Quickfire with Chef Erica Karbelnik
Get to know Erica Karbelnik, the co-owner of Bring on the Karbs Catering and winner of Top Chef Canada Season 9, as she shares with us moments of her journey to becoming a chef.
1. You own a catering business, Karbs Catering and Private Events with your husband Josh Karbelnik. How did that business venture start for you two?
We started our company during COVID. Like everyone else, each of our restaurants closed. So we needed to find a source of income, and it actually came about naturally. A lot of our friends were asking us to cater for them and “make a restaurant experience” in their home. We were eventually getting so many requests from word-of-mouth that we knew this would be a good idea to register our business and start a company.
Then, I got pregnant, and my perspective of work changed. I didn’t want to spend 18 hours away from my baby. I wanted to do something that allowed me to be a mom first. We brainstormed names, logos, and a business plan. When we got married, we really wanted a custom menu at our wedding, as the food was just as important as the “I DO.” We found no caterers out there that would make a menu for us. This was the first thing we knew we wanted to implement. Our guests being able to help curate their menu for any occasion. Our slogan, “Bring on the Karbs,” was actually our wedding hashtag. And our logo design is a plate with a strain of wheat (for carbs) and four leaves, with one being yellow. One for myself, my husband, our dog, and the yellow one is our daughter because that’s her birthstone.
Our whole company is built on the foundation of the love for our family, love for the industry, white tablecloth dining, and love for elegance and luxury. That’s how Karbs Catering was born. Almost 2 years later, we are still going strong and very proud of our little company.
2. What was your first job in the culinary industry?
I actually worked at a movie theatre making pretzels at Wetzel's Pretzels.
3. What is your flavour philosophy?
I like to cook foods that are familiar but with Middle Eastern influence. Big and bold flavours that really pack a punch.
4. One ingredient you can’t live without?
That’s such a hard question! Can I answer a few?! Lemon, chili, fennel, sumac, and truffle. We'll I’d say those are my main ones.
5. A cooking utensil that’s always in your kitchen?
A spoon. My copper spoon to be exact.
6. What’s your signature dish and why?
With doing so many rotating menus, I wouldn’t say I have a signature dish exactly. But one that does come up often is my black truffle cheesecake.
7. Go-to cooking technique and why?
Old school! Low and slow. Love and labour. Sous vide is good for some things, but I am more of the old school braise. There’s a lot of technique in mastering something perfectly, while taking the time and being patient with it.
8. You have been able to do so much traveling as a chef, is there any place that had the most memorable food or dish to you?
Morocco and Turkey. I fell in love with both those countries and the food from there.
9. Best memory as a chef thus far?
Cooking beside Daniel Boulud at Grand Cru 2023. Being able to say we did a dinner for one of the biggest culinary events hosted by us, for one dinner, alongside this culinary icon doing another dinner, truly an accomplishment for me.
I’d have to say another one is very recent, our company just won the Canadian Choice Business Award for Private Chef Toronto. That’s really huge for us, and we are extremely honoured. It shows us we are on the right track and made a good decision doing what we do.
10. Worst memory as a chef thus far?
I don’t think I have a “worst memory,” there are bad days, but those days help you learn and help you grow. I take lessons from all of them.
11. Go-to place for sourcing ingredients?
I love going to local markets or farms and actually talking to the suppliers or farmers.
12. Where do you go to eat on your day off?
My couch and take-out.
13. A restaurant you always wanted to work at?
Core by Clare Smyth.
14. Are you finished with cooking competitions, or would you ever enter another one?
Oh I live for competitions. I won’t be done any time soon.
15. Your chef hero?
Honestly, my husband. He had a terrible kitchen accident when he was 21 that he thought would take him out of the industry forever. He lost 2 of his fingers on his predominant hand. He thought that was the end of his career. I have never seen someone push so hard to re-train and re-think, mentally and physically. He persevered, and I think now has become a better chef than he could have been with all ten fingers, haha. He’s truly my inspiration, especially when things get tough.
16. What’s next for you as a chef?
At the moment, I am not sure. I do not know what tomorrow will bring. I keep pushing, finding new things to do, and new projects to work on. I'm currently writing a book (which has taken about a year already for just a first draft) and continuing to cook. It’s not something I plan. It’s just something I do.
Keep travelling, finding new flavours, and reaching for the next things I can accomplish.
Head to Erica’s Instagram to see the latest recipes she has whipped up, her foodie travelling adventures, and more!