IACC Names Canadian and Australian Chefs Winners of Global Copper Skillet Competition

Barrington Graham & Jesse Hughes

Six chefs from IACC Americas, Australia Asia Pacific and European member venues competed for the Global Copper Skillet at Convene Midtown East on Tuesday, April 19. The event served as the final stage in a three-part competition. Canadian and Australian chefs were named as the Global Copper Skillet winners during the IACC-Americas Awards Banquet the following day, and took home the coveted Copper Skillet award.

Barrington Graham, first cook at St. Andrew’s Club and Conference Centre, Toronto, Canada, took the Senior Category Copper Skillet for his winning dish of a five-spice maple glazed duck breast and pepper crusted pork on potato hash with a tomato, olive relish and asparagus tips.

Jesse Hughes, General Manager & Executive Chef at Vue Grand Hotel, Victoria, Australia, took the Junior Category Copper Skillet for his winning dish of of soy glazed duck breast with soba noodles, pickled salad and pork dumplings.

In the competition, the chefs were presented with basic pantry items along with a “mystery basket” of proteins. They were given 30 minutes to prepare, create, and present their creations to local area judges.

“Each year this competition showcases the best chefs from IACC’s three chapters, and this year we saw extraordinary talent and incredible camaraderie from all six competing chefs,” said Alex Cabañas, IACC President. “I’m thrilled that this event remains as popular as ever, while underscoring the importance of culinary expertise in our member conference venues worldwide.”

For the second year in the 12-year history of the Copper Skillet competition, IACC introduced a Junior Chef category where IACC conference venue chefs under the age of 26 competed in the cook-off.

The Copper Skillet competition was introduced in 2004 to highlight the artistry and skill of the best chefs from IACC-member conference venues around the world and to highlight their contributions to the shared goal of providing an outstanding conference venue experience.