Top Chef Canada competitors and judges announced

From a media release:

TOP CHEF CANADA IS READY TO BE SERVED

• Competitors and Resident Judge Revealed
• Top Chef Canada Premieres April 11, 2011 at 9pm ET/10pm PT on Food Network Canada

Canadians are about to get served with the country’s fiercest culinary competition of all time. Food Network Canada and Insight Production Company Ltd. revealed today the stellar lineup of Canadian competitors and resident judge who will be appearing in the highly anticipated series
Top Chef Canada. The inaugural season of Top Chef Canada will premiere April 11, 2011 at 9pm ET/10pm PT exclusively on Food Network Canada.

Top Chef Canada will challenge 16 competitors’ culinary skills to see who can cut it as Canada’s Top Chef, taking home the grand prize of $100,000 and a GE Monogram kitchen worth $30,000. Hosted by celebrated television personality, Thea Andrews and head judge, chef and restaurateur, Mark McEwan, Top Chef Canada promises the kind of high stakes competition and addictive drama that will inspire viewers to cheer on their favourite competitors each week.

The 16 chosen competitors hail from far and wide across Canada with their own unique culinary backgrounds and expertise. Click on each competitor’s name below to open a link to his or her Top Chef Canada audition video on Food Network Canada’s YouTube channel.

· Clayton Beadle, 26, Whistler, BC

· Derek Bocking, 30, Montreal, QC

· Darryl Crumb, 29, Winnipeg, MB

· Connie De Sousa, 29, Calgary, AB

· Francois Gagnon, 32, Montreal, QC

· Dustin Gallagher, 28, Toronto, ON

· Steve Gonzales, 35, Toronto, ON

· Jamie Hertz, 31, Nelson, BC

· Chris Kanka, 34, Toronto, ON

· Dale Mackay, 30, Vancouver, BC

· Andrea Nicholson, 28, Toronto, ON

· Rebekah Pearse, 29, Calgary, AB

· Todd Perrin, 40, Quidi Vidi Village, St. John’s, NL

· Rob Rossi, 27, Toronto, ON

· Michael Stauffer, 30, Dundas, ON

· Patrick Weise, 40, Toronto, ON

Joining the cast as resident judge on Top Chef Canada is the revered vanguard of Los Angeles dining and entertaining, proud Toronto native Shereen Arazm. Creator and operator of Tinsel Town’s most respected tables including Italian eatery Terroni and sushi staple Geisha House, Shereen also set Hollywood’s nightlife ablaze owning and operating famed outlets Concorde, El Centro, Shag, Central, and Wonderland. Her successful career was featured in an episode of Women on Top on Slice™ in 2007, the same year that LA Times Magazine’s holiday issue named her one of the four top entertainment hosts in Los Angeles. After having a daughter in 2008 with husband Oren Koules, Shereen returned home to Toronto in summer 2010 ready to take on Canada’s top culinary talent as resident judge on Top Chef Canada. Shereen will be joined by various distinguished guest judges who will be revealed at later dates.