Our Third “Top Home Chefs” Event Was a Huge Success

This past April, at the St. George Banquet Hall in Waterloo, KW Legacy held its third “annual” (Covid caveat) Top Home Chefs event as a fundraiser for Waterloo Region Suicide Prevention council.

As one of the founders of KW Legacy, I helped to conceive and plan the first event in 2018. My friends and I created KW Legacy as a means to give back to Waterloo Region. With mental health for men as a priority, we partnered with WRSP after we all experienced a tragedy in our lives. We were coming up with ideas for fundraising events, and since we’re all big fans of cooking competition shows, and we all love to eat, a ‘Top Chef’ spinoff seemed like a natural fit.

In my role as co-chair of the first two events in ’18 and ’19, I helped put together a great team to execute it, including recruiting the chefs and celebrity judges and securing the venue at St. George. The first one was so much fun and such a huge success, we decided to make it an annual event. What other excuse do we have to try out dozens of different dishes for a great cause?

This year, I served as ‘past chair’ or ‘Chair Emeritus’. Our team invited 50 home chefs to prepare around 80 samples of their favorite dishes for over 400 guests and our panel of celebrity judges, which included Chef D, Dana Short, Nick Benninger and Chef Scotty. The judges voted on awards for best appetizer, soup/salad, main and desserts, with the winners receiving one of our coveted Champion Jackets.

Here are the winners selected by our panel:

Soup/Salad: Aaron Doherty, Smoked Duck Soup

Appetizer: Joanna Faiella, Smoked Pork Belly

Main : Chef Darren, Succulent Lamb Curry Of The Bright Sun

Dessert: Marisa Mariella, Tiramisu

I can’t say I’ve ever had Succulent Lamb Curry of the Bright Sun before, but I definitely want more. Congrats Chef Darren!

We also gave out “People’s Choice” awards, allowing our guests to vote on the offerings. Here are the crowd favourites:

Soup/Salad: Jen Hamilton, Spicy Asian Noodles

Appetizer: Dean Kueneman, Two Bite Bacon Bowls

Main: Tracy Toffolo, Tracy’s Loaded Mac and Cheese

Dessert: Mack Denome: Lemon Lover’s Dream

Proving once again that no one can resist a great Loaded Mac and Cheese dish. Well played Chef Tracy!

During the event, we offered live and silent auction items. After everyone was nice and stuffed, we heard some great speakers who explained the mission and scope of WRSP. We wrapped it all up with a great party featuring a live band and a packed dance floor.

So far, all three Top Home Chef events have been sell-outs. We’re proud to say we’ve raised a combined $148,000 for the WRSP.

If you want to test out your culinary skills next year and compete for one of our prized Champion Jackets, email tophomechefs@kwlegacy.ca. Let’s see what you can whip up!