Evelynn Takeoff prepares bull testicles for the Top Chef Canada judges.
You could be forgiven for mistaking Top Chef Canada with The Bachelorette.
But it seems Kelowna chef Evelynn Takeoff‘s crush on Toronto chef Vittorio Colacitti is over — at least for now.
The relationship between the two competitors had become so noticeable that chef Shelley Robinson, who was eliminated this week, noted at the beginning of the episode that Evelynn seemed lost in her relationship with Vittorio.
Evelynn, chef de cuisine at Micro Bar • Bites in downtown Kelowna, admitted the infatuation was getting in the way of winning the $100,000 prize.
“I wasn’t 100 per cent focused on cooking; I was distracted,” she said. “It’s game on from here.”
Her renewed focus paid off. Evelynn placed in the top three chefs this week, even taking home a $3,000 prize for her medieval themed artichoke mascarpone. Though the guest judge, Bob Bulmer from the Food Network’s World’s Weirdest Restaurants, wasn’t impressed with her other dish, a lavender infused lamb loin with southern potato.
“If you want to make food that tastes like grandma’s underwear, that’s great,” snarked Bulmer.
Things didn’t go as well in the quickfire challenge, where the chefs were tasked with creating mouthwatering dishes with stomach turning ingredients, like live crickets and meal worms.
Evelynn got her hands on bull testicles. She said that growing up on a farm, she was familiar with castration. (Maybe it’s a good thing for Vittorio that things didn’t work out?)
“I have bull testicles… They’re pretty large,” she confessed to the camera. Turning to competitor Rich Francis, she quipped, “Rich do you want to taste my balls?”
Her buttermilk poached testicles didn’t win the challenge. Bulmer noted the testicles “didn’t come together” on the dish or the palate.
Evelynn is now in the final six chefs, along with Vittorio, who narrowly survived the medieval-themed challenge at Ontario’s Casa Loma with his blood-rare venison.
She took time in the episode to give a shout out to Kelowna Chef Rod Butters from RauDZ Regional Table.
“I really want to do a good job to show my mentors what a great job they’ve done.”
