Jamaican Roots Chef For Top Chef Canada

By NAN Staff Writer

News Americas, TORONTO, Canada, Fri. Mar. 12, 2021: A Canadian-born, Jamaica raised chef is set to compete in Top Chef Canada, Season 9, airing on April 19th on the Food Network.

Andrea Alridge, who is Jamaican-Filipina, is currently chef de cuisine of Downtown Vancouver’s Italian restaurant Cincin Ristorante + Bar.

Alridge, 30, draws culinary influence from her backgrounds, according to her bio. She told WestCoast Food in 2019 that she became interested in cooking when she was eight years old in Jamaica, where her dad and uncle had taught her about the art of butchery.

“My grandmother had then prepared the most amazing Sunday meal using the whole animal, and from that day on, I knew this is what I truly wanted to do. I will never forget that meal, as all my senses were engaged. It was a magical moment,” she was quoted as saying.

Alridge is a graduate of the Culinary Arts program at Vancouver Community College (VCC).

“Food was a huge part of my upbringing,” says Alridge, who began her professional cooking career with Cactus Club Cafe, then with Raincity Grill where she worked her way up to the sous chef position.

At CinCin, Alridge rose from being the chef de partie to her current position as the chef de cuisine.

“My Jamaican heritage has had a tremendous influence on my career. My roots go deep and food has always been a very important part for both sides of my family,” she told West Coast Food. “In Jamaica, fresh is always best, and the people are proud and intuitive with nature. Quite a bit of the population will grow their own produce and if they can’t, they will search far and wide for the best product they can find. That is something my father has always stressed when I was growing up. Our bodies are all we have and we need to treat them with great respect, especially with how we fuel them.”

She will compete against:

Galasa Aden, 27 (Calgary, Alta.)

Emily Butcher, 30 (Winnipeg, Man.)

Aicia Colacci, 40 (Montreal, Que.)

Siobhan Detkavich, 21 (Kelowna, B.C.)

Jae-Anthony Dougan, 34 (Ottawa, Ont.)

Alex Edmonson, 28 (Calgary, Alta.)

Erica Karbelnik, 30 (Toronto, Ont.)

Josh Karbelnik, 30 (Toronto, Ont.)

Stéphane Levac, 41 (Kentville, N.S.)

Kym Nguyen, 34 (Vancouver, B.C.)