Food Network Canada announces Wall of Chefs

From a media release:

A wall of 12 world-class chefs, four home cooks, three culinary challenges and one grand prize at stake: Wall of Chefs (10×60) puts amateur cooks to the ultimate test. In each exhilarating stand-alone episode of Corus Studios’ Wall of Chefs, host and vibrant television personality Noah Cappe (Carnival Eats) guides four home cooks through intense rounds of culinary competition. Each challenge will test the skills and nerves of the cooks as they battle in a state-of-the-art kitchen under the towering shadow and watchful eye of “The Wall” – comprised of a revolving panel of Canada’s most notable chefs. The competitors battle it out until the final round where the wall of culinary icons ultimately declares the winner, awarding the $10,000 prize. The groundbreaking new Canadian original series makes its debut February 3 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network Canada.

Wall of Chefs features an unmatched, star-studded slate of 33 Canadian culinary icons and trailblazers on rotation throughout the 10-episode run of the season. The chefs span from Vancouver, B.C. to St. John’s, N.L., representing diverse cultures and cuisines, while bringing different perspectives and opinions to the forum.

The Wall of Chefs cast of culinary icons include:

• Hugh Acheson – Atlanta, Ga. (5&10, The National, Empire State South, Spiller Park Coffee)
• Suzanne Barr – Toronto, Ont. (True True Diner)
• Victor Barry – Toronto, Ont. (Piano Piano Restaurant, Café Cancan)
• Christa Bruneau-Guenther – Winnipeg, Man. (Feast Café Bistro)
• Massimo Capra – Toronto, Ont.  (Capra’s Kitchen, Massimo’s Italian, Boccone, Soprafino)
• Shane Chartrand – Edmonton, Alta. (SC)
• Alex Chen – Vancouver, B.C. (Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar)
• Christine Cushing – Toronto, Ont.
• Lynn Crawford – Toronto, Ont. (Ruby Watchco, The Hearth)
• Meeru Dhalwala – Vancouver, B.C. (Vij’s)
• Fisun Ercan – Montreal, Que. (Su)
• Rob Feenie – Vancouver, B.C. (Cactus Club Cafe)
• Michele Forgione – Montreal, Que. (Impasto, Pizzeria Gema, Chez Tousignant, Vesta)
• Marysol Foucault – Gatineau, Que. (Edgar)
• Rob Gentile – Toronto, Ont. (Bar Buca, Buca Osteria & Bar, Buca Osteria & Enoteca)
• Mandel Hitzer – Winnipeg, Man. (deer + almond)
• Nick Hodge – Montreal, Que. (Icehouse)
• Renée Lavallée – Dartmouth, N.S. (The Canteen and Little C)
• Jinhee Lee – Calgary, Alta. (Foreign Concept)
• Susur Lee  – Toronto, Ont. (Lee, Kid Lee, Lee Kitchen, Tunglok Heen)
• Nick Liu – Toronto, ON (Dailo, Little Dailo)
• Dale Mackay – Saskatoon, Sask. (Ayden Kitchen & Bar, Sticks and Stones, Little Grouse, Avenue)
• Darren MacLean – Calgary, Alta. (Shokunin)
• Mark McEwan – Toronto, Ont. (Bymark, One, Fabbrica, Diwan)
• Corinna Mozo – Toronto, Ont. (La Cubana)
• Todd Perrin – St. John’s, N.L. (Mallard Cottage, Waterwest Kitchen and Meats)
• Christie Peters – Saskatoon, Sask. (The Hollows, Primal)
• Guy Rawlings – Toronto, Ont. (Montgomery’s)
• Nuit Regular – Toronto, Ont. (PAI Northern Thai Kitchen, Sabai Sabai, Sukho Thai, Kiin)
• Danny Smiles – Montreal, Que. – (Le Bremner)
• Alida Solomon – Toronto, Ont. (Tutti Matti)
• Jesse Vergen – Saint John, N.B. (Saint John Ale House, Toro Taco, Barred Rock, Smoking Pig, McGill’s)
• Joël Watanabe – Vancouver, B.C. (Bao Bei, Kissa Tanto)

In every episode, four amateur cooks face off in culinary challenges judged by 12 of Canada’s most renowned chefs, known as “The Wall”. The first round is the “Crowd-Pleaser” where four home cooks are tasked with making their signature crowd-pleasing dish to impress the chef judges. One home cook is eliminated, and the three remaining home cooks move forward to compete in the “Chef’s Fridge” challenge where they must use staple ingredients of the selected chef’s fridge in their dish. In the third round, the final two home cooks face off in the “Restaurant-Worthy” challenge, where they are tasked to make a dish based on one of the chef judge’s most popular and well-known culinary creations. In the end, only one cook will be left standing, claiming $10,000 and the respect of the wall of chefs. The home cooks from across the country taking on the ultimate challenge in the Wall of Chefs kitchen will be announced at a later date.

Foodnetwork.ca offers exclusive Wall of Chefs content, including a closer look at the stellar cast of chef judges from across the country. Viewers can look forward to food trend videos, special interviews, a glimpse into the fridges of the expert celebrity chefs and much more. In addition, full episodes will be available online the day after broadcast.

Wall of Chefs is produced by Insight Productions in association with Corus Studios for Food Network Canada. Executive Producers are John Brunton, Mark Lysakowski and Eric Abboud and Series Producer is Erica Lenczner.