When the producers of Top Chef Canada reached out to Adrian Forte to invite him to compete on the latest season of the reality cooking show, he almost declined. The Jamaica-born, Toronto-based, 32-year-old chef and restaurateur had participated on a cooking competition show once before, on the second season of Chopped Canada, in which chefs are tasked with preparing restaurant-quality meals in half an hour using the random and often incongruous ingredients presented to them. Forte bombed. He panicked, was paralyzed. I literally blacked out for 30 minutes, he remembers. They really wanted to have me on Top Chef, but the last time I did TV, I sucked. So I figured Id better pass on this.

The producers managed to persuade him in the end. And on the eighth season of Top Chef Canada, which aired on the Food Network earlier this summer, Forte not only didnt suck he excelled. As a cook, he acquitted himself admirably, making it to the semi-finals, where he placed fifth overall. As a camera presence, he was a natural: he was charming, funny and full of easy confidence, always ready with a one-liner or amusing reaction, moving through the kitchen like a certified pro. He was an obvious audience-favourite, and though he didnt win the $100,000 prize, he emerged as the most memorable contestant of the season. The production company loved me, he says. I gave them everything they wanted to make it a really good season of TV.

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How Afro-Caribbean chef Adrian Forte cooked himself up a role as one of Canada's top TV food personalities - National Post