Monday, January 10, 7:00 pm
Members $90, guests $115

“One sensation leads to another, then another. Suddenly, boom, it all comes together in the mouth.” That’s how Jeremy Ferguson of the restaurant guide Menu Toronto described eating one of Jean-Pierre Challet’s coupe creations—carefully constructed courses served en coupe (by which we mean, in a glass, not in a sporty, two-door automobile).

That the Lyon-born Challet should be racing to create the next neat thing will come as no surprise to anyone who’s followed his Canadian culinary career. After graduating from hotel school in Nice and working in St. Tropez and Paris, Challet visited Québec and knew he wanted to spend more time in Canada. He worked at the Hôtel de Montagne and L’Odéon in Montréal and then at Faubourg St. Honoré in Québec City. As chef of the Inn at Manitou, a Relais & Châteaux property in northern Ontario, the world started to pay attention to Challet’s personal, seasonal cuisine. Mary McGrath of the Toronto Star called his cooking there “remarkable,” adding, “Dinner is the main event of the day.”

After six seasons, Challet moved to Toronto, where he was executive chef of the Founders Club and L’Auberge du Pommier. “Where the posh nosh,” is how the Toronto Star described the Courtyard Cafe in the refurbished Windsor Arms Hotel where, as executive chef, Challet created the “wonderful tastes” that made former critic Cynthia Wine give the restaurant three stars out of the gate. In 2002 Challet opened his own restaurant, Bouchon, serving the hearty French fare typical of Lyonnaise bouchons. It’s also where he devised his coupe cuisine, offering 10 different complex appetizers composed in glasses.

In April of this year Challet returned to culinary heights, both literally and figuratively, as executive chef of The Fifth, a small, elegant restaurant atop a downtown nightclub that’s known for its haute cuisine and high prices. With Challet in charge, it’s also known for providing a highly satisfying dining experience.