For Abigail Lopez, mentally preparation is key to competition, especially when you’re on a show like Top Chef Canada.

“I think you have to be aware of the caliber of the show that you are stepping into,” says Lopez, who was selected along with 11 other chefs from across the country to vie for top honours in season 13 of the popular cooking show. “Also important is knowing your ingredients. I think every chef could be successful at preparing and inspiring any dish if they know their ingredients, how to treat them, how to transform them, every ingredient.”

Lopez, who moved to Edmonton from Mexico City over a decade ago, says she enjoys the spirit of competition. After working in small restaurants and as a private chef around town she decided to take the leap into culinary battle a few years back, most recently at the PEI International Shellfish Festival in 2024 and last year’s Canada’s Great Kitchen Party. Both impressive experiences for the resume, but Top Chef is another beast entirely when it comes to this kind of challenge.

Which is why Lopez isn’t shy about admitting that she often deals with imposter syndrome in these situations. Like when she first walked on the set of Top Chef Canada just outside of Toronto and met both the hosts and her peers in a beautiful kitchen setting. As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for.

“If it comes true, that’s what you now have to deal with,” she laughs. “Seeing all these talented chefs around me, being in a first-class production TV show, I was a little bit in my head, right? I was like, ‘Do I deserve to be here? Is this amazing?’ But wow, I don’t know. Then I realized that I was there for a reason. So that’s when I started coming down and getting into myself again.”

As often happens, competition strengthens personal bonds. Lopez speaks fondly of her Top Chef rivals, noting that she learned as much from working side by side with them as she did from the judges. In fact, the chefs have all kept in contact after filming wrapped.

“They like my personality,” she laughs, “and sometimes they are sad or something so they give me a phone call, and I just make them laugh. Then they are like, ‘Okay, now I can continue with my day.’”

Lopez is the only Albertan to be competing this year, and one of only two Westerners, along with Stephanie Baryluk of Tsawwassen, B.C. Other contenders for the prize of Top Chef include Montreal’s Samuel Chastenay-Joseph and Sara Raspa and Hilarie Vatcher from St. John’s, NL. Ontario has the largest number, with Ottawa’s Kathryn Ferries Markham’s Lifini “Lif” Kalikutty Milton’s Giovanni Meyer and Sebouh “Seb” Yacoubian from Toronto, Ont.

Longtime series host Eden Grinshpan returns, along with judges Janet Zuccarini, Mark McEwan, content creator Mijune Pak, with fermenter and author David Zilber showing up for the finale. Season 13 of Top Chef Canada premieres Oct. 20 on Flavour Network, also streaming on STACKTV. As Lopez notes, you’ll see the best of the best managing stress as much as recipes.

“I think my nerves were up to the roof,” she confesses. “I shook like I never shook before. I was like a Chihuahua dog shaking every time I moved. But also, we cannot show it on camera, right? So we need to keep ourselves with our heads down, keep working and pushing.”

Lopez is now back at work at the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald, where she’s chef de cuisine. It’s an intensive and inflexible job, so she’s not sure that she’ll be able to take part in a watch party when the first episode drops on Tuesday. Still, her friends have been texting, letting her know that they’re behind her.

“Even the Mexican chefs I know who are across the country in Canada, they have texted me and shared my appearance in Top Chef Canada,” she says. “They are all cheering for me, right? We all represent this beautiful country, so we’re all into this.”

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