Meet the Chef

Chef Jean-Christophe (J-C) Poirier grew up in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec and headed west to Vancouver in 2004. In 2017, he launched his passion project: the much-celebrated St. Lawrence Restaurant, which serves classic French cuisine, with the distinctive gastronomic identity and culture of Les Québécois. The restaurant was awarded one star by the Michelin Guide in 2022. Also in 2022, J-C launched his first cookbook, Where the River Narrows: Classic French & Nostalgic Québécois Recipes From St. Lawrence Restaurant.

We sat down with J-C to find out how he creates menu items worthy of a Michelin star, the inspiration behind our two partnership meal kits and get his insider tips for home cooks.

What’s your secret to creating a Michelin star-worthy meal?

First of all, there's no good cuisine without good ingredients. You can try to hide an inferior product with marinades and seasoning, but it's just not going to taste good. Instead, I prefer to eat, cook and live seasonally. It’s the way nature intended. You can’t grow asparagus in Canada in October, so you shouldn’t cook with asparagus in October. 

Second, I need to put a face to every product I use in the restaurant —to have a relationship with whoever is growing the vegetables or raising the chickens. Do they hold the same values, philosophy and work ethic that I do in the restaurant? If not, I don't want to buy from them. I want to work with and support suppliers who have integrity, because the story behind an ingredient contributes to the dining experience along with the flavour.

What inspired the two meal kits we’re sharing with Canadians?

The Steelhead Trout en Papillote is basically the same as the Fish in Papillote recipe in the cookbook and it's one that I really like because it's easy. I wanted to do something that people can put together very easily and I quite like the concept of cooking in the parchment paper because you have no dishes. You have to cut your vegetables but everything goes into parchment paper, the fish on top, then you seal the parchment with some seasoning and oil and butter and you cook it. And then it's really fun to open in front of the guests at the table. It’s a good weeknight recipe because it’s assembled in 20 minutes and only takes 20 minutes to cook and there is very little to clean up afterwards.

The Lemony Chicken Piccata is something I make at least once a month at home. It’s a crowd-pleaser and kids love it. I mean you’ve got chicken in a lemony sauce, fresh pasta —it’s hard to beat.

Located on the ground floor of a heritage building in Vancouver’s Japantown neighbourhood, the moment you step into St. Lawrence Restaurant, you’ll forget you’re in Vancouver and feel like you’ve instantly travelled to Quebec —an experience that was very much intentionally created by chef and owner J-C Poirier.

“When you enter the restaurant, it looks a little bit like my grandma's house. There are antiques everywhere on the walls that I personally collected for years knowing that at some point I’d put them in a restaurant,” he explained. “And there’s always French music playing. It’s got this bistro kind of vibe. It's not super loud, but there's some energy to it. The staff speak French. Even though you’ll experience high quality service and food, it’s casual enough to make you comfortable, because no matter how good the food is, if you're not comfortable in the space, it's never going to be a great meal.”