Chef René Rodriguez, who hails from Ottawa, came out on top and won $100,000 plus the coveted title of “Top Chef Canada” as the finale came to a close this week.
Rodriguez, who owns Navarra restaurant in the nation’s capital, studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Ottawa as well as worked at the Ironwood Cafe, ARC Hotel, Social Restaurant & Lounge, Black Cat Cafe and Luxe Bistro. “I’m very happy to have won this not just for me, but for the city,” the Ottawa-born Rodriguez, 42, said in an interview with the Ottawa Citizen. “I think that Ottawa needs a good uplift to be one of the best cities in the country for food, so I’m very happy… ‘Top Chef’ is incredibly hard. I’m not just saying this because of the outcome. I’m saying this because every day you have to get up at six in the morning and you go to bed at midnight. For seven weeks. You don’t see your family, you don’t see your friends. All of a sudden, you’re in a bubble, you have to be creative, you have to be excited about food every day. You’re tired, you’re exhausted. There’s no comparison. Any chef that really wants to prove themselves, they should do it.”
“Top Chef Canada” has consistently been the top-rated show on the Food Network Canada, and just wrapped up its fourth season.
