LONGUEUIL, QC, le 9 juin 2026 /CNW/ - The Culinary Brigades National Grand Finals, an initiative of La Tablée des Chefs, were held on June 7 at the Institut de tourisme et d'hôtellerie du Québec (ITHQ) in Montreal. Gordon Bell High School from Winnipeg took top honours for the second year in a row, following a challenging competition featuring five finalist teams.

This competition tests the knowledge and skills that students aged 12 to 17 have acquired over the last few months through the Culinary Brigades program.

During the finals, the five finalist teams — four of them from Quebec and one from Manitoba — had to prepare a main course featuring three ingredients that were revealed on-site: redfish, asparagus, and cherry tomatoes. The teams also had to make a cow's milk-based smoothie. They were then evaluated by a panel of experts. The winning team stood out for the quality of their work, creativity, and team spirit.

During this event hosted by Ricardo, the teams also benefited from the expertise and advice of jury members, including Zoé Baker (winner of MasterChef Junior Québec), Magie Marier (Les Chefs!), Alexandrine Grégoire-Guindon (pastry instructor at ITHQ), Chris Nhut Truong (MasterChef Québec contestant), and Tommy Dion (Le Cuisinomane).

Here are the finalist schools for the 2026 edition:

1. Gordon Bell High School (Winnipeg, Manitoba)
2. Polyvalente La Samare (Plessisville, Centre-du-Québec region)
3. École secondaire Les Etchemins (Lévis, Chaudière-Appalaches region)
4. École internationale Lucille-Teasdale (Brossard, Montérégie region)
5. École secondaire Félix-Leclerc (Pointe-Claire, Montréal region)

The international grand finals of the Culinary Brigades will take place in Paris from June 17 to 21. The Gordon Bell High School team will face off in a friendly culinary showdown against the winning team from La Tablée des Chefs France, featuring students from Collège Louis Nucera in Nice.

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Jean-François Archambault, founder and executive director of La Tablée des Chefs

"Seeing these young people take on a challenge of this magnitude with such passion, creativity and confidence is a source of immense pride for La Tablée des Chefs. Through the Culinary Brigades, they develop not only culinary techniques, but also their self-confidence, independence, and ability to collaborate. These are valuable life skills. I hope that their journey will inspire other students and schools to sign up for the programme and embark on this unique adventure. Regardless of their ranking, all teams emerge from this experience stronger and better for it."

This year, 345 school groups from across Canada took part in the Culinary Brigades after-school program. Of these, nearly 200 school groups competed, and five of them made it to the national grand finals. Throughout the year, the students received nearly 40 hours of hands-on culinary training, spread across 24 workshops combining culinary technique instruction with healthy eating habits.

About La Tablée des Chefs

La Tablée des Chefs' mission can be summed up in two words: feed and educate. Feed today to combat food insecurity and educate young people to develop food self-sufficiency. Since its founding in 2002, the organization has distributed more than 26.4 million prepared and leftover portions to community organizations, introducing more than 95,000 young people to cooking and healthy eating habits. https:www.tableedeschefs.org/en/

https:www.tableedeschefs.org/en/

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SOURCE Tablée des Chefs