A popular West Coast chef who thrives on the edge is bringing her vibrantly positive energy to Top Chef Canada.
91裸聊视频淚 think they were looking for something unique and different,91裸聊视频� Chef Lisa Ahier said. 91裸聊视频淚 have a very colourful past. I91裸聊视频檝e never seemed to like to walk the straight line. I91裸聊视频檓 always teetering to the edge.91裸聊视频�
Top Chef Canada is set to air its 11th season and Vancouver Island's Ahier is officially the oldest chef to ever compete on the show at 63.
91裸聊视频淚 haven91裸聊视频檛 ever seen somebody go on Top Chef Canada that91裸聊视频檚 my age, so it was a way to represent and show up for the senior demographic, have an adventure and who knows? I had just as good a chance to win as anybody,91裸聊视频� she said.
She said she was initially reluctant to apply for a spot on the show, but was encouraged by friends and family to give it a shot.
91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檓 kind of a stranger to competition. I91裸聊视频檓 more of a gal who likes to share with my neighbour rather than compete with my neighbour. So, it91裸聊视频檚 not something I really ever set my sights on personally, but a lot of folks egged me on, gave me encouragement and said, 91裸聊视频榃hy wouldn91裸聊视频檛 you?,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淭hen my kids said, 91裸聊视频榃hy wouldn91裸聊视频檛 you mom?91裸聊视频� And I couldn91裸聊视频檛 come up with a good reason, so I thought why not? We91裸聊视频檝e got one life to live.91裸聊视频�
After putting her name forward, she was shocked when she was told she had been selected as one of the new season91裸聊视频檚 10 contestants.
91裸聊视频淗onestly, you could have knocked me over with a feather. I couldn91裸聊视频檛 believe it. I knew that I had the stamina, but would this network or production company feel like I could hang on, get through and compete like a 30 year old?,91裸聊视频� she said.
91裸聊视频淚 was really in shock. It was a big shock, but then I thought, 91裸聊视频極h my God. I91裸聊视频檓 so excited.91裸聊视频� Fear never came into it91裸聊视频 was just really excited for a new challenge.91裸聊视频�
Ahier has lived on Vancouver Island's West Coast for about 25 years, first in Ucluelet and then Tofino, and experienced love at first sight when she arrived.
91裸聊视频淭his is home and I knew it the first time I was driving on Sutton Pass. I knew I91裸聊视频檇 come home for the first time in my life. I91裸聊视频檝e lived so many times during my life and done so many different things in my career and this is the only place I91裸聊视频檝e ever felt home. They91裸聊视频檙e going to have to take me out of here kicking and screaming. I love it. I don91裸聊视频檛 even travel very much because why would I leave paradise?91裸聊视频� she said.
91裸聊视频淭here is just so much to love about the West Coast: the communities, the natural environment, obviously the abundance of beautiful food. This community gets it. We91裸聊视频檙e not a fast food community. We91裸聊视频檙e a community full of gardeners, fishermen, foragers; what91裸聊视频檚 not to love? It91裸聊视频檚 captured my heart and my soul. I really, really love this West Coast community and everything that the members of the community have done for the last 24 years to embrace me. I feel like I have been here for my entire life.91裸聊视频�
Top Chef Canada91裸聊视频檚 11th season will kick off on Oct. 14 at 10 p.m. on Food Network Canada.
91裸聊视频淣ow it is time to usher in a new era, with 10 new skilled, creative, and boundary-pushing chefs ready to compete for the title of Canada91裸聊视频檚 Top Chef,91裸聊视频� read a media release announcing the new season.
91裸聊视频淭he chefs will be put to the test, facing off in grueling challenges where they must put their best plate forward or be sent packing. Viewers we be delighted to see that this season pays homage to Canada91裸聊视频檚 diverse heritage and culinary scene. In the end, only one chef will emerge victorious, earning the grand prize and the coveted title of Canada91裸聊视频檚 Top Chef.91裸聊视频�
The season has already been filmed and Ahier declined to disclose any spoilers, but said her main goal throughout the competition was to be genuine and remain steadfast to her character.
91裸聊视频淥ne thing that was really important to me, and is in my every-single-day-life, is to stay completely 100 per cent true to who you are, what you do and at no time waver from that,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淚 wanted to make sure that I stayed humble because I think I am kind of a humble human, that I stayed positive, I love positive energy, that I didn91裸聊视频檛 try to self-sabotage and that I was really looking out for myself and my well-being.91裸聊视频�
She added that going through the experience was life-changing.
91裸聊视频淚 don91裸聊视频檛 think I was ever ugly with anybody, I try not to be in life, and I think I came away from the experience really proud of myself for having the courage. Regardless of how I started and how I finished, I had the courage to get into the arena, not be in the cheap seats saying, 91裸聊视频業 could91裸聊视频檝e. I would have. If I did.91裸聊视频� I got in and I tried,91裸聊视频� she said.
91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 always going to be a winner and there91裸聊视频檚 always going to be a loser. That91裸聊视频檚 life and, experiencing life, you91裸聊视频檝e got to show up to be either one or the other and sometimes you fall in between, but they91裸聊视频檙e all experiences. I really wanted to have this experience and I did and it actually meant 1,000 times more to me than I expected it to.91裸聊视频�
She hopes her participation on the show encourages viewers to pursue their dreams.
91裸聊视频淚 wouldn91裸聊视频檛 trade the experience for anything in the world. If I can just be the encouragement or set a little bit of an example for those people that are at home wishing they could change their careers, wishing they had the courage to go out there and take that fencing class, or show up to the yoga that they don91裸聊视频檛 think they91裸聊视频檙e flexible enough for, or whatever it is or how small or how big it is,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淪how up for your life, do the best you can and be 100 per cent true to yourself and your life will become fuller and fuller.91裸聊视频�
Ahier had previously and she said she has never shied away from cameras.
91裸聊视频淚 never see a camera. I never have. I91裸聊视频檓 so engaged in what I91裸聊视频檓 doing. The host talking to me, the person asking the questions, whatever it is, I truly, truly forget the camera is there. I have the absolute opposite of stage fright,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淭he cameras are non-existent to me. I91裸聊视频檓 just trying to have the best time that I can in the situation that I91裸聊视频檝e been put in and fear isn91裸聊视频檛 part of that process for me. I embrace it.91裸聊视频�
She added though that watching herself on screen afterwards is a different story.
91裸聊视频淲hen I look at myself on film, I91裸聊视频檓 a bit mortified. But, while I91裸聊视频檓 doing it, I91裸聊视频檓 happy as a lark and I couldn91裸聊视频檛 care less,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淔ilm me all day long, but don91裸聊视频檛 make me watch.91裸聊视频�
She plans to overcome that reluctance over Thanksgiving as she91裸聊视频檒l be watching the season opener with her son in the Okanagan with her mother and daughter joining them online.
91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檓 going to be with my family, my kids and my mother, watching the show,91裸聊视频� she said .
