By Mark Squibb/September 30, 2022
Chef Kyle Puddister of Fork restaurant in Mobile has returned from the 2022 PEI International Shellfish Festival a champion – and 10 grand richer.
Twelve chefs from across Canada battled it out over an intense three-day culinary competition, the Garland Canada International Chef Challenge.
After the first day, Sept. 16, six chefs were chosen to move onto the semi-final round. After another day of competition, judges named Puddister and Carmen Ingham, Executive Chef at Wickaninnish Inn in Tofino, British Columbia, as the finalists for the third and final day of competition.
Puddister, who had 45 minutes to create four shellfish dishes, whipped up pangrattato crusted lobster tail, potato fondant (which resembled scallops) with shellfish broth, garlic and butter, a tomato leek bacon stew with crabs, mussels, clams, spices and seasonings, and an arugula salad with lemon vinaigrette.
“To be chosen in the top six for the second day and then make it to the top two of the third day, and to come out on top against a pretty accomplished chef, is very validated,” said Puddister. “It was a fantastic experience all around. The Shellfish Festival itself was amazing. There was a lot of great entertainment, some great food. We got to do a tour of all the food industry spots in PEI: potato farms, oyster farms, and the atlantic beef plant. So, that was really interesting and eye opening, to see where all this food comes from. You get a deeper appreciation of how much work it takes to, say, farm an oyster or grow mussels. And everyone there was fantastic, so you pick up different plating techniques and different ways to do things, and different ideas to take back with you, so it was a great experience.”
Besides bragging rights, Puddister was awarded a $10,000 cash prise from the Shellfish Festival.
Puddister graduated from the College of The North Atlantic’s Culinary Program in 2008, and since then has worked in a number of top-notch St. John’s restaurants. Now, he and his wife Kayla O’Brien run Fork, having renovated a portion of their home into a 28-seat casual-fine dining establishment, after starting the restaurant remotely so to speak in a friend’s café during its off hours.
“Everyday is different,” said Puddister of his career. “You don’t know what you’re getting into on a day-to-day basis. Everyday is a new experience. As much as you learn and as much as you do, you can never be prepared, because everything is different everyday.”
Puddister had known other chefs who have participated in the competition, which celebrated it’s twenty-fifth anniversary this year, and applied for the 2021 competition. He was accepted, but unfortunately, that year’s competition was cancelled due to COVID-19.
He will return to the next year’s shellfish festival to defend his title.
