The third time was a charm for Jason Sawision of Stofa Restaurant, who prevailed in a dish-versus-dish battle against four other Ottawa chefs to qualify for the 2026 Canadian Culinary Championship.

Sawision won the regional qualifier called Canada’s Great Kitchen Party — Ottawa edition. He also competed in the 2023 and 2024 regional qualifiers, finishing third two years ago and second last year.

On Monday, Sawision cooked a dish he called “seared scallops with adobo, taro Aji Amarillo fritters, almond pudding, green tomato and mango salsa, ‘chorizo’ shrimp toast, poblano pepper sauce, tortilla tuile.”

His rivals included: Mitch Lacombe, chef of Gitanes on Elgin Street; Michael Hauschild, an award-winning private chef whose Kanata-based business is InHaus Cooking; Simon Beaudry, chef of

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