🤝 Meet Erica Karbelnik. She’s a former Top Chef Canada champion and the co-owner and chef of Karbs Catering, an upscale private dining business based in Ontario. She runs the company alongside her husband and fellow Top Chef alum Josh. We sat down with Erica to talk about dining trends, Canada’s best food cities, and the hardest part of competing on cooking shows.
What was the hardest part of winning Top Chef Canada that viewers might not see at home?
The hardest part wasn’t just the pressure of the competition — it was the mental grind. Long hours, high stakes, and constantly being judged push you past your comfort zone. Viewers see the drama and the challenges, but they don’t always see the emotional weight of having to create perfection under extreme time pressure. You have to balance creativity, technique, and nerves all at once, and it’s exhausting.
What is the value of having that fine dining experience at home vs. at a restaurant?
There’s something magical about sharing a fine dining experience in your own home. It’s intimate, personal, and tailored just for you and your guests. You get the elegance and attention to detail of a restaurant, but in a relaxed, private setting where the focus is on connection, storytelling, and making memories around food.
Do you have a favourite dish to make/eat?
It changes depending on my mood, but I always go back to dishes that feel soulful and comforting with a twist — like a perfectly roasted chicken with a fragrant Middle Eastern spice blend, or a citrusy tagine that’s bright, bold, and layered with flavour.
What are some of the challenges of running a private chef business?
Flexibility is both a blessing and a challenge. You’re creating unique experiences for every client, which is exciting, but it also means constantly adapting to different kitchens, preferences, and logistics. And while it’s rewarding to see people’s reactions to your food, there’s always the pressure of making every event flawless because the experience is personal and unforgettable.
Running a private chef business means you are literally everyone — accountant, FOH manager, chef, assistant, designer, even laundromat attendant. You’re running everything from taking client calls, managing paperwork, finalizing menus, to ultimately showing up to create a memorable and unforgettable experience. There are so many moving parts, and every detail matters, but seeing it all come together for a client makes the hard work worth it.
How would you describe Karbs Catering’s style of cuisine?
Karbs Catering is high-end fine dining at home. We’re both trained in fine dining kitchens, so we love the elegance of white tablecloths, fine china, outstanding service, and thoughtfully composed food. Our cooking blends French technique with bold Middle Eastern and Mediterranean flavours, though we can adapt to any style of cuisine depending on what the client is looking for. Call it fine dining Canadian — a melting pot rooted in technique, creativity, and attention to detail.
What’s a food or restaurant trend that you love, and what’s one you’d like to see go away?
One trend we would like to see fade? Overly gimmicky plating that sacrifices flavour for Instagram appeal. At the end of the day, it should taste amazing, not just look pretty.
One that we love, when a chef can truly express themselves. We love the global flavours that are coming into the fine dining world. Bold flavours are our thing. So seeing other chefs celebrating their backgrounds and being able to taste other cultures and ingredients in a high-end setting is nice.
What’s your favourite place to eat in Canada (other than your own kitchen)?
That’s a hard one. My husband Josh and I love Montreal. We cannot pinpoint one restaurant, but food-wise, for Canada, Montreal is the spot for everything from grab-and-go to breakfasts to date night spots. We love the food scene there. We currently live in Niagara, and we do have to say, the food scene here is getting up there as well. We are finding some gems!