Vancouver chef Rob Feenie has a handful of culinary competition successes under his belt — including the title of Iron Chef America — but he still gets nervous going into cook-offs.
Last month, Feenie won the British Columbia Gold Medal Plates contest and he will be representing the province this weekend at the national competition, which will take place in Vancouver and raise money for the Canadian Olympic Foundation.
“It’s not that I’ve gotten used to (competing), but I’m more comfortable with it,” said Feenie, a 25-year veteran in the industry and Food Concept Architect at Cactus Club.
“When they asked me to do Iron Chef, my first response was ‘No,’ because I didn’t think it was something I could do.”
The top chefs from seven Canadian cities will be given a budget and a location to shop for ingredients, and have all day Friday to create a local dish to go with a mystery bottle of wine.
Two more contests are planned for Saturday, and the winner will eventually be crowned at the Sheraton Wall Centre that evening.
Feenie said despite his hesitation to compete, he enjoys a challenge and doesn’t think having home-court advantage will give him a leg up in the competition.
“All the rules are the same (for all chefs),” he said.
