In praise of home-cooking warriors

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This article was published 03/01/2022 (1735 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Imagine cooking food in front of a dozen of the country’s best chefs. On television. With limited time. And no idea what ingredients will be thrown your way.

The format of Food Network Canada’s Wall of Chefs program is designed to be intimidating for the home-cook contestants, but it can be equally nerve-racking for the judges.

“The first season I was on, you could tell that I was nervous,” says Mandel Hitzer, owner of Deer + Almond and one of two Winnipeg chefs returning to the show for a second season. “I think where I found my voice is that I have a lot of compassion for people who cook and share their food — I know it can be intimidating. As cooks and chefs, we go through that every single day in our career.”

Season 2 of Wall of Chefs premières tonight at 9 p.m. featuring Hitzer and chef Christa Bruneau-Guenther, of Feast Cafe Bistro, alongside industry heavyweights like chefs Massimo Capra and Mark McEwan.

Returning was a no-brainer.

“There’s a reason I chose to live and work and stay in Manitoba. It’s my home and I’m so proud when we get a splash of anything,” Hitzer says. “We’re often missed … and I think it’s so great that we got some representation from our little city on a national scale.”

Taking part in the show has been an opportunity to learn from and network with some of his culinary idols, many of whom he grew up watching on the Food Network.

“I got to sit beside Rob Feenie and Lynn Crawford and I was watching their shows when I was, you know, 14 years old,” he says. “It was a pretty powerful experience.”

Amid the pandemic, the chance to meet with other chefs and talk about food has been nothing short of therapeutic for Hitzer, who, in addition to shooting for the show, opened a second Deer + Almond location in Polo Park Mall last year.

“We’re one of the few industries that doesn’t meet; we don’t gather or go to conferences and talk about food trends for the next year,” he says. “As a young business owner, and a young chef still, it’s a great opportunity to get insight on the industry that I’m working in and seek guidance from people who have been doing it much longer than me.”

The learning didn’t stop with his fellow cast members. Contestants selected for Wall of Chefs are all home cooks and include everyone from hair stylists and politicians to school principals and tattoo artists. Each episode, four challengers are asked to create three dishes: their best crowd-pleasing recipe, something from the staple ingredients found in one of the chef’s home fridges and a plate inspired by a chef’s signature menu item. Hitzer says he was blown away by the creations.

“The quality of the food really gave me a lot of hope, to be honest,” he says. “The new convenience of online ordering is decimating people cooking for themselves and to be part of a show where you can see the passion and love for food, it was completely overwhelming. And it gave me so much hope that we will survive and still cook for each other.”

While judging a cooking competition was a step outside Hitzer’s comfort zone, he tried hard to be honest and channel the aforementioned compassion he’s developed as a kitchen leader.

“If I tried something that was good, but could have been better, I found a way to give people advice,” he says. “As a chef in the kitchen, that’s part of our teaching and that’s part of giving back to our team.”

Hitzer doesn’t appear in every Wall of Chefs episode, which air on Mondays, but he is planning on hosting a regular viewing party at a local pub for friends and family — a tradition started during the first season.

“My friends think it’s hilarious,” he says. “I never in a million years thought I’d be watching myself on the Food Network.”

Visit foodnetwork.ca/shows/wall-of-chefs for details on how to watch Wall of Chefs.

eva.wasney@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @evawasney