Seared Albacore Tuna and Fennel Carpaccio
Chef Jean-Francis Quaglia
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 10 oz Albacore Tuna loin
- 2 tbsp ground fennel seeds
- 1-2 fresh fennel bulbs (cleaned and cored, reserve some of the fronds)
- 1 fresh lemon (juiced)
- 3 tbsp + 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- 400 grams mixed salad greens
Method:
Season Tuna with salt and dust with ground fennel seeds.
Heat frying pan on high and sear tuna all around. Set aside.
Slice fresh fennel into very thin slices lengthwise. Use a mandolin if available.
Mix together lemon juice, 3 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper.
Lay sliced fennel bulbs on a tray and marinate with lemon juice/oil mixture.
Season mixed greens with 1 tbsp olive oil and salt.
Place a small bouquet of the salad greens in the centre of each plate.
Evenly distribute sliced/marinated fennel on plates, around the salad.
Slice tuna into quarter inch medallions and place on top of fennel and around the salad.
Garnish with reserved fennel fonds.
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
1177 Marinaside Crescent, Vancouver, B.C. V6Z 2Y3
Phone: 604.681.4144 Fax: 604.692.0720
