Vancouver chef to represent Canada in prestigious global culinary competition 

Vancouver chef Keith Pears is representing Canada as a finalist in the prestigious Bocuse d’Or culinary competition. (Courtesy: @owaisrafiqueagency)

A Vancouver-raised chef will represent Canada in a prestigious international cooking competition that is being dubbed the Olympics of the culinary world.

Keith Pears, former B.C. Chef of the Year, will travel to France’s Lyon in January to compete in the biannual Bocuse d’Or, a global competition for chefs established in 1987 by the late French chef Paul Bocuse.

The two-day competition will see 12 finalist countries compete for the bronze, silver and gold medals. With Canada having never placed on the podium before – it reached fourth place in 1999 – Pears said winning would “be a dream.”

“I mean, this is the biggest thing for me. This is the most prestigious culinary competition there is in the world,” he said.

Pears, who moved to Toronto eight years ago to further his career at a string of high-profile hotels, qualified for the finals last year after placing second at the Bocuse D’Or Americas, a preliminary competition held for the Americas. Other continents held their own competition, with their winners set to compete against Pears in the large-scale finale.

Held in New Orleans, the Bocuse D’Or Americas saw nine teams complete the competition’s iconic tests of ‘theme on a plate,’ – which spotlit seafood dishes – and the ‘platter theme,’ this year being a Louisiana platter comprising a wild boar rack, alligator sausage and grits.

“Progressing through each stage and going through all these uphill battles, mentally and physically, is what really prepares us for the final,” said Pears, adding how it has been “full-time training” ever since.

Alongside managing a full-time, demanding job, Pears is currently Corporate Executive Chef for Accencis Group, the chef is also spending “hours a day” researching and developing the theme for the finals, taste-testing recipes and testing his “creative ability.”

“It's kind of like training for the Olympics, even when you get your chance you're then just devoting your life towards the cause and working towards a bigger goal,” he said.

Pears says he won’t reveal too much of the gastronomic creation he has planned, but he can assure it will showcase Canada and himself as a chef, alongside keeping to the traditional Bocuse D’Or style. Elevated food, he says, that has been “made to look pretty.”

Coming from a culinary family – Pears’ parents run Mount Pleasant’s Argo Cafe – the chef says cooking has always been in his blood.

“I worked for my parents for a very long time, for the first half of my career I was following them around from restaurant to restaurant,” he says, describing how he helped his mum, chef Lynda Larouche, washing dishes at The Teahouse restaurant in Stanley Park and Seasons in the Park at Queen Elizabeth Park.

Unlike some other countries set to compete, Canada doesn’t offer government funding and the onus to pay for the flights, hotel, car rental and other trip expenses for the trip to Lyon is on the chefs themselves. The costs, say Pears, are to be in the tens of thousands.

Fundraising efforts, led primarily by mum Larouche and her flock of excited staff members, are underway.

“We are very proud of his accomplishments,” says Larouche, adding how the family has “shed tears” over Pears’ most recent achievements.

Larouche said cookie sales at Argo’s front desk and specially curated turkey dinner packages for customers have helped rack up funds in-house, while a GoFundMe page is garnering attention online.

While taking part in the competition is an unparalleled experience in itself, winning would be something else entirely, Pears said.

“Whatever happens, it's going to be worth it regardless because there's going to be so many memories made, but winning this, or to even hit the podium, would bring a lot of validation,” he said.

“To be able to show my family, and my two kids, what I can do, and that if you put yourself to work and dedicate yourself to something, you really can achieve anything.”