WHEN he took to the stage to accept his Lifetime Achievement Award at last week's Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards, chef Alain Rayé didn't go alone: he took his La Régalade restaurant team and his family up with him.
It spoke volumes about the kind of chef he is.
He keeps a relatively low profile on social media, doesn't have a publicist to help keep him top of mind, doesn't have a Food Network show or even do the rounds of TV appearances and cooking demos.
Yet his Marine Drive bistro keeps packing in the diners, both regulars from the West Van neighbourhood and those from further afield.
While they all may find affinity over Rayé's deeply flavoured Boeuf Bourgignon and Fricassee de Poulet, they're less likely to realize that the chef has a long and storied history of cooking, both here and in France.
According to writer Christina Burridge, who penned the story in this month's magazine, Rayé learned his way around a kitchen at age 14 in France, and first came to Vancouver as a 19-year-old cook.
He returned to France in 1975, and by the late 1980s, wrote Burridge, "he was an ambitious, handsome, dedicated proponent of haute cuisine with his Michelin-starred restaurant Alain Rayé off the Champs-Ãlysée."
When he returned once again to Vancouver with his family, he opened La Régalade (in 2001), where he marries classic French cooking technique with well-sourced ingredients. It's exactly what he wants to be doing.
"I am a man of the kitchen. What else would I do?" he said. La Régalade also took the Gold award in the category for Best North Shore.
The Silver award went to Fraîche, where beginning today, chef Carol Chow will be taking over in the kitchen. A North Shore native, Chow has been working overseas for several years in London and Shanghai, as a private residence and consulting chef. She's held previous posts as executive chef at Gusto di Quattro, Teahouse in Stanley Park, Hart House, and the old Beachside Café.
The Bronze went to Lower Lonsdale's Gusto di Quattro, and honourable mentions were awarded to Blue Eyed Marys and to Chef Hung Taiwanese Beef Noodle.
Top marks also went to pastry chef of the year, Thomas Haas, who opened the first of his eponymous cafés on Harbourside Drive in North Vancouver. He drew high marks for his pastries, chocolates and, increasingly, his espresso drinks.
According to the magazine: "He's conservative in his approach, highlighting quality of ingredients over flash combinations, yet as the years pass, perhaps emboldened by the financial success of a trillion Sparkle cookies, he grows ever more daring in his flavours."
It's official: The North Shore is a delicious place to eat.
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Food lovers will want to take part in An Evening with Mark Bittman on Saturday, May 11, in the beautiful new Oceans Room at Blue Water Café in Yaletown.
Bittman, an acclaimed New York Times columnist, author of How to Cook Everything and all-round culinary star, will join the team at Blue Water for an intimate celebration of food and wine. Chef Frank Pabst will create an exclusive four-course menu, while wine director Andrea Vescovi will pair each course with his own selections. Tickets are $210, including tax, gratuity and a signed copy of Bittman's new book VB6. For tickets, contact Stephan Cachard at stephan@ bluewatercafe.net or at 604688-8078.
