Eric Chong

Last updated

Eric Chong
Born (1991-12-27) December 27, 1991 (age 32)
Nationality Canadian Chinese
Alma mater
Occupations
  • Engineer (former)
  • Cook
  • Restaurateur
Known for

Eric Chong (born December 27, 1991) is a Canadian chef, former engineer, and a restaurateur who was winner of the first season of MasterChef Canada . Winning at age 21, he was the youngest ever winner of MasterChef Canada, until Beccy Stables entered and won the fifth season of the competition at age 19.

Career

He obtained a degree in chemical engineering from McMaster University and started working in the field, but quit when he heard the casting call for MasterChef Canada. [1] After winning the competition, he received an offer from Alvin Leung, one of the judges, to train with him and open a restaurant together. [2] Leung noted similarities between himself and Chong, such as their background in engineering and their families' initial disapproval of their choice of trade. They opened R&D in Toronto in 2015, [3] serving Asian fusion dishes such as lobster chow mein, inspired by his winning dish in the final round of MasterChef Canada. [4] Chong later made a cameo on MasterChef Canada season 3, where the two teams took over R&D's kitchen serving various alumni of the show and were judged on their performance. [5]

Related Research Articles

Ming Hao Tsai is an American chef, restaurateur, and television personality. Tsai's restaurants have focused on east–west fusion cuisine, and have included major stakes in Blue Ginger in Wellesley, Massachusetts from 1998 to 2017, and Blue Dragon in the Fort Point Channel area of Boston.

Susur Lee is a Canadian celebrity chef based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is known for being the lead chef on Iron Chef Canada, for his four restaurants, and more recently, for his short-form cooking content on Youtube and TikTok.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">L'Amoreaux Collegiate Institute</span> Public high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

L'Amoreaux Collegiate Institute is a public high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada founded in 1973. It is located in the L'Amoreaux neighbourhood of the former suburb of Scarborough. Originally part of the Scarborough Board of Education, it is now consolidated into the Toronto District School Board. In 2020, the school had an enrolment of 439 representing 46% of its 957 total capacity. The number of students at L'am for whom English is an additional language is more than double the provincial average as is the number of students who are new to Canada from a non-English speaking country. The area feeding the school also contends with an over-representation of children from lower-income households at. Despite these challenges, 81% passed the Grade 10 literacy test on their first attempt in 2021-2022; essentially identical to the provincial average. The motto of the school is "Freedom with Responsibility".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark McEwan</span> Canadian chef

Mark McEwan is an American-born Canadian celebrity chef based in Toronto, Ontario.

<i>The Next Iron Chef</i> American cooking competition show

The Next Iron Chef is a limited-run series on the Food Network that aired its fifth season in 2012. Each season is a stand-alone competition to select a chef to be designated an Iron Chef, who will appear on the Food Network program Iron Chef America.

Top Chef Junior is an American reality competition television series that serves as a spin-off of the popular Top Chef series. Ordered in 2008 for an eight-episode run on Bravo, the show had never aired, nor is it known if any episodes were produced at that time. However, nine years later, Top Chef Junior was mentioned as the marquee program for Universal Kids, an NBCUniversal-owned children's channel launched on September 9, 2017. Season 1 consisted of 14 episodes and feature 12 young chefs, aged 9–14. The winner receives $50,000 and the title of Top Chef Junior. The show is hosted by actress Vanessa Lachey, with Top Chef Masters and Top Chef Duels host Curtis Stone serving as its head judge. Top Chef Junior premiered on October 13, 2017. In November 2017 Top Chef Junior was renewed for a 2nd season, which premiered on September 8, 2018. It consists of 12 finalist chefs aged 9–14.

<i>The Best Thing I Ever Ate</i> 2009 American TV series or program

The Best Thing I Ever Ate is a television series that originally aired on Food Network, debuting on June 22, 2009.

Michael Voltaggio is an American chef, restaurateur, and author. He is a Top Chef television series alum and the winner of season 6. His brother Bryan Voltaggio is also a celebrity chef. He resides in Los Angeles, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vikram Vij</span> Indian-born Canadian chef

Vikram Vij is an Indian-born Canadian chef, cookbook author, and television personality. He is the owner, of the Indian cuisine restaurants Vij's and Rangoli Restaurant in Vancouver, British Columbia. He also owns My Shanti, a restaurant in South Surrey, BC which he closed in 2024. In 2014, Vij was announced as a new "dragon" investor on the Canadian reality show Dragons' Den for its ninth season and departed at the end of the season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alvin Leung</span> Canadian chef and television personality (born 1961)

Alvin Leung King-Lon, is a Canadian chef and television personality. He holds two Michelin stars at his restaurant Bo Innovation and one Michelin star at Bo London. Nicknamed The Demon Chef, he invented his own cuisine named X-Treme Chinese, which includes meals such as an edible condom on a mushroom beach.

Hugh Acheson is a Canadian-born chef and restaurateur. He has owned four restaurants in Georgia, and serves as a judge on the reality cooking competition show Top Chef, and as an Iron Chef on Iron Chef Canada.

MasterChef Canada is a Canadian competitive cooking reality show, part of the MasterChef franchise, open to amateur home cooks across Canada. It premiered on CTV on January 20, 2014, and has since aired its seventh season. The show stars three judges: Claudio Aprile, Michael Bonacini and Alvin Leung. The show is produced by Endemol Shine International and Proper Television.

The first and inaugural season of the Canadian competitive reality television series MasterChef Canada, featuring judges Michael Bonacini, Alvin Leung and Claudio Aprile, premiered on CTV on January 20, 2014, and concluded on April 28, 2014, with Chinese-Canadian chemical engineering university graduate Eric Chong named the winner. Filming commenced in September 2013 and wrapped up in November 2013. At the age of 21, Chong was the youngest winner of MasterChef Canada at the time of his victory, a record he held until Beccy Stables became the winner of the show's fifth season at age 19.

The second season of the Canadian competitive reality television series MasterChef Canada premiered on CTV on February 1, 2015 and concluded on May 24. Filming began in September 2014 and wrapped up in November 2014. Portuguese-Canadian concrete contractor David Jorge won this season. Jorge, who resides on a hobby farm in the Panorama area of Surrey with his wife and two sons, also guest starred in episodes in Season 3 and Season 5, and competed in the MasterChef Canada: All-Star Family Edition 2016 holiday special, of which he was the runner-up. He is currently the oldest winner of MasterChef Canada.

Claudio Aprile is a Uruguayan–Canadian celebrity chef, restauranteur, cookbook author, and TV personality of Italian descent best known for serving as a main host/judge on CTV's culinary competition MasterChef Canada since January 2014. Having owned and worked at multiple Michelin-starred restaurants over the years, he served as the head chef, owner and manager of multiple Toronto restaurants, such as Copetin, Colborne Lane, the Origin chain and finally Xango, which closed down in 2023.

Michael Bonacini is a Welsh-Canadian chef of Italian family origins who owns eleven restaurants in Toronto, Ontario, and is a co-founder of Oliver & Bonacini Restaurants. Bonacini trained in London and immigrated to Canada in 1985. He founded his first restaurant, Jump, with business partner Peter Oliver in 1993.

May Chow is a Canadian-born Hong Kong/Chinese chef, who runs restaurants in Hong Kong and Thailand. She was named Asia's Best Female Chef in 2017, and has used this as a platform to promote LGBT issues and help women find work in professional kitchens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jock Zonfrillo</span> Scottish TV presenter and chef (1976–2023)

Barry "Jock" Zonfrillo was a Scottish chef, television presenter and restaurateur. He was the founder of the Orana Foundation and a judge on MasterChef Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R&D (restaurant)</span> Asian fusion restaurant in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

R&D is an Asian Fusion restaurant located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

References

  1. Wrobel, Maggie (27 May 2014). "It ain't easy being MasterChef Canada: How Eric Chong went from cooking homemade soufflés to being a $100,000 winner". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  2. Van Paassen, Kevin (10 April 2015). "From MasterChef to Toronto restaurant owner: How Eric Chong's career went from 0 to 100". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  3. Wong, Tony (18 November 2014). "MasterChef Canada's Alvin Leung and Eric Chong open restaurant". The Star. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  4. "Consider the Lobster Chow Mein Tonight". Vice. 5 December 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  5. "Demon at the Pass". MasterChef Canada. Season 3. Episode 11. 8 May 2016.