Two Ottawa chefs among 12 vying for top prize in national reality show
Top Chef Canada’s Season 8 to feature Dufour and Texeira
Ottawa chefs Dominique Dufour and Imrun Texeira are among the 12-person field vying to prevail on the upcoming eighth season of Top Chef Canada.
Dufour, 32, is the chef and co-owner of Gray Jay Hospitality on Preston Street. Texeira, at 25 the youngest competitor on the Food Network Canada reality competition series, is the sous-chef at Stofa on Wellington Street West.
Dufour said in an interview that she was recruited for the show soon after she opened her restaurant last summer.
“It’s not every day that you throw yourself in a completely new environment and up the pressure,” she said.
“It was challenging but the spirit and camaraderie with the other chefs was outstanding,” said Dufour. “Every chef I’ve come into contact with has taught me something.”
Texeira said he has worked with chefs who competed on past Top Chef Canada seasons and they had nothing but good things to say about their experiences. He added that he took part in the show despite being a little camera shy.
He said the reality show taught him “the importance of being my authentic self, and acting the way I do with my friends, cooking the food I like to cook, and expressing myself openly.”
In addition to the title of Canada’s top chef, the show’s competitors are vying for $100,000, a 2020 Lexus RX hybrid electric SUV, and an eight-night guided tour of Italy for two.
The show’s eighth season begins airing on Food Network Canada on Monday, April 13, at 10 p.m.
The show’s fourth season was won by Ottawa’s Rene Rodriguez, now the chef at Grill 41 in the Lord Elgin Hotel.