Red River College is pleased to host the inaugural Top Chef Award Dinner, celebrating excellence in culinary arts — in particular, Manitoba’s impressive roster of homegrown talent.

Taking place Thursday, April 17 at The Fort Garry Hotel, the event gives us a chance to honour the lifetime achievements of Manitoba’s Chef Takashi Murakami, executive chef at St. Charles Golf and Country Club, and an internationally-recognized cuisinier.

Chef Takashi Murakami, accepting the Order of Canada from former governor general Adrienne Clarkson in 2005.

Widely hailed as one of the most talented chefs in Canada, Japanese-born Chef Murakami has spent the last 40 years elevating food preparation to an art form at St. Charles.

During that time, he’s also picked up an impressive array of industry awards and honours, among them a series of gold medals (and a World Championship) as a member and coach of Culinary Team Canada, a Chef of the Year designation by the Manitoba Chefs Association, membership in the Canadian Culinary Federation’s Honour Society, and a 2005 appointment as a Member of the Order of Canada.

The Top Chef Awards are being sponsored by The Fort Garry Hotel, in support of a four-month internship at the renowned Institut Paul Bocuse in Lyon, France. All proceeds raised will enable two students from RRC’s School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts to intern abroad at one of the world’s leading centre’s of French gastronomy.

Tickets to the black-tie event are $200, or $2,000 for a corporate table of 10. Click here for more information, or to purchase tickets.