus RX Hybrid Electric SUV and, of course, the title of Canada’s top chef!
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