MyVanCity and #TasteofThursday are pleased to introduce two new top Chefs. We are looking forward to their recipes.
Jean-Francis Quaglia Chef/Owner
A native of Marseille, France, Jean-Francis comes naturally to the culinary world as his mother is acclaimed Chef Suzanne Quaglia of Marseille’s famed Le Patalain and one of the very first female chefs in France. At age eight, he made his first ‘Tarte au Citron’ from his mother’s recipe. This same tarte is now featured on Provence’s menu. When Jean-Francis was 16, Chef Suzanne opened her first restaurant and Jean-Francis decided that he too wanted to become a chef, enrolling at the École Hôteliere de Marseilles.
Hôtel Sorbitel in Marseille was the location of his first apprenticeship following graduation. From there he had a brief stint in his mother’s restaurant before heading off to the Côte d’Azure and Monte Carlo where he started as Commis de Cuisine under the direction of Chef Bruno Caironi (formerly Sous Chef to Alain Ducasse). Jean-Francis then went on to work with Chef Elie Mazot at Relais et Chateau’s Le Chateau de la Chevre D’Or in Eze.
As Chef de Partie Tournant, Jean-Francis mastered every station in the kitchen while working under the direction of Chef Dominique LeStanc at Hôtel Negresco in Nice (2 Michelin stars). Hôtel Negresco was to be a turning point in his life as it was there, in 1990, that he met a young Canadian, Alessandra Mossa, who later became his wife. In 1991 Jean-Francis (with Alessandra) returned to Marseille to work as Sous Chef in his mother’s Le Patalain. The next year he and Alessandra moved to Canada and were married.
Jean-Francis’ Canadian career began as Sous Chef under Bruno Born at Le Coq D’Or in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood. During Jean-Francis tenure there, the restaurant won the coveted award of Best French Restaurant at the annual Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards. In 1994, Born closed Le Coq D’Or to head up food and beverage for the soon-to-be-opened Sheraton Wall Centre Hotel. He took Jean-Francis with him to be Chef de Cuisine at one of the hotel’s two restaurants – Azure Seafood Restaurant. When the hotel’s owner later decided to consolidate food services in one restaurant and closed Azure, Jean-Francis was picked to become Chef of the hotel’s remaining restaurant – Indigo Bistro Moderne.
Pursuing a life-long dream, Jean-Francis left the Sheraton Wall Centre to open a place of his own. The result – Provence Mediterranean Grill – opened its doors in the Point Grey neighbourhood of Vancouver on December 17, 1997. In 2002 he and Alessandra took the plunge, opening a second location – Provence Marinaside, on the sea wall in Yaletown. Marinaside, as locals affectionately call it, focuses its menu on seafood featuring a fresh seafood bar, catch of the day as well as a wide selection of fish and shellfish. When the sun shines, and with the view of the adjacent marina, you’d swear you were on the Côte d’Azure. In 2007, to mark Provence Mediterranean Grill’s 10th anniversary, Jean-Francis and Alessandra co-authored the book New World Provence – Modern French Cooking for Friends and Family.
Early in 2012, there was another celebration as Provence Marinaside celebrated its 10th Anniversary on February 23rd, 2012. Later in the same year (mid-December 2012) the Provence ‘family’ expanded once more when Jean-Francis developed and opened TWB-The Wine Bar adjacent to Provence Marinaside. The casually elegant Wine Bar serves 50 wines by the glass and serves light tapas-style plates called ‘Bites.’ It has rapidly become a neighbourhood favourite for its value-priced great food, good wine and fabulous people-watching.
Provence Mediterranean Grill (Point Grey): 4473 West 10th Ave., 604.222.1980
Provence Marinaside (Yaletown): 1177 Marinaside Crescent at the foot of Davie St., 604.681.4144
TWB-The Wine Bar (Yaletown): 1167 Marinaside Crescent next door to Marinaside., 604.681.4144
Executive Chef Todd Bright
Todd Bright began his career at age 17 in Australia as an apprentice at Ming Jade Restaurant under Cantonese Chef Kevin Lowe. At the age of 22, he travelled widely through Europe, completing stages with many renowned restaurants and finally settling down as Sous Chef at a high-end gastro-pub in Oxford, England. Upon returning to Australia his valuable experience overseas led to a position at Vino’s, the largest, and multi-award winning, fine-dining restaurant in Queensland, Australia. After seeing Europe, Todd was bit by the travel bug again and in the winter of 2007 ventured to Vancouver, Canada. His talents were immediately discovered by Wild Rice where, after one year, he rose to the position of Restaurant Chef. Chef Bright’s menus reflect his passionate commitment to creating local and sustainable dishes while never compromising on flavor or creativity.
In April of 2009, Todd took a hiatus to learn about wine and winemaking in the Okanagan. While there he completed his intermediate certificate with WSET and worked with Cellar Art Wines where he assisted with wine-making as well as creating the food and wine pairings for the winery’s tasting room.
Todd returned to Wild Rice as Executive Chef in January of 2010 where he immediately jumped into preparing special menus for Chinese New Year’s and the Olympics.
John Henderson, restaurant critic for The Denver Post, wrote of Chef Bright’s food in a February 2010 syndicated feature, “The menu is as visionary as the new China… I spent a month in China in 2008 and except for Peking duck in one Beijing dive, this seafood ravioli was the best Chinese dish I’ve ever had.”
Also in 2010, Chef Bright became the first non-Asian finalist in the Chinese Restaurant Awards Chinese Restaurant Chef of the Year the competition. While he did not win or place, Chef Bright was honoured to included in this prestigious group of eight chefs and won many accolades from the older, traditional chefs for his dishes. “It was an amazing opportunity and I am so pleased to have been part of the competition. As a result, I now have a network of Chinese chef colleagues. ”
In 2011, Chef Bright joined Wild Rice owner Andrew Wong as a business partner to open Wild Rice’s second location in New Westminster’s River Market. In 2014, Mr. Wong and Chef Todd closed their Vancouver location and to concentrate their efforts on the over-whelmingly successful New Westminster location. At the same time it was rebranded as Wild Rice Market Bistro.
Not bad for a gwei lo boy from Australia.
Wild Rice Market Bistro, New Westminster: 122-810 Quay
Great article Valerie. Looking forward to seeing the recipes that Jean-Francis and Todd contribute.