Western Living Magazine
Reimagine Remodelling with Kitchen Canvas
Protected: Merit Kitchens: Urban Cool Meets West Coast Warmth
Finalists Announced: HAVAN Professionals Inspire
Recipe: Easy Peanut Noodles with Chicken and Veggies
One of BC’s Best Wineries Is Having a Bonkers Sale
Recipe: Balsamic Strawberry Sponge Cake from Oh Sweet Day
I Had the Best Nap of My Life in an Anti-Gravity Pod
Editors’ Picks: The Best Trips We Took in 2022
Victoria Might Just Be the Perfect Pre-New Year’s Getaway
The Future of Beauty: How One Medical Aesthetics Clinic is Changing the Game
Trending Now: The Best New Furniture and Homewares for Spring
Sleep Tight, Whatever Your Size: This Mattress Company Embraces All Body Types
Designers of the Year 2023: These Are Your Fashion Design Judges
Designers of the Year 2023: Introducing Our Furniture Design Category Judges
Designers of the Year 2023: Meet Your Maker Judges
The Quebecois chef won WL's 2018 Foodies of the Year, bringing a taste of his hometown to the West Coast.
It’s hard to imagine JC Poirier cooking anything other than Paris-Brest, vol-au-vent or mille feuille—the French-inspired fare coming out of the Michelin-starred kitchen at St. Lawrence in Vancouver—but it’s taken him nearly 15 years to get here.
In 2004, Poirier left Montreal—and a position at Normand Laprise’s Toqué!—to work with Rob Feenie and Marc-André Choquette at the legendary Lumière in Vancouver. He then went on to cook French-inspired nose-to-tail dishes at the upscale Chow (his first solo venture), and when that closed down, he turned his attention to authentic Neapolitan pizza at the casual Pizzeria Farina. This ultimately laid the foundation for his ultra-successful Railtown trattoria, Ask for Luigi, which won a chart-topping four categories at Vancouver magazine’s 2015 Restaurant Awards, including Best New Restaurant and Restaurant of the Year.
Now Poirier’s going back to his roots at St. Lawrence, serving an elevated-but-playful take on the type of food he enjoyed eating as a kid growing up in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec: crispy pork rinds in vintage maple syrup tins, steak tartare with pomme gaufrette, venison tourtière cheekily topped with a miniature Habs flag, rice pudding with salted caramel sauce. In a cozy room that feels like an old-school brasserie, it’s comfort food served by French-speaking staff and paired with French wine . . . or a Labatt 50 tallboy.
It’s all decadent and rich and indulgent—the exact opposite of what we’ve come to expect in a smoothie-loving city—but it’s the humble, honest food Poirier was always meant to cook. (He even nabbed the same two honours, Best New Restaurant and Restaurant of the Year, at the 2018 VanMag Awards—and recently won Restaurant of the Year at Vanmag‘s 2022 Restaurant Awards.)
Originally published June 2018; content updated October 2022
We asked St. Lawrence chef and owner J-C Poirier which fine Vancouver establishments he frequents when he’s out of the kitchen.
BreakfastI usually go to the Birds and the Beets for breakfast before heading to work. I love their bread and the breakfast sandwich—it’s amazing.
Lunch Harvest Community Foods is my idea of a perfect lunch. The ramen is tasty and healthy. And try a side of kale gomae.
Dinner I’m torn between Kissa Tanto (order: tajarin pasta with butter and mushrooms) and Savio Volpe (order: fire-grilled chicken with lemon and rosemary). “I could probably eat chicken every day.”
Are you over 18 years of age?