Chez Céline is a restaurant for the people (who love French food)

If there’s one word to describe Chez Céline — the few-months-old Quebec-style bistro from J-C Poirier of one-Michelin-starred St. Lawrence fame — it’s fun.

What becomes immediately clear upon entering this cozy yet airy space, located at the corner of Fraser and 27th, is that Poirier is letting his proverbial hair down (he’s rocking a shaved head these days, but you catch our metaphorical drift). Unshackled from the confines of the fine-dining world, Poirier wanted Chez Céline to be its own entity, not a St. Lawrence 2.0. 

He partnered up with two St. Lawrence alumni: sous chef Margaux Herder and sommelier David Lawson, who had both long dreamed of opening their own spot. Together they came up with the concept for Chez Céline, but Poirier made one thing clear from the very beginning: there would be no talk of Michelin.

“That’s what I said to Margaux and David: ‘We don’t have to be precious about it,’” Poirier recalls. “‘We’re not going for a Michelin star. We just want to have a busy restaurant and have fun.’”

Opened in May in the former Say Mercy! space in the budding Fraserhood, Chez Céline is a 52-seat bistro inspired by casual Quebec diners called casse-croûte. The room, designed by Poirier’s wife Dara Dammann Poirier, is laid-back yet elegant, with white bubble-tile flooring, marble tabletops, glass pendant lights, accents of teal and red, and wooden shelves covered with bottles of wine and cookbooks (including Poirier’s own award-winning title Where the River Narrows). The 1,400-square-foot space is intimate and rustic, yet still refined; natural light streams in through the windows, and tables filled with happy eaters bring the noise up to a lively yet comfortable level. 

There are plenty of reasons to be happy, too. Chez Céline has allowed Poirier to let loose, to channel all of his hard work and experience into a modest but excellent neighbourhood restaurant. A restaurant for the people.

St. Lawrence stands out for Poirier’s polished take on the cooking of his home province of Quebec, with skillful technique and distinct personality showing up on the plate in equal measure. Chez Céline, on the other hand, celebrates simplicity. Every dish is still prepared with care, but there’s less pomp and circumstance. Take, for example, the pork chop, which is served with maple-apple cider sauce and nothing else.

“We source the pork from a great farm and treat it, cook it, and season it properly, and make a sauce with the bones and that’s naked on the plate,” says Poirier. “That’s something that I could do at St. Lawrence, but it’s tricky, because people expect more from it, more work put into the plate. The philosophy for Chez Céline was: ‘Okay, I want to make a dish that has just two things on the plate, three maximum.’”

The grilled T-bone steak is prepared similarly, with the tender, juicy steak sliced thick and then arranged around the bone, served swimming in a pond of decadent, gently spiced peppercorn sauce, or sauce au poivre, as it says on the menu. It pairs very well with the Glorious Celebration Salad: a selection of lettuces from Glorious Organics farm, dressed in a casual vinaigrette that lets the bitter greens shine.

For the table, the poutine is required eating, with house-made frites, rich gravy, and squeaky curds providing ample reason to stuff yourself silly. The croque monsieur croquettes are another surefire hit, with tiny deep-fried bites oozing with cheese and cream sauce. 

For dessert, soft-serve ice cream is a light, perfectly silky finish, especially when drizzled with lemon olive oil (or, for any children in attendance, rainbow sprinkles). It’s all delicious, and delightfully unpretentious: this is elevated no-fuss cooking, celebrating ingredients and techniques designed to enchant diners rather than educate them.

“You do fine dining and it’s very rewarding, but you get stuck into certain restrictions

and mechanics, and you can’t really step out of this expectation that comes with it,” Poirier offers. “And as much as we like it, sometimes we also miss the more casual aspect. We want more freedom, we want to do what we want and be unapologetic for it—because we believe in what we do, and in the product that we can offer guests.”

Brunch, which Poirier stresses is really Herder’s brainchild, is similarly excellent, with the terrine de campagne, a rustic French pâté, almost buttery in flavour, served simply with blistered pita and a smooth, spicy mustard. Consider also the Farmer Sausage + Good Beans, which is exactly as it sounds: large, meaty gigante beans, a perfectly cooked farmer’s sausage (salty and snappy), with grainy mustard and a rich jus. Once again, the fries are not to be missed, this time sprinkled with addicting seasoning salt and served with aioli and ketchup.

“At Chez Céline, people have total freedom about what they want to eat,” Poirier says, contrasting it with the more curated, structured tasting menu of a fine-dining restaurant. “I wanted to see people come in and be like, ‘Hey, I’m gonna sit at the bar. I don’t have a lot of time. I’d like to eat flatbread with escargot, and maybe a poutine.’”

It’s a decidedly different approach for the lauded chef and restaurateur, but a refreshing one. Chez Céline might not be what people were expecting from him, but that’s why it’s so special. Poirier and his partners aren’t pursuing accolades. They’re pursuing food memories.

“I’m okay with people who maybe expect something else from me,” Poirier reflects. “As long as my vision is what I wanted it to be, and the staff is able to communicate the story to our guests, and the food and the wine list and the service and the ambiance are like the way I imagined it, then I’m happy.”