Gordon Bell students have winning recipe Winnipeg high schoolers make history as first team from outside Quebec to win national finals at inter-school cooking competition By: Eva Wasney Posted: 4:33 PM CDT Tuesday, Jun. 24, 2025

A group of local high schoolers are savouring the sweet taste of victory.

Earlier this month, five student chefs from Gordon Bell High School made history as the first team from outside Quebec to win the national finals of La Tablée des Chefs Canadian Culinary Competition, an inter-school cooking contest now in its 12th year.

“It’s a great honour,” says Matea Thiessen-Unger, who shares the win with her Grade 10 and 11 classmates Sebastian Salter, Avery Van Solkema, Yevhen Zinchenco and Cailyn Olshevski.

The competition is the grand finale of Kitchen Brigades, an extracurricular program designed by La Tablée des Chefs to foster an interest in cooking and healthy eating among secondary students across the country.

Over the past year, 20 students have taken part in the Gordon Bell’s Kitchen Brigades program, which includes 40 hours of hands-on cooking experience over the course of 24 themed workshops led by human ecology teacher Benita Luey Goertzen and local chef Patrick Royandoyan.

“The whole premise is to get students to eat less out of packages, cans and boxes, and be able to make great food with simple ingredients,” Luey Goertzen says.

Olshevski signed up for Kitchen Brigades to explore the creative side of cooking and learn how to make a nice meal for friends and family. Zinchenco and Van Solkema joined because they liked eating and wanted to expand their cooking skills beyond instant ramen noodles.

Everyone got more than they bargained for.

The five students were selected to compete in the culinary competition for their aptitude and teamwork.

Of the 350 Canadian schools participating in Kitchen Brigades this year, 174 entered the competition phase, with the five finalists determined by a series of regional contests.

The Gordon Bell team travelled to Montreal in early June to face off against four schools from Quebec in a Chopped-style timed cooking competition complete with a bag of mystery ingredients.

While the students were initially excited by their assigned items — Brussels sprouts, turnips and beef strip loin — they quickly learned their plan to make beef tartare was a no-go.

“It was too easy and it didn’t show how you’re able to cook things,” explains Olshevski.

After a brief brainstorming session, they settled on a new direction: a medium-rare butter-basted steak, served with a Brussels sprout and turnip purée, tomato and onion confit, asparagus and potato chips.

The team was awarded the top prize — a trophy topped with sculptural spoons and spatulas — for their technical skills, creativity and strong team spirit.

The students credit their win to friendship and solid communication.

“Communication is absolutely vital. You need to get all of these things done, but you need to do them perfectly,” says Van Solkema, who was responsible for planning, plating and cooking the protein, along with Zinchenco.

Salter took care of the vegetable prepwork, Thiessen-Unger kept the group organized and Olshevski handled the starch.

After winning nationals, the group returned to Montreal last week to compete in an international event against students from Paris. While the results weren’t what they hoped, the Gordon Bell team is feeling far from disappointed heading into summer vacation.

“I think it was kind of good that we lost in internationals because we’ve got motivation for next year to compete and be better,” Zinchenco says, adding the group got to eat at a Michelin-starred restaurant and explore Montreal during their recent visit.

All the students are looking forward to returning to Kitchen Brigades next school year and some are considering a culinary career in the future. Either way, they’ve picked up cooking skills that will serve them well.

“I feel like (these skills) are going to be really helpful for whenever we get our own places and have to buy and make our own food,” Olshevski says.

eva.wasney@winnipegfreepress.com