Vancouver chef wins gold at Canadian Culinary Championship
To further prove how top-notch the food scene is here in Vancouver, a local chef has just won gold at the 2026 Canadian Culinary Championship held in Ottawa last week.
The championship brought together 10 Canadian chefs who were each a regional gold medalist from competitions held nationwide in fall 2025. Through three competitions, these chefs were tested on creativity, technical mastery, adaptability, and composure under pressure before a panel of respected chefs, authors, and culinary experts.
After all three challenges, chef Jay Park of Vancouver’s Boulevard Kitchen and Oyster Bar ended up walking away with gold.
Challenges that Park had to advance through included the Mystery Wine challenge (where chefs received an unknonw bottle and crafted a dish with local ingredients to complement the wine under a strict time and budget constraints), the Black Box challenge (a one hour challenge requiring two plated dishes created from a surprise selection of ingredients), and the Grand Finale where chefs presented a signature dish developed over months of preparation.
Among the dishes Park made, his Grand Finale dish consisted of Wingtat Canada chicken “poulet pressĆ©,” with a gochujang gastric-glazed chicken heart, crispy chicken skin “tartlet” with chicken liver mousse, and chicken jus with garlic thyme chicken fat. The meal was meant to tell the story of Park’s path from his home in Korea to Vancouver, and from culinary school to Chef de Cuisine at Boulevard.
Chef Jay Park’s Grand Finale dish (Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar)
“To compete at this level is incredibly demanding, and to be named Canadian Culinary Champion is truly humbling,” said Park. “This result reflects months of preparation and the unwavering support of my team at Boulevard. I’m deeply grateful to everyone who helped make this possible.”
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Located in downtown Vancouver, Boulevard is an award-winning restaurant led by Executive General Manager Lisa Haley, Executive Chef Roger Ma, and Executive Pastry Chef Kenta Takahashi.
Boulevard Kitchen and Oyster Bar
Address: 845 Burrard St., Vancouver
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