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Orillia Community Kitchen is cooking up a Chef Challenge

Objective of series is to raise awareness of the challenges people face when The Sharing Place food order is a staple in their kitchen

NEWS RELEASE
ORILLIA COMMUNITY KITCHEN
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Orillia Community Kitchen (OCK) announces a Chef Challenge: cook delicious meals using The Sharing Place food cart. OCK has invited three local celebrity chefs to take up our challenge! The public is invited to partake in the cooking and eating of these delicious meals.

The objective of this series is to raise community awareness of the challenges people face when The Sharing Place food order is a staple in their kitchen. The goal is to raise funds to support the current Wednesday night food literacy skills sessions, which are offered at no cost to participants with limited financial resources.

This new initiative allows the OCK commitment, Connecting through Cooking, to take on additional meaning. For the weekly Wednesday night group, who are often food challenged, it offers an opportunity to feel connected to community. For the monthly dinner series, it allows participants to feel connected with those in the community who have limited food resources.

OKC Chef Challenge begins on Thursday September 26 with newly arrived local Chef Kalvin Sherry.

Sherry’s interest in being a chef was sparked at the age of 15 while working at a restaurant as a dishwasher. He then obtained a diploma from Niagara College in Culinary Management.

His cooking journey began in western Canada cooking for well-known hotels before returning to Ontario to begin a catering sideline business featuring his own culinary creations. It had been his dream to live north of the city to have a place that allows for more family time. Since moving to Orillia in June 2018 he has done over 220 events. He is here to stay and wants to give back to the small community and support small businesses alike.

Local Chef Jennifer Alton will take up the challenge on Thursday, Oct. 31.

Alton's philosophy “Learning is a lifetime pursuit “ has never been more prevalent than in her cooking career.

In 1985, with cooking and baking as her passion and having three children under four years, she started an off-premise catering company in Georgetown, Ontario called Cocktail Hour Catering. It rapidly grew to a full-service catering operation throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s. The business was sold in 1999 when her family moved to Hawkestone.

She continued with volunteer work, making pies for the Orillia Farmers market and community events. She returned full time to the kitchen in 2015 at Youth Leadership Camps of Canada (YLCC) and subsequently went back to college to complete a chef apprenticeship. She is proud to now be a Red Seal Chef and the Director of Food Services at YLCC, providing up to 900 nutritious meals daily to the campers.

Mayor Steve Clarke will be the final chef to take up the challenge on Thursday, Nov. 28, but that event is already completely sold out.

We look forward to the creativity of our guest chefs at our OCK Chef Challenge. Come join us!

There is room for 15 people to register for each challenge night, and share in the cooking and eating together. Each evening will start at 5 p.m. Register soon to ensure you don’t miss the fun. Tickets will sell fast!

Not interested in joining the cooking session? There is room for a limited number of people to join in the meal only. There will be some cards out on the dinner tables for you to pass the time while waiting for dinner.

Cook and Dine Tickets are $50 per person, and meal only tickets are $35. Our group rate is $750 (limited to 18 people.) To purchase your ticket, email [email protected] or call 705-327-7814.

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