Les Rendez-vous gourmands

Paul Toussaint

Paul Toussaint is a native of Haiti who moved to Canada when he was 20 years old. He studied law before settling into the restaurant industry. His first job in the business was at Toqué!, one of the world's most famous restaurants, where he honed his art and learned the skills of gastronomic cooking.

Bit by bit he climbed the rungs, eventually becoming the executive chef at the Montréal restaurant, Agrikol. That is where he made advancements in Haitian cooking. His objective, through his kiosk at the Time Out Market, and now his new restaurant, Kamúy, is to blend all the influences of the Caribbean by immersing his clientele in an islands' atmosphere.

Paul Toussaint was named Chef of the Year 2021 by Eater Montreal and was included among Canada's 100 Best in 2020.

Eric Ku

Eric Ku comes from a family that has managed the Dobe & Andy restaurant for more than 35 years in Montréal's Chinatown sector. He is currently the third generation to be at the helm of this restaurant, which has become one of the pillars of gastronomy in Montréal and is renowned for its authentic Hong Kong cuisine.

Dobe & Andy is a hidden gem that is beloved by local chefs; it is renowned for its outstanding roast duck and its traditional Cantonese-style noodle dishes.

André Sterling

Barbados-native André Sterling discovered a vocation for cooking while he was working in a hotel as a dishwasher. His chef saw that he had great potential and she encouraged him to get into the restaurant side of the business. He moved to London and learned the methods of European cooking at Gavroche, which tapped into the skills he had on the islands. André then moved to Montréal and enhanced his experience by working for the Toqué! group.

And now, drawing on his travels and discoveries, his vision of the art of cooking has expanded even wider. He enjoys going back to simple tastes and flavours, but adds a personal touch which makes the creations unique.

Antoine Beriault

Antoine Beriault was born in Moncton, New Brunswick and earned his degree in professional cooking at the Institut de tourisme et d'hôtellerie du Québec. He started his cooking career in various Montréal restaurants, including le Brontë, Bouillon Bilk and Provisions. He did a number of internships at highly regarded international restaurants such as The French Laundry, Le Bernardin and Attica.

He created the Aylwin BBQ project in 2016 with his life partner, Annie Lacombe. Set up at the Atwater Market, Alwyn Barbecue specializes in smoked meats, along with market-fresh vegetables and in the traditional Texan barbecue style.

Sarina Yoth

Impassioned by Japanese and Cambodian cuisine, Sarina Yoth began her career at Tatami, a restaurant specializing in sushi, at the Dorval Airport, where she was the executive chef. She moved on to become a chef at Bento Sushi, where she competed in several Bento Sushi Champion Competition cooking events.

After working in a number of Japanese restaurants, she is currently a specialist in the art of sushi, offering an upscale menu of traditional Japanese fare with a Montréal touch. She does the cooking in front of the restaurant patrons, thereby guaranteeing freshness and quality. Set up at a kiosk at the Time Out Market, Sarina also does private catering.

Phong Thach

Phong Thach was born in Vietnam and grew up in Montréal. His parents introduced him to Vietnamese street-food cooking and he discovered the art of Japanese sushi at the Kaizen-Tri House restaurant, where he quickly climbed the ranks.

He went on to found Kaiji sushi and Sogen sushi in la Prairie before opening - with the help of two other Vietnamese chefs - the Red Tiger, a veritable Asian-Latin street-food cooking temple in Montréal. This year, Fortune restaurant, an Asian-Latin inspired cuisine, will be opening in Montréal; it's a new project that Phong is launching with his team.

Guillaume Daly

Guillaume Daly is a native Montrealer. In recent years, he has been lending his talent to the benefit of several renowned chefs. First at restaurant XO in the hotel Le St-James, then helping Francine Brûler in opening Les Enfants Terribles where he worked as a chef for many years.

He has been the chef at Soubois since 2015, where he enjoys promoting local products as a central part of his cooking creations. Patrons can find a festive menu that places an emphasis on ingredients of the season.

Oussama Ben Tanfous

Oussama Ben Tanfous hails from Tunisia and he arrived in Canada when he was just a year old. He studied chemistry in university but decided to end the courses to do some travelling. He learned the basics of cooking in Thailand and did some internships in Japan before returning to Québec and working as a cook at Enfants Terribles.

He went on to open his own restaurant, Roch le coq, with two childhood friends, and started up a catering delivery service at the same time. Currently, he is well-known to fried chicken lovers and focuses on the event-aspect, along with serving as a consultant for several restaurants, including Benny et co, which operates more than 85 restaurants.