Mallard Cottage’s Todd Perrin is no stranger to planning for Valentine’s Day, though as a chef it’s not often a day spent making his own romantic plans for two. 

“I’m usually working on Valentine’s Day, but the thing I love generally is about sharing. Maybe a Caesar salad for two, Chateaubriand for two, or any dish you could share with a loved one. Sharing food is a great act of love, but whatever you like to do, do it with someone you love. That’s always the way to go,” he advises wisely. 

Perrin, hands filled to overflowing with not only Mallard Cottage but with Waterwest Kitchen and Meats as well, can add another feather to his chef’s cap. 

Having appeared as a contestant (twice) on Top Chef Canada, Perrin now proudly makes his debut as a judge on Food Network Canada’s newest series, Wall of Chefs. 

THE ULTIMATE TEST

The show, hosted by Carnival Eats’ Noah Cappe, features home chefs preparing meals under the watchful eye of world-class chefs with one grand prize of $10,000 at stake. 

Wall of Chefs puts amateur cooks to the ultimate test as they battle in a state-of-the-art kitchen under the towering shadow and watchful eye of “The Wall” – comprised of a revolving panel of Canada’s most notable chefs, including Perrin. 

We ask Perrin “to dish” on the experience. “It was a fun thing to do and it was good to be on the other end of things for a change. I’ve done a couple of things where I get judged, so this was nice for a change,” he shares.

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So, what does he think he brought to the table? He pauses. “My view of food and my view of how someone can accomplish a task. And encouragement. I try to point out some things that each contestant did well and the things that they didn’t do well.”

His approach was all about striking a balance, he shared, especially because he was judging non-professional chefs. 

“Judgment is a tough thing. You don’t want, particularly with home cooks, to be too hard on someone. But at the same time, it is a competition. So someone’s got to win the money. So you’ve got to take it seriously.” 

We ask if he felt being from Newfoundland made his voice any more unique. 

A DIFFERENT TAKE

“Being a Newfoundlander and living here on the island, we’ve got a different take on things than people from other parts of Canada. For one thing, there’s our sense of fun. I tried to be as entertaining as I could and add a little bit of Newfoundland humour. I tried to inject who we are, and who I am, without affecting how I judged the food.”

Perrin emphasizes that he’s all about encouraging everyone to take a leading role in their own kitchens. 

“One of the sad things about the world today is people don’t cook at home very much anymore, not like they used to. When we were growing up, our moms and dads cooked at home. That’s something that’s really been lost in some ways, though we’re kind of rediscovering it. So it’s always a joy for me to see people who do give it a go in the kitchen in their own homes,” he says. 

And the contestants he judged on Wall of Chefs, what perhaps surprised him most was how prepared they were. 

Perrin recalls when he first appeared on Top Chef Canada as a contestant. 

“I was nervous. And I was a professional cook. I’d been cooking for years. And these guys come on, and they’re ready. They’re not nervous. They’re fired up because they’ve been watching food competitions on TV most of their life. They know what to expect. It was really interesting to see how prepared they were and that blew my mind, to be honest.”

We ask if he picked up any tips or tricks, anything he’d be bringing back home. He laughs. 

“What I learned was the high skill level that some people have. And how the love of food is not as absent from home cooking as I had thought.”

He adds he was hit, “like a tonne of bricks” by the burden at times. 

“Sometimes I feel the pressure, being on the judging side. You have to learn to give a critique in that kind of environment in a positive way and then make a decision that could affect someone walking away with ten thousand dollars.”  

AN ADDED PRESSURE

And, Perrin teases, judging other Newfoundlanders may have added an element of pressure, too. “I won’t say specifically if there were contestants from Newfoundland but I think everyone knows you can’t make great TV in Canada without Newfoundlanders.” 

Now that the show is in the rearview, Perrin says he’s excited for the country to see what the other judges and the contestants worked so hard on together. 

“I always work hard at whatever I do and I never turn down new opportunities that I feel I’ll be proud of.”

If you had to ask a younger version of Ross Larkin if he would be competing on a world-renowned culinary challenge with some of the nation’s best and brightest, well, he might accuse you of mistaking him with someone else.

Indeed, Larkin was not your typical kitchen prodigy. Despite growing up in a restaurant background, a life-wheeling and dealing edible delights was far from the forefront of Larkin’s mind when originally mapping out a career path.

“My family had a fish and chips restaurant on Merrymetting Road,” Larkin shared with The Herald. “I grew up in and around that restaurant. Ever since I was six years old I was in peeling potatoes with my grandfather and buttering fresh bread as it comes out of the oven. It was kind of one of those things that I was born into and sort of resented as I got older. My family had a restaurant so it was like, I don’t want to cook or cook for a living.”

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‘IN LOVE WITH FOOD’

Resiting an obvious path is natural for many who are immersed in a lifestyle they may be hesitant to call their own. But somehow, as if by serendipity, Larkin found his calling in the kitchen.

“I took a couple of different avenues and it just wasn’t what I wanted to do,” he says. “I realized that I really do like being in kitchens and cooking. I moved to the west coast and lived in Vancouver and that’s where I really fell in love with food and realized that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.”

After relocating to Saskatoon and working alongside inaugural Top Chef Canada winner Dale MacKay, Larkin by chance found himself offered an opportunity to return home to St. John’s and work alongside Chef Jeremy Charles at Raymonds, universally accepted as one of the finest eateries in Canada. It was an offer too good to refuse. That was three and a half years ago, with the experience of honing his craft around some of the finest culinary masters this side of the pond proving invaluable leading to his stint on this season of Top Chef Canada.

“It’s been pretty surreal, just being associated with the restaurant, with Jeremy Charles and Jeremy Bonia and everything we do here,” he says. “That’s been great in itself. Competing on Top Chef Canada, there’s nothing that can compare to that, for sure.”

ELITE OF THE FOOD WORLD

Vying for the Top Chef Canada title alongside 10 other chefs, as well as rubbing shoulders with the elite of the food world may be daunting to some. Larkin aimed to enter the experience without expectations and let his experience and cool demeanour lead the way.

“I didn’t go into it thinking anything. I knew that it would be one of those situations that there is nothing that you could practice or train for,” he shares. “That’s just the nature of the beast with something like this from watching previous seasons. You’re not going to try to guess what you’re going to do – there’s just no point.  It’s not going to work that way.

“Moreso than anything it was very terrifying at first, meeting all of these heavy hitters,” he admits. “Taking their critique is very important and being able to turn it into something good and being able to listen to what they say and their criticisms. They’re telling you all of these things for a reason, not just because they want to hear themselves speak. They’ve been in similar situations themselves in front of chefs. Being able to take that and turn it into a beautiful plate of food is one thing.”

Of course, being from Newfoundland, where resourcefulness and innovation are more a requirement than helpful trait, certainly paid dividends in the competition. 

“You can definitely look at ingredients and food in a different way and we do at Raymonds and a lot of people do in Newfoundland,” Larkin says. “It’s always been a way of life here. You go hunting in the fall, fill your freezer with moose or rabbit and that’s how you sustain through the winter. You have a root-cellar and you have a garden. We have inspiration from isolation here, so to speak, and that really helps in everyday life and certainly Top Chef.”

While friends and anxious viewers eagerly await the season premiere on April 8th, Larkin shares that he wouldn’t change his experience for anything – better or worse. While there is smoke to go along with the heat of the Top Chef kitchen, he feels the experience is an invaluable one, and the chef that stepped through the other side, was one more polished than the one who entered.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and experience and I encourage everybody to put themselves out there and try something like this,” he says. “It is definitely not for the faint of heart but you’ll come out of it, for better or for worse, a better person I think.”