ApEx makes a successful return to Moncton

By Chris McGregor

MONCTON-Who needs 40 minutes to prepare a fine meal? Not Luis Clavel or Jason Rosso.

Just two months after his victory at the Canadian Food and Beverage Show in Toronto, Rosso, Garland Canada's Iron Chef, has been replaced.

  Rosso, executive chef at Toronto's Boiler House and Pure Spirits, fell to "local boy" Luis Clavel, executive chef at Salty's, McKelvie's and Quincy's in Halifax during an Iron Chef Accelerated competition at April's ApEx show in Moncton.

Clavel and Rosso had just 40 minutes to prepare a five-course meal for judges; they managed to shave 10 minutes off the allotted time to finish in just half an hour.

They had to produce a minimum of five dishes with an option for another two for bonus points: Rosso prepared six courses while Clavel made the full seven.

The Iron Chef Accelerated competition was the highlight of the ApEx show, which returned to Moncton after an eight-year absence.

 Ray Bear, from Bear, and Dominic Chiaromonte of Toronto's Match restaurant led several cooking demonstrations while cocktail expert Patsy Christie shook up the show with her principles of mixology.

Mike Bujold, director of commercial and industrial sectors with Efficiency New Brunswick, led a workshop on the province's year-old program that provides grant money to businesses looking to become more energy efficient.

"Commercial kitchens are typically energy hogs," Bujold said, citing long operating hours, heavy use and the generally low equipment turnover, given the expensive cost of appliances.

"Kitchens are five times more energy intensive compared to other industries and energy use in kitchens is increasing."

With environmental awareness being top of mind, Bujold said people are looking for ways to conserve while they strive to reduce their carbon footprint.

Through Efficiency NB's Bright Ideas Commercial Lighting program, which won an international award from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy in 2007, the agency offers discounts on the increased cost of installing longer lasting light bulbs.

The commercial buildings retrofit program provides funding of up to $3,000 per business to conduct an energy savings audit and up to $50,000 to actually complete the recommended retrofit.

For new buildings using energy saving principles, incentives of as much as $60,000 are available to offset costs associated with designing sustainable high-efficiency buildings.

Such buildings have lower operating costs, use less power, require less maintenance, provide a healthier work environment and help in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Since the program started, 180 buildings in the province have undergone energy audits and seven new sustainable buildings have gone up.

ApEx organizer Ellen Scanlan said 317 booths packed the Moncton Coliseum, along with attendees from across Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario and the northeastern United States.

"The people I have spoken with have done well with sales," Scanlan said at the show.
ApEx returns to Exhibition Park in Halifax in 2009.