Conestoga news

March 29, 2019 2:35 PM

Culinary graduate will compete on Top Chef Canada

Wallace Wong, a 2011 graduate of the Cook I Apprenticeship program, has been named one of 12 contestants who will compete for a $100,000 prize on the Food Network’s seventh season of Top Chef Canada. The show begins airing April 1.

Wong made his first Food Network appearance in 2015 when he was named a champion on a season two episode of Chopped Canada. He returned in 2017 when he finished as a top ten finalist in the network’s Bake It Possible competition.

In a recent interview with Waterloo Region Eats, Wong said Conestoga’s culinary environment gave him the freedom and trust he needed to support his goals. While studying at Conestoga, he was a gold medal winner at the Ontario Technological Skills Competition, and a bronze medal winner at the National Competition where he represented the province.

In 2015, he was presented with an Alumni of Distinction award from the college to recognize his professional success and contributions to industry.

A cancer survivor and amateur bodybuilder, Wong now hopes to inspire people through his approach to food and healthy living. He has launched a web-based business, Six Pack Chef, which aims to help others reach their fitness and lifestyle goals.

Conestoga’s School of Hospitality & Culinary Arts fosters innovation and entrepreneurship for the region’s burgeoning tourism sector. Following a $58 million campus expansion at Conestoga’s John W. Tibbits campus in Waterloo, the School provides a number of key benefits for students and the community, including increased capacity for the delivery of education and training in state-of-the-art facilities and labs, new programs, and applied research and professional development to support local industry.