2008 - ERFURT
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Culinary Team Alberta announces chefs selected to compete at the 2008 Culinary Olympics
From left: Brad Horen, Vinod Varshney, Junko Sadahiro
Back row: Lloyd Winters, Scott Ards, Patrick Gayler
Five outstanding chefs, all veteran competitors, will be going to the IKA Culinary Olympics 2008 as Culinary Team Alberta. On October 19–22, 2008 in Erfurt, Germany, they will be looking to add more gold medals to their list of individual and team accomplishments.
"Advantages in two important areas give this team a real edge," says Team Manager Vinod Varshney. "The members are young, with great energy and enthusiasm, but experienced, with all having competed at the international level, both individually and as part of a team. In addition, all combine exceptionally solid culinary training with a passionate drive to be creative and innovative."
Under returning captain Brad Horen, chef members Scott Ards, Patrick Gayler and Lloyd Winters, and pastry chef Junko Sadahiro have already held their first practice. "Within days of making the team, they were organizing practice schedules, bringing up ideas, wanting to get going," says coach and Business Manager Simon Smotkowicz. "The best teams are always trying to reinvent themselves, come up with something original, especially for the Culinary Olympics."
Already Varshney and Smotkowicz are seeing the chefs challenging themselves and each other. From the latest culinary trends to the art and science of molecular gastronomy to contemporary interpretations of food and presentation, they are exploring, applying and adapting leading-edge culinary principles and practices in creating their competition menus and dishes.
Each team chef is responsible for specific entries in the competition categories. "We divided the tasks according to the chefs’ strengths, as their cumulative score determines the team’s overall standing," explains Varshney. "And the team is gelling together really well."