Welcome

It has been a very rewarding year with a strong commitment from our professional members and good attendance at our events.

The Silver Star was presented to Alec Murray for his outstanding service to la Chaine and the Bronze Star to Bob Brintnell for his on going excellent service to la Chaine. Both Alec and Bob are 30 year members.

Our membership drive has been successful and we are very pleased with the enthusiasm of our new members. We now have 75 members of whom 32 are professional.

I have joined the Canadian Culinary Foundation Edmonton Branch as an associate member to stay in touch with the culinary scene in Edmonton. The membership allows me to email and recruit new culinary talent in the Edmonton area. I was involved on a committee with President Chef Simon Smotkowicz called the High School Culinary Challenge which was a huge success in 2008. We have begun the process for 2009 and are looking forward to expanding the program.

Functions

We have had six events this year and a seventh will take place on November 7^th which will be our Chapitre dinner at The Westin Hotel. The venues were The Fairmont Hotel Macdonald, Shaw Conference Centre featuring Culinary Team Canada and Culinary Team Alberta, NAIT, Edmonton Petroleum Club for our annual Barbeque, and the Astoria Hotel/Jasper Park Lodge weekend.

The quality of the food was excellent and the wine selections were superb. All are events are held on a Sunday except one which was held on a Saturday and the number of professional members attending is gratifying.

Scholarships

We are giving four scholarships to NAITculinary arts students annually valued at $500.00 each. This includes $1000.00 provided by our Bailliage and $1000.00 as a match from the National Bailliage.

Erin De Haan and Daniel Ruttle were chosen on the basis of academic achievement in the final year and their excellence in the preparation and presentation of food. Sarah McConnell and Javier Wu Lau are both first year students in the Culinary Arts program. They were selected to receive the award on the basis of their outstanding academic achievement as well as demonstrating financial need.

We also provided $500.00 toward a new scholarship program to the Canadian Culinary Foundation, Edmonton High School Challenge. This was also matched by the National Bailliage.

Young Commis Competition

We held a very successful Commis Competition at NAIT on April 12, 2008. The committee was made up of Peter Jackson, Simon Smotkowicz, Jack Slobodan, Hans Voegelli and Peter Graham. We had six competitors and our winner Amanda Van Brabant from the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald competed in Quebec City on October 31, 2008.

Best Dish Award

The 2007 “best dish� award went to David Eayrs of the Royal Mayfair Golf Club. The dish was Alberta lamb rib-eye, white corn palenta cake, minted spaghetti squash and verjus reduction.

We are currently working in the following areas to improve our Bailliage.

1. Education Program ie: Food and wine pairing - ie: Comparison of wine glasses
2. Web page updates and improvements

It has been an honour to serve as Bailli of Alberta Nord Edmonton and I have enjoyed my third year of office.

I would like to extend my appreciation to all members of the Bailliage for their support and especially to my executive for their dedication to the Bailliage, and many thanks go to our professional members who have hosted dinners this past year.

Peter Graham
Bailli
Alberta Nord Edmonton