With many accomplishments under her belt, including taking home the crown on both Chopped Canada Season 3, and the most recent season of Food Network Canada's Top Chef Canada, Toronto-based chef Erica Karbelnik, is an inspiration to the culinary community. She has shared with us her impressive journey, food philosophies, some tips and tricks for home cooks and advice for aspiring chefs.
Karbelnik was at the ripe age of four years old when she started cooking . She says, "I was that really weird kid, that instead of watching cartoons, I was watching the Food Network."
One of her favourite shows was on TVO Kids, featuring a young girl making recipes with her father, and Karbelnik watched it religiously. As she grew older, she found herself constantly cooking, whether it was for family friends or school projects, she found a way to weave the culinary arts into her day to day life.
"My love for food at first really was just a hobby. It wasn't until I got to high school and I started dating Josh, my boyfriend then, husband now, that I truly found my love for cooking."
Josh Karbelnik is another high profile Toronto-based chef, and is one of the catalysts for Erika's professional journey working with food. He is currently the Chef de Cuisine at the Broadview Hotel, but at the time, Chef Josh had begun his culinary training at North 44, owned and operated by Mark McEwan. After being cooked a few fabulous meals by his new girlfriend, he encouraged her to consider working in a fine dining restaurant.
She took his advice and enrolled herself into a co-op program at her high school, where she was able to land a gig interning for Andrew Ellerby at One Restaurant. After only four months, she made a strong impression on the team, and was offered a permanent job in the back of house, where she worked for a period of three years.
"I worked my way up in that kitchen through all the different stations, but I was working on and off during culinary school."
In the late 2000s, Karbelnik and her husband moved to the Niagara Falls region, where she studied at Niagara college. "It was a whole different experience there because you're not just learning about food. You're learning about wine and beer, and it was when I was really discovering that there was so much more than food that I loved about this career."
With access to nearby local farms, Karbelnik took advantage of celebrating all the local and seasonal products we have here in Ontario. After graduating (as one of the top of her class), the pair moved back to Toronto for a few months, before packing up again and heading out to Vancouver.
Over a period of six years living out in B.C., Karbelnik worked at a number of established restaurants. Though she loved fancy food and fine dining, she realized it wasn't necessarily her goal to continue working in high-end kitchens.
"I had a chance to work at Wildabeest, where I got to learn whole animal butchery. I then fell in love with hand-making pasta during my time at Ask for Luigi. I got my dose of French-Italian cooking training, and I really found my zen working with pasta."
In 2016, Karbelnik (and her husband) applied for Chopped Canada, and not only were they both accepted, but they both took home the crown. Coming off their combined wins, they felt it was time to move back to Toronto, where they would be closer to family and could begin planning their wedding.
Karbelnik started working for the INK Entertainment Group, where they called her "the fixer."
"If something went wrong in one restaurant, they would send me there to go in and fix whatever the issue was," she said.
At the age of 27, Karbelnik became one of the youngest Junior Sous Chefs in the company, working at Figo on the corner of John and Adelaide Streets. An opportunity then arose for her to become the Chef de Cuisine at Weslodge, where she took her position as the second female CDC at Icon-INK.
With an impressive resume, and a whopping amount of experience, Karbelnik then moved to the Elmwood Spa where she was Executive Head Chef of their upstairs terrace restaurant.
"I found my stride creating menus, and I was doing exactly what I wanted to do."
What happened next in Karbelnik's career would change her life forever.
"My husband and I had been talking about Food Network Canada's Top Chef Canada for years, watching every season, and always wanting to be on it. He applied, and pushed me into applying too. We definitely didn't think we would both get on, and then when we found out that we did, we started freaking out."
"Being on the competition was a lot of fun. I learned a lot about myself as a chef. I thought I was mostly going to be pulling from my French-Italian roots, but all of a sudden, something kind of came over me, and I started cooking from the heart. What came about was my Israeli-Moroccan background, and that was the type of food I was putting forward."
On the show, Karbelnik discovered how she wanted to cook, and the direction she wanted to follow.
"Everyone who goes on the show is so talented, and determined to win. I'm a perfectionist, and whenever I didn't do something the way I wanted or was in the bottom, I would get very hard on myself, and didn't think I would go very far."
However, when it came to the finale and Chef Erika found herself in the top two, a fire was lit under her. Karbelnik's husband––who also made it quite far in the competition––was appointed her sous-chef in the final episode, and it was the best possible thing that could have happened.
"I made a menu that screamed me, and my personality. It was my heart on a plate, and I wanted to show Canada and the judges, exactly who I was as a chef. I wanted the food to speak for itself, and when I was named the next Top Chef Canada, I was shocked but so proud, and my husband was so happy for me."
The two have always been so supportive of each others careers, and being on the show together was an unforgettable experience that neither will forget. They are now expecting their first child, and Karbalnik is currently working on her own line of high-end kitchen products, which is set to launch in the near future.
During the pandemic, the duo had set up a number of culinary pop-ups and collaboration dinners across Canada. Karbalnik and her husband have also recently launched a private in-home catering company where they bring customized fine dining experiences to their clients' homes. The two do everything from curating the menu, to bringing all the decor and table wear, transforming entire dining rooms into a completely different space.
The two are also hoping to one day have a restaurant of their own, but with their "little sous-chef" on the way, they know there is a big and wild road waiting ahead of them.
When speaking of her philosophies on food, she says, "For me, food is love, it's my artwork. It's how I express myself, like it's my second language. I don't always know how to get my point across with words, so food is my go to. Serving people, being able to share the love and passion for what I do, and seeing people's expressions after trying the food I've made for them, that's what it's really all about."
For aspiring chefs, Karbelnik says, "Don't give up, and keep striding as hard as you can. There will be good and bad days, but the biggest thing is believing in yourself. As a chef, you are never done learning. The day I'm done learning, is the day I'll be six feet under."
With so many different cooking techniques, she says, "No matter how many kitchens you've worked in, there will always be new flavours and ingredients to experiment with. If it's something you love to do, always keep doing it, and don't ever let anyone else tell you otherwise."
When preparing food at home, she recommends keeping organization and cleanliness in mind. "Have a food saver, so if you want to do a big grocery shop, and get larger cuts of meat, you can vac-pack, label, and date everything individually to use later. This way, you're also getting a huge bang for your buck."
She also suggests batching sauces, making chicken stocks ahead of time, and keeping everything in your fridge organized, and easy to find.
"Cleanliness in the kitchen is so important. When you have a clean space, you have a clear mind. By keeping a clean kitchen at home, you'll never get frazzled, and you can keep everything timely, especially if you're into throwing the odd dinner party for your friends."
Though Toronto's food industry remains hyper-focused on takeout modelling and comfort food, Chef Karbelnik feels as though things will eventually get back to normal. Due to the shutdowns, many have had to find other avenues and directions for their career, but with restrictions starting to ease up, she is confident the city will once again be buzzing with openings, full houses, and a limitless amount of opportunity.
"Even through all the hardships of the pandemic, this has been an amazing year for me, my family, our business, and I am so grateful for everything that has happened. It's been such a devastating time for so many people, but we need to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and know that we can pick ourselves up from the hurdles that life throws at us."
Karbelnik is an inspiration not only for chefs, but for people everywhere striving to make ends meet while doing what they love. Her journey is an important lesson in hard work, determination and living life to the fullest.
"Do everything and anything you want to get done, today. Keep looking forward, and don't look behind you. You're a different person than you were yesterday, so keep pushing yourself to make the changes that you want to see happen."
The future is bright for Chef Erica and Josh Karbelnik, who will continue to pave their way through Canada's culinary landscape. Keep your eyes peeled on Chef Erica's Instagram page for updates on the release of her very own branded line of cooking products, and feel free to check out their at-home catering company, Bring On The Karbs.
The full Season 9 of Top Chef Canada is available to stream on STACKTV with Amazon Prime Video Channels.
