My first time at a fancy dinner fundraiser!

It was mine and Justin's first time at a fancy dinner fundraiser in honor of my brother-in-law Alex Chen. Alex is competing in the 2013 Bocuse D'or and Bocuse D'or Canada committee was holding a fundraiser for him in order to raise money for everything he needs to do well at the competition.

It was held at the beautiful Fairmont Palliser Hotel in downtown Calgary and we were lucky enough to get FREE tickets to this event. Tickets are about $150 regular price. It pays to be related to the guest of honor! LOL!

16 restaurants from all over Calgary participated in this event. Each restaurant had their own station set up and you can sample their signature dish that they prepared for that event and decide if you liked them enough to go and visit them at the restaurant to try out the rest of their menu. Here are some shots of the dishes Justin and I got to sample. I didn't get a photo of all of them...by the 8th dish, I started to lose count and forgot to take photos! Haha! I was too busy eating and enjoying by that point.

Top Left: The Petroleum Club: Smoked BC Octapus with Fresh Papaya Noodle Box; Top Right: Catch Restaurant and Oyster Bar: Wild BC Albacore Tuna Caparccio; Bottom Left: Il Sogno: Cannellini Bean Salad with Marinated Octapus; Bottom Right: Hotel Arts: Dungeness Crab Salad with Compressed Honeydew and Crispy Prosciutto

Top Left: Bavarian Inn: Pork Tenderloin with Bacon Bread Dumpling; Top Right: Don't remember what restaurant it was and it's not on the program, but it was steak; Bottom Left: Rush Restaurant: Peaches and Cream Foie Gras Torchon; Bottom Right: The Ranchmen's Club: Whole Roasted Leg of Lamb

with the Guest of Honor, Alex and his Bocuse D'or coach and good friend, Chef Dan Olson

Super awkward, sitting at a table where we didn't know anybody...

There were also a couple dessert stations and a cheese station, but by then, Justin and I were too full to even think about dessert! We just sat back and enjoyed lots of wine =)

In another section of the hotel, there were tons of items on silent auction and they also had an auction for other things such as a trip to a vineyard in California or an experience to have Alex and 2 other well-known chefs come to your house and cook for you and your party! All in all, the event raised about $55,000, and that was only for the Calgary event! There will be 3 other events like this one held in Edmonton, Toronto and of course, Vancouver! Hopefully these other fundraisers will be just as successful as the Calgary one. With all this money raised, Alex and his team can afford to buy the equipment he needs to best prepare for the competition. If you'd like to support Alex and attend the Vancouver event, please check out their Facebook event page for ticket info and event details.

It was a great experience and I can't wait to go to Lyon, France in January 2013 to cheer Alex on! We are all behind you ALEX! Hope your practicing is going well and stay FOCUSED! We are looking forward to watching you compete at the Bocuse D'or! We are so proud of you =) Lots of love!