City enjoys food fest as canape champ is crowned

Chef Suresh Amarathunga was today named the winner of the City Food Festival chef competition. 

Chef Amarathunga of Barracuda Grill beat out five other chefs and had his dishes named best canapé in Bermuda. 

The runner up was Chef Zaid Khan of Hog Penny. 

Battle

Chef Kahn and Chef Amarathunga battled it out at the Bermuda Gas Showroom on Friday night in a baby shrimp competition.

They both tantalized the palates of the judges and the audience with delicious canapés. 

A canapé is a small, decorative bite of food, usually eaten in one bite. 

Both chefs were given a black box courtesy of Butterfield and Vallis filled with shrimp, cucumber, rosemary, cherry tomato, red onion, croissant, curry roll and thyme roll. 

They were required to make three canapés - one hot, one cold and one discretionary. 

Since it was the finals, the judges threw in a second mystery box filled with imitation crab, apple and potatoes. 

This box was to be used to create a fourth canapé. The chefs had to use all of the ingredients in the challenge. 

Read more about their ‘canapé combat’ HERE.

Prizes

Chef Amarathunga won a $750 cash prize and a KitchenAid food processor. 

Chef Khan walked away with a $500 cash prize and a KitchenAid blender. 

The winner was announced at the Food Festival held at the number one car park. 

The event started at 2pm and had food/drink competitions including rum swizzle, fish chowder, fishcakes and loquat chutney. 

There was also a pie eating competition, a wine tent and so much more. 

Restaurants such as Docksiders, Brunswick Bakery, Bermuda Bistro, Lemon Tree, Island Restaurant Group and La Trattoria served up a variety of food including pasta, pizza, barbecue, pies, fried fish, chicken wings, sliders and much more. 

There was also a bar area serving up every drink you could possible imagine including a White Party made with white Hennessey and white cranberry juice. 

The event saw hundreds of people stop by, grab some food and pull up a chair.