Assiniboine students win gold at Cooks the Books

Assiniboine College culinary arts students Alicia Decosse and Presley Kuharski have been named the top new student chefs in Canada after they won gold at the 2025 Cooks the Books national student cooking competition.

The competition, which was held in Toronto last week, was presented by Canada Beef. Their victory marks the second gold medal won by the college in the history of the competition.

Decosse told the Sun she and her teammate earned their national berth after winning an in-house qualifier at ACC and travelled from Brandon to Toronto to compete.

“We honestly went there not thinking we’d win,” she said. “We just wanted to go for the fun and the experience.”

Kuharski said, “We’re a small-town school. We really just thought it would be very cool and fun. We went in with absolutely no expectations.”

Their winning dish — a Birch Wasabi flat iron steak served with a Kimora rice cake and butter-braised carrots — impressed judges under this year’s theme, “Global Flavours Grow in Canada,” which challenged competitors to explore the influence of international cuisine on Canadian food culture.

The competition split teams into two heats of four, staging a fast-paced, “kitchen battle” style challenge that tested speed, technique and cooperation, Kuharski said.

“We barely have to talk in the kitchen,” Decosse said of the pair’s rapport. “We just know what the other needs. We do the kitchen dance — and never trip over each other.”

When their names were announced as the winners, the emotion was immediate. “We both started crying,” Kuharski recalled. “Not just a little bit — it took a while to calm down.” The moment grew even more surreal when celebrated Canadian chef Anna Olson presented the trophy. “She hugged me, and I just started crying,” Decosse said. “It was crazy. I can’t even explain it.”

All competitors left the event with prizes that included a Canadian Beef wood carving board, a one-year membership to the Culinary Federation of Canada, and kitchen items from Taste Canada partners.

As gold medallists, Decosse and Kuharski also received a chef-curated prize pack from CookUp, an F. Dick Vivum 8” chef knife and cut book, Profboard ProSeries cutting boards, an AMT frying pan, a Dainty Rice cooker, a gift card to The Keg, the Taste Canada Trophy to display at ACC for a year, and a $3,000 educational bursary.

Their strengths were obvious the moment food hit the pass, their coach and chef–instructor Rebekah Roberts, who prepared the students through 10 to 12 weeks of training, told the Sun.

“The moment they got food in their hands, instant focus dialled in,” she said. “I knew they’d be in the top three. When silver was announced, I knew we had won.”

Watching the pair succeed was even more rewarding than her own time competing, she said. “To see them put in the work and then watch them grow and develop — that was incredible.”

ACC’s first gold at Cooks the Books came in 2018, when Kaitlin McCarthy and Jessi Coulter took top honours. Now an educational assistant at ACC, McCarthy said seeing Decosse and Kuharski win brought back “nostalgia and pride.”

“These two have the same dynamic Jessi and I had,” she said. “They work like a true partnership — barely speaking, never clashing, always supporting each other. They just have it.”

McCarthy even embroidered gold-threaded “Taste Canada 2025” on their jackets before the trip because, she said, “I had a feeling. Seeing how much they practiced and critiqued and refined … they were ready. And they proved it.”

Both students trace their passion for food to family traditions: Kuharski to cooking with her mother and grandparents, and Decosse to baking with her grandmother from the age of two.

Both are 19, both plan to pursue Red Seal certification, and both dream of running food businesses after graduation — Decosse hopes to open a café in St. Rose, and Kuharski aims to start a catering company.

They also acknowledge personal challenges. “Anxiety and adjusting to life in Brandon after growing up in Minnedosa were the hardest parts,” Kuharski said, adding that culinary training helped her build resilience.

Decosse said the competition prep taught her time management and life skills she uses beyond the kitchen. “Hard work does pay off,” she said. “This win makes me feel like I’m getting somewhere.”

For Roberts, the national gold is confirmation that ACC’s program competes on the same stage as larger urban schools.

“When you see your students performing on par with — and surpassing — big city schools from Toronto and Vancouver, you know you’re doing something right,” she said.

With graduation approaching in April, the pair plan to continue competing at professional-level events in Winnipeg and beyond, but for now, they are savouring the accomplishment. “We didn’t expect it,” Kuharski said. “But we’re so proud we brought gold home.”

» aodutola@brandonsun.com

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