Table 24 executive chef David Colombe and his assistant Caleb Leconte cooked up a silver medal in the recent 100 Mile Diet Iron Chef competition.
“It’s fantastic, we had a great time,” said Colombe last week. “I’m mostly proud of apprentice Caleb Leconte who joined, me because he was the youngest person competing – only 17 years old.”
Colombe says he and Leconte were the only two-person team competing against restaurants with three-person teams.
Eight professional teams competed for the title at the Armstrong IPE on Saturday.
The top four teams continued onto the finals on Sunday, with Colombe and Leconte competing in the finals with executive chef Romeo Oloresisimo of Ora Restaurant and Lounge at the Kamloops Trade and Convention Centre.
Finalists were given a black bag containing ingredients that they had to incorporate into a five-course menu in 60 minutes.
These included goat cheese from Salmon Arm’s Happy Days Goat Dairy, with instructions that it appear in all five courses.
Other ingredients were smoked garlic, artichokes, Crannog Ales mead, nectarines and hot peppers.
Described as rustic yet elegant, Colombe and Leconte’s earned them an 80.5 per cent from the judges.
Table 24’s silver-medal menu included rice salad with nectarines and goat cheese, arugula, cucumber and red butter lettuce dressed with a balsamic reduction and cherry tomato dressing; cold blackberry soup with goat cheese and Thai basil; grilled salmon over caramelized root vegetables with grilled eggplant and a nectarine reduction; seared venison tenderloin over roasted Thumbelina carrots and Sieglinde potatoes with goat cheese and open face blackberry, raspberry and strawberry tart with crème anglaise.
“I was quite pleased because most of the produce was donated from one of the farms I work with on a regular basis,” said Colombe. “Both Caleb and I were familiar with everything in the bags. We loved it and knew what to do with it and all the produce was super amazing…”
Colombe is a red seal chef, with the highest level of Canadian government certified endorsement available.
After studying at Okanagan College, he began a three-year apprenticeship, the last 18 months at Raudz, a casual fine dining restaurant in Kelowna that focuses on locally produced food.
“Now that I am a red seal, I find it within my responsibility to pass on, not only the training and skill, but also the passion for the food to people like Caleb.”
Already a graduate at 17, Leconte participated in Salmon Arm Secondary’s food program and has completed his professional cooking level one.
He is apprenticing with Colombe, who took over the Table 24 kitchen in March because Podollan Inn management offered him the opportunity to focus on serving local food.
“We’ve turned it into a local produce showcase,” says an enthusiastic Colombe. “Salmon Arm and the North Okanagan have such great stuff, it’s silly not to use it.”
Two Table 24 menu items that Colombe describes as his personal favourites include dry rubbed grilled bison flank and a cinnamon merlot braised lamb shank.
Table 24 serves breakfast, lunch and dinner from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
“I’d like to thank the organizers for a fun event,” said Colombe. “It was a great experience for Caleb and a competitive but friendly atmosphere.”
