Growing up in Toronto, Erin Smith was always around cooking. Whether with her mother or grandmother, she always found herself in the kitchen. After graduating culinary school at George Brown in 2007, Smith found herself at Bymark Restaurant where she eventually became the restaurant’s first female sous chef at the age of 24.

Since then, she has never looked back. Smith competed and won on Chopped Canada as well as a Toronto-run competition called The Chef Cartel. Smith is now the executive sous chef for Mark McEwan’s new grocery store, McEwan Foods at 1 Bloor East, and will be looking to add another competition win to her list of culinary accolades on this season of Top Chef Canada that begins April 1.