Montréal’s women chefs

Jessica Noël

Chef at Vin Mon lapin, 150 Saint-Zotique East | Website

Maison Pic, Blue Hill at Stone Barn and Toqué! are just a few of the impressive kitchens chef Jessica Noël (middle) honed her skills at before landing at Mon Lapin, where she excels at featuring some of Québec’s best ingredients. She is part of the winning team that has propelled the Little Italy wine bar to the top of Canada’s 100 Best Restaurant List for 2023 and McLean’s Canada’s Best Places to Eat Now. Her cuisine is playful and creative, vegetable-forward and dynamic, consistently good and with a deep knowledge of Quebec-produced ingredients.

 

Catherine Couvet-Desrosiers

Chef at restaurant Foxy, 1638 Notre-Dame Street West | Website

After finishing her studies at ITHQ, chef Catherine Couvet-Desrosiers honed her skills at some of Montréal’s best restaurants such as Bouillon Bilk, Hotel Herman and Marconi before heading to Copenhagen for a stage, where she got hired as sous-chef a month into her internship. She spent two formative years in the Danish capital where she learned the importance of respecting the producers and the ingredients. Shortly after her return, she got hired as chef at the newly opened Foxy, where she had to adjust to cooking on an open flame – “You learn to cook to the rhythm of the fire, not the other way round.” She doesn’t like labelling her cuisine that’s constantly evolving and inspired by her encounters and travels. She does love cooking vegetables and each dish’s creation is conscientious to highlight the products and reflect the work of the producer.

 

Émilie Bégin

Chef at Foodlab SAT, 1201 Saint-Laurent Boulevard | Website

Trained as a baker, Émilie Bégin has worked under many well-known Montréal chefs such as Marc-André Royal, Marie-Fleur St-Pierre and Simon Mathys before taking over as head chef at Foodlab. Émilie is a passionate ambassador for Québec products that she tries to combine with her love of Mediterranean cuisine for her own unique style of cooking.

 

Reagan Steinberg

Chef de cuisine at Arthurs Nosh, 4621 Notre-Dame Street West & Le Cathcart | Website and Dirty Greens at Le Cathcart, Place Ville-Marie | Website

Dynamic and ambitious chef Reagan Steinberg worked at Vancouver’s Blue Water Café and Montréal’s Joe Beef’s group of restaurants before opening Arthurs Nosh Bar. Her very own brand of comfort food inspired by Jewish classics has been a hit since opening day with brunches being especially popular. That same comfort food translates into Dirty Green’s hearty salads featuring fresh quality produce.

 

Janice Tiefenback

Chef de cuisine at restaurant Elena, 5090 Notre-Dame East | Website and Gia, 1025 Lenoir Street | Website

A self-taught chef, Janice Tiefenback worked in several kitchens in Montréal and beyond before landing at Nora Gray and finding her groove. She has since helped open Elena, where she has taken the lead in the kitchen, as well as Gia, the latest restaurant from the same group. At Elena, chef Tiefenbak is able to explore her passion for pasta and casual Italian cooking featuring simple, top-quality ingredients, the kind of that appeals to everyone.

 

Helena Lin

Chef de cuisine at Buvette Pastek, 209 Saint-Paul Street West | Website

Born in Taiwan and raised in Asia (primarily China), Helena Lin grew up in a family where she learned the art of cooking and the love of food. Her extensive travelling and French culinary background have influenced her cuisine. She was the chef and owner of wildly popular Le Canting for two years and is now practicing her unique brand of cuisine at Buvette Pastek, where she incorporates surprising flavours in her dishes.

 

Celine Diallo

Chef at Le Brouillon, 6580-A Saint-Hubert | Website

Celine Diallo studied art history and fine arts before turning to cooking as a career. That need to create is still the driving force behind her cuisine. After working in Paris for a while, she moved to Montréal and worked in several kitchens before landing at Le Brouillon. She seeks inspiration from her West African heritage and her love of Japanese, Korean and Middle-Eastern cuisines.

 

Anita Feng

Chef and entrepreneur at J’ai Feng, 43 Beaubien East | Website

Chinese-Canadian chef Anita Feng first became known when her now-defunct restaurant Trilogie became wildly popular for its excellent dumplings. After a trip to China to perfect her cooking and a few stints in some Montréal restaurants, J’ai Feng was born in 2021. At the crossroads between an Asian grocery store and a lunch counter, it’s the place where Feng cooks authentic Szechuan dishes daily and educates her clientele on the cuisine.

 

Helena Loureiro

Chef de cuisine at Portus 360, 777 Robert-Bourassa Boulevard | Website

Born and raised in Portugal, Helena Loureiro started working there as a chef before immigrating to Montreal. Her cuisine combines her love of revisiting traditional Portuguese recipe that feature a variety of fish and seafood while putting her own modern and creative spin on them.

 

Emma Cardarelli

Chef/owner Nora Gray, 1391 Saint-Jacques | Website / Owner Elena, 5090 Notre-Dame Street West | Website and Gia, 1025 Lenoir Street | Website

A Joe Beef alumni, Emma Cardarelli (right) has become a reference in Italian cooking since leaving the group and opening Nora Gray in 2011. The restaurant has won many accolades for Cardarelli’s unique spin on traditional Southern Italian cuisine where she often opts for simplicity and letting the ingredients speak for themselves.

 

Graziella Battista

Chef de cuisine at Restaurant Graziella, 116 McGill | Website and Mercato Comunale, 701 William Street | Website

A remarkable, self-taught chef, Graziella Battista’s inspiration stems from her Italian parents’ culinary culture. Her take on Italian cuisine has been a beacon of elegance since opening her namesake restaurant Graziella in 2008, where she relies on local and seasonal ingredients to let her creativity shine.

 

Pamika Sukla

Founder/Executive chef at Pamika Thai, 4902 Saint-Laurent Boulevard | Website / Mae Sri Comptoir Thai, 224 Milton Street | Website /  Le Wine Room by Pamika, 240 Laurier Avenue West | Website and opening soon, Le Garden Room by Mae Sri, 1445 Bishop.

Born and raised in Eastern Thailand, Pamika Sukla studied business in Bangkok before moving to Montréal and opening Pamika Thai in 2012. Her love of cooking was developed at a young age by watching and helping her mother in the kitchen. The relentless entrepreneur is dedicated to transmitting her passion for traditional Thai food such as Thai Kuai Tiao dishes, her personal favourites, which she introduced to Montréal diners at her second establishment, Mae Sri.

 

Karine Beauchamp

Executive chef at Restaurant de l’ITHQ, 3535 Saint-Denis | Website

After an impressive trajectory both in Montréal with renowned restaurants such as Toqué! and Laurie Raphael and in Europe with Michelin-starred establishments, chef Karine Beauchamp landed at ITHQ where she has been the executive chef for the restaurant, banquet service and Bar Blanc Bec for the past year. She loves showcasing local and seasonal ingredients with a special interest in foraged plants and fruit for a true taste of our Boreal region.

 

Elemy Ascencio

Chef de cuisine at Resto Calaveras, 2040 Beaubien East | Website 

Hailing from a small town near the Pacific coast of Mexico, Elemy Ascencio grew up in a large family and learned how to cook with her grandmothers. The first version of her Montréal restaurant Calaveras had only 12 seats. It defined her style of cooking as homey and colourful, with recipes handed down from generation to generation. She specializes in seafood and her tacos Pastor negro are unique in Montréal.

 

Kimberly Lallouz

Owner at Miss Prêt à Manger, 1104 De Bleury Street | Website and Monsieur Café et Vins | 1102 De Bleury Street | Website

After a successful career in fashion, Kimberly Lallouz dove head first into something she’s always been passionate about: food and entertaining. Her first venture, Miss Prêt à Manger, was an instant success. Her fresh, vegetable-forward, Mediterranean inspired cuisine was a hit. These days, when Kimberly isn’t busy putting together lavish parties through the Miss Prêt à Manger catering company, she’s starring in several English and French TV shows showcasing her unique style of cooking.

 

Maria José de Frias

Chef de cuisine at Le Virunga, 851 Rachel East | Website

Originally from the Congo and by way of Brussels, chef Maria José de Frias quickly realized the lack of African restaurants in Montréal and decided to open her own. Le Virunga is a pan-African establishment that specializes in sub-Saharan cuisine, one that chef de Frias wants to shed a light on. Her cuisine is inspired by traditional recipes but adds a contemporary twist to them. She promises a virtual trip around several countries in each dish where recipes are harmoniously combined to create unique combinations.

 

Marianne Lafleur

Chef de cuisine at Hélicoptère, 4255 Ontario East | Website

Chef Marianne Lafleur studied Italian cuisine and pastry at ITHQ and proceeded to work as a pastry chef in several Montréal kitchens such as L’Auberge Saint-Gabriel and Bouillon Bilk. After applying for a pastry chef position at a restaurant in British Colombia and being told there was only a (savoury) chef position open, she took a chance and grabbed the job and hasn’t looked back since. At Hélicoptère, she prefers a cuisine that’s simple and friendly, where the ingredients are the stars. Her open spirit and a curiosity allow her to constantly learn and adapt in order to create her dishes.

 

Rita-Adèle Beaulieu

Chef at Restaurant La Traversée, Bota Bota, spa-sur-l’eau, entrance at McGill and De la Commune West | Website

Chef Beaulieu’s passion for food started when she was a teenager, which is when she started working in restaurants. She worked in a few formative kitchens before landing at La Traversée, the restaurant at Bota Bota, the famous and breathtaking spa on the water in Old Montréal. Her cuisine includes a bit of Provence (the restaurant owner's native region), a bit of her mother’s cooking, her childhood, and her travels. Around 90% of the ingredients she uses are local and include some produce from the restaurant’s own small vegetable patch. 

 

Magie Marier

Chef at Ratafia (there is no hierarchy in Ratafia’s kitchen so their entire team of women are all chefs), 6778 Saint-Laurent Boulevard | Website

Chef Magie Marier was studying psychology when life and a desire to help her family with a newly opened restaurant changed the course of her career. After graduating in pastry from ITHQ and working at a few bakeries and pastry shops, she landed at Ratafia, where she took over the savoury side of the menu. Mushrooms, seafood, and fresh pasta are often featured on her menu. Her cuisine is simple and fresh, with a consciousness to shine a spotlight on the (seasonal and local) products and their producers.