BUSINESS AND ARTS NL PROUDLY PRESENTS
Wednesday, June 12, 2024
7:00 – 9:00 pm (NDT)
Theatre Hill Bar + Cafe
390 Duckworth St.
From parsnip crème brûlée to donair spring rolls, Celeste Mah (Canada’s Best Pastry Chef of 2019) and Ross Larkin (Winner of Top Chef Canada 2018) of Portage are celebrated nationally for their exquisite creations. Their food not only honours local ingredients like chanterelles, blueberries, and cod but also pulls at local heartstrings. Each dish celebrates place and memory while offering us something new and surprising.
Join Business & Arts NL for an engaging conversation, guided by Ted Blades, with two culinary creatives about how they manage to roll with the ingredients that are available, come up with fresh combinations, and invent new menu items on a regular basis. Learn how Celeste and Ross find inspiration, take risks, and stay fresh in an intense, highly competitive industry.
TICKETS
Come be inspired by two professionals at the top of their game and stay for a tasty sample of their work. Tickets are limited – get yours today!
ABOUT OUR GUESTS
Photo credit: Johnny Lam
Originally from Vancouver BC, Celeste Mah worked as a pastry chef at some of the city’s best restaurants. In 2014, she moved across the country to work at Raymonds Restaurant in St. John’s, NL with her partner in life and work, Ross Larkin. While at Raymonds, she was named Canada’s Best Pastry Chef in 2019 by Canada’s 100 Best Magazine. She is now part chef/owner of Portage Restaurant with her husband Ross, where they collaborate on all aspects of the restaurant.
Ross Larkin grew up in St John’s, NL where he would help at his grandparent’s restaurant, Henry’s Lunch. Fast forward years later, where he found himself in Vancouver working at a small French bistro. This is where his love for cooking really started. He moved home in 2014 with his partner in life and work Celeste Mah and was given the opportunity to work at Raymonds restaurant. While at Raymonds, Ross quickly worked his way up to becoming the Chef de Cuisine and competed in and won Top Chef Canada. He is now part chef/owner of Portage Restaurant with his wife where they collaborate on every aspect of the restaurant.
Ted Blades is a happily-retired journalist and longest-serving host of CBC Radio’s afternoon show, On The Go. Three-time finalist at the New York Festivals International Radio Competition and Gold Medal winner in 2015 for best interview. Winner of the inaugural Atlantic Journalism Award for best podcast, in 2017.
MUSICAL GUEST
Photo credit: John Moran
Kelly McMichael is an artist and producer based in St. John’s, Newfoundland, originally from Peterborough Ontario. She is a versatile multi-instrumentalist who can sling a guitar, serenade on piano and program beats in equal measure. McMichael has toured North America and Europe both solo and as a side player with acts The Burning Hell, Tim Baker and Canadian icon Sarah Harmer. Her solo debut Waves was a breakthrough release of 2021, garnering a spot on the Polaris Prize shortlist, three Music NL Awards, and the ECMA for Best Rock Album. After the Sting of It, a psychedelic art-pop expansion on the classic sound of her debut, will be released in the fall of this year.
