Chef Vikram Vij at his restaurant in Vancouver October 7, 2014.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
One dragon is out, two more are in.
CBC-TV says culinary king Vikram Vij is leaving its reality series Dragons' Den to focus on expanding his businesses, including a new Vancouver-based flagship restaurant.
The show is adding entrepreneurs Michele Romanow and Manjit Minhas, who will join newly added business mogul Joe Mimran and returning titans Jim Treliving and Michael Wekerle on the judging panel.
At 29, Romanow is the youngest dragon to join the series, where budding entrepreneurs seek investment from a panel of business bosses. The Calgary native is the co-founder of Buytopia.ca, one of Canada's top daily-deal sites.
Minhas is co-founder and co-owner of Minhas Breweries and Distillery. With her brother Ravinder, she lays claim to the 10th-largest brewery in North America, producing more than 90 beers, spirits, liqueurs and wines which ship across Canada, the United States, and overseas.
The current season of Dragons' Den airs Wednesdays on CBC-TV.
"Michele is a millennial on a mission, having built four successful companies before her 29th birthday, and Manjit's entrepreneurial expertise covers everything from product development, marketing, manufacturing to global distribution," Jennifer Dettman, CBC's executive director of unscripted content, said Wednesday in a release.
"They're definitely fantastic additions to the Den."