What do you get when you bring together six of Canada's finest chefs, all of whom have competed for Canada at the Bocuse d'Or (the worlds most prestigious culinary competition)?

A pretty darn spectacular evening of food, that's what.

On Wednesday, the Canadian Culinary Federation's Culinary Team Canada "Bocuse d'Or Laureate" hosted a tasting event at JOEY Jasper Avenue in Edmonton. It was only of only two opportunities the team has to practice together before heading to the Dubai World Hospitality Championships in November. But with world class pros like these, that's guaranteed to be more than enough.

Guests at JOEY Jasper sampled dishes by Chefs Michael Noble, Andrew Springett,  Arthur Chen, Scott Jaeger, Morgan Wilson, and Chris Mills.

Watch CTV's coverage of the event here, and check out the Liane Faulder's Edmonton Journal story about the evening here.

Go Team Canada!

Chef Chris Mills visited Urban Rush with JOEY Restaurants farmer/supplier Brad Bellmann of Bellmann Specialty Produce. Did you know that, once upon a time, carrots were purple or yellow and not orange?

Watch a clip of it here.

JOEY Restaurants Executive Chef, Chris Mills, stopped by Calgary's Breakfast Television to make the Italian Donuts that will be appearing on the JOEY menu as of April 18th. Who doesn't love donuts? Watch the segment here.

JOEY Restaurants' Executive Chef Chris Mills was recently on Urban Rush making pumpkin spice doughnuts and the new Triple Threat specialty coffee. You can watch the full clip here.

And if you are interested in making them at home. Here is the recipe:

Wet Ingredients

1 cup Pumpkin puree

½ cup Buttermilk

1/3 cup Sugar

2 each Eggs

¼ cup Brown sugar

¼ cup Butter, melted

Dry Ingredients

1 ½ cups Flour, all purpose

1 tbs. Baking powder

1 tbs Pumpkin spice (4 cin. 4 clove, 2 all, 2 nut meg)

1 tsp. Salt

½ t Baking soda

Method:

Combine wet ingredients in a stainless steel bowl

Sift dry ingredients.

Add wet to the dry ingredients and mixing as little as possible. Until there are no lumps.

Refrigerate for up to 12 hours.

To fry – use a home deep fryer or prepare a stove top pot of oil heated to 350F using a deep-fry or candy thermometer to measure the temperature. Gently drop marble size pieces of the dough into the fryer being careful not to splash hot oil. The doughnuts take about 2½ minutes. You can turn them using a slotted spoon or chopsticks. Once cooked transfer them to a paper towel lined plate or tray to drain. Verify that the center of dough is cooked through and adjust timing accordingly.

Once the doughnuts have a chance to cool – toss them in the cinnamon sugar to coat and serve with a coffee cup of the dulce de leche, Enjoy!

Cinnamon Sugar

1 cup Sugar

1 tbs. Cinnamon, ground

Combine the ingredients and reserve for the doughnuts.

Coffee Dulce de Leche

1½ cups Cream

¾ cup Brown sugar

¼ cup Butter

¼ t Vanilla Extract

4 g Instant coffee, mixed with just enough water to dissolve

Method:

Reduce cream, brown sugar and butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan by 1/3rd.

Allow the sauce to cool then add the vanilla and instant coffee

Reserve until the doughnuts are done.

Congratulations to the JOEY Restaurant Group on their recent International Prism Award win. The award recognizes organizations that have profited through their commitment to coaching as a leadership strategy. From the news release: The Canadian-based Joey Restaurant Group began a coaching initiative with the strategic selection of the most senior leaders in their organization, so they could be coached and be trained as internal coaches while running their restaurant regions. In the last 30 months, they experienced more than 30 percent revenue growth, reduced turnover, and made the Top 100 employers list for the first time. JOEY calculates a 682 percent return on investment from their coaching initiative.

Past winners of the ICF International Prism Award include: Genetch, TINE Group, Solaglas Windowcare, ibm.com North America, SYSCO, the BBC, MCI, University of Texas at Dallas, Verizon Business, IBM, and NASA.

Read the full news release from The International Coach Federation here.

Honestly, why fumble about with a cookbook when you can learn directly from the very best in the city?

The Arts Club Theatre Company has just announced the line up for the fall edition of its successful Celebrity Chef Cooking Class Series.

JOEY Restaurants' Executive Chef, Chris Mills, is one of the renowned chefs in the lineup this season. He'll be teaching his class on November 17, 2011.

If we know anything about Chef Mills (...and we think we do...), you're in for a treat if you take his class. His menu is guaranteed to be highly inventive and mouth watering, and his class is sure to be a lot of fun.

Plus, funds raised through ticket sales go to support the Arts Club Theatre Company, so it really is a win-win.

Tickets are limited and going fast. Find out more about the cooking classes and how to get tickets by visiting the Arts Club blog.

Calgary's Avenue magazine got the James Beard House Experience last Thursday.

Check out Kelsey Mulyk's review of Chef Chris Mills' dinner here.

Joey Executive Chef Chris Mills is currently on a media tour to share the five-course menu he has created for his upcoming appearance at James Beard House in New York City. This will be Chris' second appearance at James Beard House....which is often referred to as the Carnegie Hall for chefs. From the reports we're hearing from media in Edmonton and Calgary, the menu is to die for! Seattle and Vancouver tastings are up next.

Chris visited Global Calgary over the weekend to share the delectable dessert course from his menu...a Vietnamese Banana Cake.

Burger Alert

by: Sheryl Kristie Yen BC Business Magazine has posted their shots from the Official Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards Afterparty at the Joey Bentall One Wine Room.

by: Sheryl Kristie Yen BC Business Magazine has posted their shots from the Official Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards Afterparty at the Joey Bentall One Wine Room.

Here are a few, but you can check out the rest here.

On May 21st, Kits Beach will have a walk-up burger stand where the food is as good as the view. Nimby Burger, located at the corner of Cornwall & Yew, is a fresh take on the beachside burger window, and will offer quality burgers, hand-cut French fries, and real ice cream milkshakes. “Nimby Burger was inspired by countless road trips down the coast to California with my father, Bus Fuller,” says Jeff Fuller, President of the Joey Restaurant Group. “There is nothing quite like the taste of the burgers from those beachside joints in California. There’s just something about the surf and the sun, with a juicy burger and a shake.”

Though Nimby Burger at Kits Beach will be a casual, walk-up window, the focus is still on fresh, quality ingredients. The burgers and cheeseburgers are made from 100 per cent premium chuck beef and topped with crisp lettuce and red ripe tomatoes. Nimby’s French fries are made from hand-cut Yukon Gold potatoes, which are fried to order and sea-salted. A chocolate, strawberry or vanilla ice cream milkshake tops off the perfect seaside meal.

“My father and I have always talked about opening a classic burger shack in our own backyard,” says Fuller. “But we decided it would be even better to open it in Vancouver’s backyard…Kits Beach.”

Nimby Burger’s uncomplicated menu includes just five well-made items. Prices range from $2.99 for a basic burger, to $5.49 for a Dooblay (double burger with cheese). Milkshakes are $2.99, and French fries are $2.49.

During the summer, Nimby Burger will be open from 11am daily.

The initiative was part of Joey Restaurant Group's Cup of Care program to help address hunger in its communities. In Vancouver, Winnipeg and Toronto, the company donated 10,000 cups of nutritious soup to community groups, and its staff volunteered more than 100 hours at food banks, shelters, and community drop-in centres.