Jeunes Chefs Rôtisseurs Competition October 5-9 in Mexico City
Since winning the Gold Medal and Canada’s Chef Paul Mastalir Award for Kitchen Excellence at the Canadian National Competition last year in October 2021, Leah Patitucci, from Kelowna’s Mission Hill Family Estate Winery, has been waiting for her chance to compete on the international stage. She has been working long and hard in the kitchen, training to test her culinary prowess against a field of as many as twenty other young chefs from around the world at the 46th Concours International des Jeunes Chefs (Young Chefs) Rôtisseurs Competition. She is now traveling to Mexico City, Mexico to compete from October 5-9, 2022.
Leah continues to prepare to meet the rigors and challenges of this prestigious culinary competition. Leah prepared by participating in a series of “black box” practices on-site at several well-known restaurants across western Canada designed to help her further hone her creative and culinary skills. The black box, which is used at both the National and International Jeunes Chefs Rôtisseurs competitions, involves a secret selection of ingredients that all competitors must feature in their menu.
The International event will be judged by a panel of twelve internationally certified chefs, all members of the Chaine des Rôtisseurs, awarding marks for taste, presentation, originality, and kitchen technique. The international event winner will receive a first-place prize of a 5-week advanced culinary course at Le Cordon Bleu, Paris (sponsored by Le Cordon Bleu and the Chaine des Rôtisseurs); and an executive chef attaché case with a complete set of professional knives, sponsored by Wüsthof.
About Leah Patitucci
Leah has long been pursuing her passion in the kitchen. From a young age, Leah knew what career path she wanted to follow. Leah got her first taste of a professional kitchen at an early age at Vancouver’s Hawksworth Restaurant as an Apprentice Cook while still in high school.
She then moved on to Blackbird Bistro serving as Garde Manger. Graduating with her Dogwood Diploma (Honours with distinction) from West Vancouver Secondary School, in eleventh and twelfth grade Leah was able to participate in the ACE-it program through VCC and the West Vancouver School District, allowing her to spend afternoons earning the first step to her Red Seal and get the foundation that every cook needs to succeed. She continued on to achieve her Red Seal from Vancouver Community College (as well as being recognized as VCC Student of the Year) Through the programs, Leah also had the opportunity to be a support member of Culinary Team Canada and go the 2016 IKA Culinary Olympics in Germany as a Pastry support member.
While completing her Red Seal, Leah worked as Pastry Cook/Baker at Temper Chocolate and Pastries, moving on from there to The Pear Tree Restaurant – spending the best part of three years as Line Cook/ Pastry Cook under the mentorship of Executive Chef Scott Jaeger. During this time, she also had the opportunity to be a Core Team Member of Junior Culinary Team Canada. This started Leah’s ascent to a more polished cook and competitor, “Working under Chef Jaeger, I really got to learn a more refined and technical approach to cooking.” She also won Vancouver’s Regional Competition and participated in the 2018 National Competition in Edmonton. In July 2020, Leah joined Mission Hill Family Estate in Kelowna, BC as Chef de Partie at the Terrace Restaurant.
No stranger to competition, Leah is currently the Captain of Culinary Youth Team Canada, most recently participating in the 2020 Culinary Olympics. In 2019, she finished first in the Skills Canada World Selection event going on to finish 13th on the World stage in Skills Worlds Competition. Leah also took top place in the 2018 Skills BC Competition and Skills Canada Competition building on her participation in earlier Skills BC Competitions in 2017 and 2015.
After her recent National win in Winnipeg, Leah is feeling more driven and inspired than ever.
She will continue to train under the guidance of numerous mentors and talents across Canada and, with the international competition in Mexico less 6 months away, Leah is eager to get back to spending her weekends in the kitchen and doing her best to reclaim the Gold Medal for
Canada. “It is such an honour to be able to represent Canada on the world stage. I am so thankful for the incredible support network of industry professionals who have given their time and efforts to allow me to achieve success and who continue to push me to learn new things every day.”
About La Chaîne des Rôtisseurs
The Chaîne des Rôtisseurs is an international gastronomic society devoted to promoting fine dining and preserving the camaraderie and pleasures of the table. The society has both non-professional “gastronome” and culinary professional members in more than 75 countries around the world. For more information on the society in Canada and internationally, please visit the website at https://canada.chainedesrotisseurs.com.
