FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 5th, 2012
Local Restaurants Go Head to Head in Support of Urban Agriculture
Montreal — The battle of the beets is back as local restaurants face off in support of Santropol Roulant’s Urban Agriculture Program. The 3rd annual Iron Chef Competition will take place on Thursday, September 6 th from 5-10pm at the Edible Campus Garden in front of McGill University’s Burnside Hall.
“Santropol Roulant’s Iron Chef competition is an opportunity to highlight the cuisine of local restaurants, while celebrating our garden’s bountiful fall harvest. Montrealers have never been so excited about eating fresh and local and this event is a testament to that feeling of excitement around sustainable food” says Santropol Roulant’s Community Life Coordinator Noémie Desbiens-Riendeau.
During the event, each team will be given 1 hour to harvest vegetables from the garden and with the help of only very basic materials each group will cook up a menu on the spot for a panel of judges. Each team is permitted to bring a special ingredient which best exemplifies its restaurant’s signature style and flavor. This year’s event features teams from Fabergé, Holder, Rumi, La Khaima, Sala Rosa, and a special Santropol Roulant community team. With last year’s winner Green Panther opting out of this year’s competition, the coveted Iron Chef trophy is back up for grabs.
“This event reminds us of what it means to eat seasonally. We are asked to improvise based on what is ready for harvest on the day of the event. This is a measure of a good chef – the ability to adapt to ever changing circumstances” explains Chef Simon Laplante from Holder.
The competition will be graced not only by talented and generous chefs, but also by great judges. Media personality and food writer Daniel Pinard, reporter and columnist for The Montreal Gazette Susan Schwartz, Quebec scientist and author Dominique Forget, and MariEve Savaria of BRUTalimentation will have the unique pleasure and responsibility of tasting and grading the entries from the competing teams. Teams will be judged based on taste, presentation, portion size, and creativity.
Each participating restaurant has committed to raising 500$ for Santropol Roulant’s Urban Agriculture Program. The competition will be followed by a corn boil and a musical performance by Montreal folk band Twin Voices. Beers will be on sale thanks to the support of the McAuslan Brewery.
Santropol Roulant is a Montreal-based not-for-profit organization founded and run by young people in the community. We use food as a vehicle to break social and economic isolation between generations and to strengthen and nourish our local community.
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Contact:
Noémie Desbiens-Riendeau, Santropol Roulant Community Life Coordinator
514-284-9335
514-886-0597 (c)
noemie-(at)-santropolroulant.org
Chef Simon Laplante, Holder Restaurant
514-402-2278 (c)