Two exclusive events at Red Shores’ restaurant added to festival lineup
September is a month full of expectation. From children heading to school, businesses ramping up for the last quarter of the year, to food lovers finding opportunities to explore new tastes or rub elbows with celebrity chefs from across Canada, the end of summer is always bittersweet yet exhilarating.
Chef Andrew Smith is expecting great things this September. The executive chef at Top of the Park, Red Shores Racetrack & Casino’s restaurant in Charlottetown, he is partnering with two guest chefs this year to offer VIP experiences on September 12 and 25. New to the Fall Flavours lineup, these five-course dinners will offer exclusivity and interaction between the guests that attend and the chefs.
Michael MacKinnon, managing director, Red Shores Racetrack & Casino, said on behalf of Atlantic Lottery, “Atlantic Lottery is proud to give back to Atlantic Canada by supporting festivals and events that celebrate our people and the cultural roots that make this place so special. The Fall Flavours festival promises an authentic Atlantic Canadian experience, and we are proud to be a part of something that brings the community together.”
The view from Top of the Park overlooks the Red Shores racetrack Photo credit: Cheryl Young/Salty
Smith will be working alongside Chef Antonio Park from Montreal and Chef Dustin Gallagher, Toronto, and he promises that the evenings will be ones to remember. “These events are going to be all about the food,” Smith said, “We’re going to let the food do the talking.”Smith is still working on the menus with Park and Gallagher and ironing out the fine details, but the September 12 evening with Park is shaping up to have a Asian flare to its fare. Sometimes even simple details, as sourcing enough bamboo steamers for the evening, can be challenging but Smith is up for whatever comes his way.
The second event on September 25 with Chef Dustin Gallagher will feature local products from crab to currants. “We’re looking for half of the menu to be from the land and half to be from the sea because we’re surrounded by beautiful waters so we’re hoping to bring that into the restaurant and showcase our cooking techniques as well as we have so many good things on the land, we’re trying to bring that in here,” Smith said.
Park is known for his critically-acclaimed restaurant, PARK, which elevated sushi to a new level in Montreal and for Lavanderia, where he can pay homage to his Argentinian roots, with the rich and sumptuous flavours of charcoal grilling, combined with the freshest possible produce he can find.
Gallagher competed in the first season of Top Chef Canada in 2011 and returned last year to compete in the Top Chef Canada All-Stars season, where he was a finalist. Having worked in kitchens since he was 13, he is now the executive chef at Peoples Eatery and 416 Snack Bar in Toronto.
Smith, born and raised in PEI, has been the executive chef at Top of the Park since 2012. A graduate of The Culinary Institute of Canada, he first began his career as a dishwasher. After graduating, he spent two years at the Delta Hotel in Kananaskis, Alberta before returning to PEI to work at the Delta Prince Edward. His leadership of the kitchen team at Top of the Park has shaped the restaurant into a must-eat location in Charlottetown, with an ever-changing menu that uses as much local product as possible.
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