Guest chef Normand Laprise at Restaurant Ikarus

In November 2008 at the Restaurant Ikarus: Laprise

A regional Patriot

"Toqué! Restaurant", Montreal, Canada

Patriotism shows itself from its best side when it expresses a genuine love of a country and its people; when the point is not to set yourself apart and defi ne yourself simply by being “different”, but to express an authentic way of being that is essential for the creative and the artistic. Normand Laprise is one of those loving patriots. For 14 years, he and Christine Lamarche have been running Toqué! in Montreal together. As he never tires of pointing out, his love of regional products and their producers in Quebec is an essential factor in the success of the restaurant. Laprise also gives lectures on the culinary wealth of his home province, refl ected in raw products like duck foie gras, wild glasswort, lamb and young vegetables, seafood and plenty of fresh herbs.

This variety of local products is also refl ected in the variety of dishes provided by Toqué!. Laprise’s style puts selected vegetables and the essences and juices of the wild Canadian fl ora at the centre of his creations. The combination with Asian spices makes for a truly innovative interpretation, in particular for fi sh and seafood dishes. Guests favour the raw scallops from the Magdalen Islands, marinated in olive oil and served in the shell with strawberry juice. Or how about tender, warm sardines with radishes served on beetroot, with the added twist of a thimbleful of cream cheese? Laprise’s interpretations of classic meat dishes are also full of surprises, for instance his Boileau venison or his popular suckling pig with a curry glazing, raisins and hazelnuts and a crisp mushroom risotto.

Creations of this sort have made Normand Laprise and Toqué! a culinary institution in Montreal. For 15 years running, Laprise has been voted best chef, and Toqué! was awarded four stars from the Canadian Culinary Federation in Quebec and fi ve diamonds both from the CAA and its U.S. American counterpart, the AAA. Even New York is impressed with Laprise’s skill – a review in the New York Times praised his “fascinating and excellently prepared combinations.” In addition to his work at Toqué!, Laprise also spent over a year as the executive chef of Cena in New York, where he captured the hearts and stomachs of the sophisticated New Yorkers with his cuisine québécoise.

Laprise’s kitchen has not only produced excellent dishes, but also excellent chefs. Many of Quebec’s up-and-coming chefs were inspired by his creativity, intuition and technical skill. Many of his international colleagues choose to do a stint in his restaurant, such as Xavier Pellicer from Abac in Barcelona, Tetsuya Wakuda from the renowned Tetsuya’s in Sydney and Daniel Boulud from New York-based restaurant Daniel. Normand Laprise in turn likes to accept invitations to other restaurants, which has led to cooking engagements on the Bermudas, in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Bangkok. If you are secure in the love of your country, crossing borders is easy.