Eugene (left) and Noelle (right) Barone of Highview Food & Drink in Southampton, with John Catucci, host of Food Network Canada's You Gotta Eat Here! and celebrity judge at Saturday’s search for Ontario’s Best Veal Sandwich. Photo submitted

Hub Staff

Highview Food & Drink’s Noelle Barone and her veal creation has been named Ontario’s Best Veal Sandwich 2016. Out of more than 500 nominations from a province-wide search, it was narrowed down to three finalists who went head-to-head on the Gastropost Chef Stage at the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo in Toronto on Saturday.

See: Highview a finalist for Ontario’s best veal sandwich

“I have to do three [sandwiches] in 20 minutes,” said Barone November 17. “I’m excited, I think it’s great.”

Barone added, “I don’t think it will hit me until I’m there but I think it’s going to be fun and I’m going to enjoy it with the other finalists. I think we’ll all just have a really good time.”

The Highview was chosen through a nomination process via social media throughout the month of October. “It was a huge compliment from a customer that found out about this competition and nominated us,” said Barone. “We didn’t think that out of 60 or something restaurants, especially all the Italian ones in Toronto, that we would get this type of response but one of the judges came up and tried it and she was quite pleased.”

Barone added that she didn’t hear anything back for five days. “Then Eugene got a call and she said, ‘You’re in the top three finalists so you have to come down to Toronto.’”

Barone took the stage at 5 p.m. Saturday and won the judges over.

Noelle Barone, Highview Food & Drink in Southampton, with her now famous veal sandwich. Hub photos