Richmond Hill Culinary Arts Centre

The team at the Richmond Hill Culinary Arts were a pleasure. I was enthralled and entertained by Chef Fred. He effertlessly lead a group of 18 in a three course that included two protiens. His helpful tips extended beyond food preparation to buying, storing and the composition of the ingredients. Looking for something different to do for a team event or a birthday, I would highly recommend this place.

My favourite events are the ones where I have no responsibility or role in planning, and I just have to show up.
This particular event was my 39^th birthday (yes, this is the first 39^th birthday) and it was held at the aptly named Richmond Hill Culinary Arts Centre. My girlfriend and brother handled all of the planning, and the staff at RCAC were not only very helpful, but also very accommodating with any of the requests that were made.
When I arrived, I was greeted by 26 of my friends and a fine selection of cocktails and hors d’ouvres. I believe (in an effort to keep costs down) that our group provided these items. The vodka was delicious, and I had no problem doing my part to make sure there was none left to take home.
Anyhow, let’s talk about the event… it was an Iron Chef competition. 30 minutes to devise a menu, choose ingredients, prep, cook, plate/​present your meal. The rules of the competition and the judging criteria were explained in great detail by Program Director Frederick Oh. Frederick patiently endured my jokes and our collective A.D.D., and we were almost ready to get down to business.
Sixteen (of 26) of us participated, and there were four judges (3 friends + Frederick himself). Four team leaders were named (I was one), and three of them chose their members while I fumbled around asking who was participating and who wasn’t. The upside to not knowing who was participating (the event was a surprise to me), I simply had 3 people left to choose from. I chose them all.
From the dining area where we were all gathered, Frederick opened a set of double doors to reveal a huge, bright clean Kitchen with four large stainless steel work areas in the middle. On one end there was a market table with all of the fresh ingredients, spices/​herbs and oils, and on the other end there were ovens, two burners/​team, a grill and a bunch of other things that you can’t possible get around to using because, well, 30 minutes is next to no time, and being unfamiliar with the kitchen is the equivalent to being a nervous, sweaty handed 15 year old trying to undo a bra for the first time.
Our mandate was for each team to prepare a (single) appetizer (using a vinegrette) and an entrée using the secret ingredients and a starch. These dishes would be judged on criteria established in international cooking competitions, and I just don’t have the space or memory to list them here.
In order to find out what our secret ingredients were, each group had to nominate a delegate to shuck three oysters as quickly as possible. As it turned out, our ingredients were a quail, two quail eggs and a large dehydrated mushroom (it wasn’t one of the usual varieties).
Anyhow, everybody had a fantastic time. The 30 minutes absolutely flew by, and necessitated great team work and communication. There was simply no way to have dead weight. Everybody needed to have a task assigned and execute it in a timely fashion while keeping the work areas clean and orderly. There was staff in place to take care of cleaning all of the utensils used, but outside of that you were on your own as a team to find and decide what and how to do your plates.
After the judging and my group being awarded the Certificates of Culinary Supremacy (my name for it at least), we went back to the dining area where we were treated to an absolutely fantastic meal prepared by people who are far better in the kitchen than many of us could strive to be.
The food was excellent, and prepared and presented beautifully.
Everybody truly had an excellent time, and I would highly recommend this for a unique gathering of friends, or a corporate team building event. I for one am glad it was friends, because the likelihood of enjoying the company of that many people you work with could just lead to a stabbing or involuntary bobbing for french fries incident.
Frederick and his staff were very professional and we all truly appreciated the seemless execution of ever aspect of our evening.
The only downside to having an event that runs from 6pm — 12am is having a person like myself making decisions like inviting everybody back to my house for more drinks afterwards… because that’s what we all needed… I don’t think I got out of bed until 3pm the next day… but that my friend’s is my own, personal problem. ;)