Beaumont chef Crystal Higgins is heading to Prince Edward Island to represent her community in a national culinary competition, with a $10,000 prize on the line. Higgins, the Executive Chef at Chartier in Beaumont, Alberta, is one of 12 chefs selected to compete in the Garland Canada International Chef Challenge at the PEI International Shellfish Festival from September 17 to 20, 2026.
The challenge gives each chef 45 minutes to create dishes using PEI shellfish. The top prize is $10,000. The festival is marking its 30th anniversary this year at the Charlottetown Event Grounds.
Higgins was named Executive Chef at Chartier in January 2026. She is from Edmonton and trained in the Culinary Arts program at NAIT. While at NAIT, she captained the first all-female team to compete at the IKA Culinary Olympics in Germany, where the team won a silver medal.
“Practice, practice, practice,” Higgins said of her strategy for the competition. “There are so many different scenarios that can happen when you step into the ring. Having a good foundation and organization is key.” She plans to use rotating shellfish features at Chartier to prepare.
Discover Leduc Region, the regional tourism organization, is promoting Higgins’ trip as part of its culinary storytelling efforts. A win would put Beaumont’s food scene in the national spotlight and could boost interest in local dining tourism.
Chartier is a rustic French-Canadian restaurant that opened in Beaumont in 2016 after founders Darren and Sylvia Cheverie raised more than $100,000 through a Kickstarter campaign.
