'Top Chef Canada' winner Chef Matthew Stowe is 'proud' to see American version celebrate Canadian products
After a triumphant win on Top Chef Canada Season 3, Chef Matthew Stowe, now executive director of culinary at Joey Restaurant Group, returned the franchise as a judge on Top Chef Season 22, which takes place in Canada. Joining host and Top Chef winner Kristen Kish, head judge Tom Colicchio and Canadian judge Gail Simmons, Stowe was among the culinary experts evaluating the pickle Elimination Challenge in the latest episode.
The chefs were split into two teams of five to create a pickle menu, going head-to-head with the opposing team for each course. Stowe stressed to Yahoo Canada that it was an "honour" to be asked to judge Top Chef.
"Seeing the the American version and what they've done with that show that I've really admired over the years, it was just an honour to be back," he said.
"I love being able to see where the level of cooking is at now, because when I was on, it was 11 years ago, so the world of hospitality was a bit different then. So it's exciting to see where cooking is at in North America, see where some of the chefs are drawing inspiration from."
In terms of where Stowe thinks this season's competitors stack up against previous seasons, he believes the chefs on the show get more impressive with every season.
"I think every year it gets better and better," Stowe said. "I think that the level of cooking in North America has come a long way over the last 20 years, when you look at the history of the show, both in Canada and in the U.S."
"I think that the beauty of where we're at now with it, when you have a history as rich as it is, you really get ... chefs that understand what it takes to win. Because really, there's a blueprint out there now of what it takes. The background of the chefs that have won, how, where they've worked, style of food that they do, you can kind of estimate in your own mind where you would rank."
In terms of Stowe's mindset to evaluating the dishes on Season 22, it all comes down to understanding the challenge.
"Oftentimes it's all about celebrating that ingredient or that technique, or whatever that theme of the challenge is," Stowe said. "Celebrating and putting it in the forefront, and understanding how to spin it, how to tell a great story, and obviously rely on your foundation cooking to get you there."
Stowe added that he believes this season, so far, has been a great showcase of the ingredients Ontario has to offer, and he highlighted that he's "super proud" of the products produced in Canada.
"I remember one of the first times that I was kind of beaming with pride, I was working in New York at a restaurant called Lutèce, very well regarded French restaurant, halfway across the world, as an 18-year-old cook, and I saw Saskatchewan chanterelles come in the door," he shared. "And there's a big product of Canada sticker on this plastic crate."
"We had this French chef de cuisine at the time ... and even he was like, these are the best chanterelles you can find anywhere in the world, at this time. ... You're kind of homesick. You're away from home. I had been away for almost three years at the time, and seeing some of these products come through the door is just a huge testament to who we are as a country, that some of the top restaurants are using products grown within our borders. And you can help but get inspired by that."
While everyone watches Top Chef with their own ideas of how things work, Stowe identified a few elements that are actually critically important
Firstly, from the standpoint of the competitor, battling the mental game is key.
"I'll never forget, when we landed in Toronto to film my season, they literally took everything away. Take your wallet away, your passport, any identification. You're there to cook, and that's it, ... and you're completely cut off from the outside world," Stowe said. "I could call home once a week and it was kind of monitored so that you weren't ... trying to get ideas from the person back home you were talking to."
"We would drive around from location to location, and we weren't allowed to listen to the radio. ... No TV, you're totally isolated from the world, which I didn't really expect. But it was such an amazing opportunity, because you really are just laser focused on your food and representing yourself well, and taking each challenge as it comes, as seriously as you can."
As a judge, Stowe highlighted that, in addition to it coming down to how each dish lands on the table, each judge's preferences and food history comes into play.
"Everyone's there for different reasons. Everyone has a different food memory out there, ... everyone's had their favourite version of X, and how that translates when you're eating food and you're judging it, I think is really interesting," Stowe said.
But ultimately, Stowe recognized that being a Top Chef Canada winner has been a "big stepping stone" in his career, leading to national campaigns and invitations to showcase Canadian food exports to the rest of the world. And now constructing impressive menus for Joey restaurants, opening their 35th location in San Jose. Stowe added that the diversity of the Joey menu is something he's particularly proud of constructing.
"We have this globally inspired menu that appeals to everyone, and the beauty from a chef standpoint is that I'm not backed into a corner as far as this type of food," Stowe said. "I could be touching different parts of the world with how I'm developing food, and that keeps it really exciting."
But as Top Chef continues to see a strong following from loyal fans, Stowe's seen a shift in food consumption patterns as well.
"I think that food media and TV specifically, ... getting high level cooking into people's households, it just raises the standards overall," he said. "So when people go out to eat, they expect a very high level of execution, whether they're eating in one of our restaurants at Joey or they're eating in a restaurant run by a Top Chef winner."
"When you look across North America, ... 30 years ago, where chefs had the upper hand is, you could source better products than home cooks could. So when they came to the restaurant, they already were going to have an amazing experience that they couldn't necessarily have at home. Whereas now that gap has been certainly shortened, where you can get great products at home. Now you can go to farmers markets ... on weekends when products are in season."
He added that home cooks can also really easily look up a recipe for anything their stomach desires, an even order ingredients online.
"Of course, you still need a certain level of skill and aptitude and foundation, but at the end of the day, being able to be a good home cook is much easier than it was 30 years ago, 35 years ago, even 20 years ago," Stowe said.
"Restaurants, I think, are forced to really look at what they're doing, what we're offering, and the total experience and seeing how we can get better and better every day. Because it's competitive. It's highly competitive amongst restaurants, but also, you are competing against home cooks that have great access to food products, great access to recipes, and you're competing for them to come into your restaurant and choosing you, versus making things at home."
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