Can one chef light up the restaurant scene of an entire country? Robert Feenie, chef/owner of Lumière in Vancouver, British Columbia, seems to have that power. "This is cooking as good as it gets in our fair country," beamed Joanne Kates, the restaurant critic of Canada's national newspaper, The Globe and Mail. With the aid of his chef de cuisine, Marc Choquette, and his pastry chef, Rhonda Viani, Feenie serves elegant, refined French cooking with subtle Asian accents in a casual but sophisticated environment that is a beacon for food lovers everywhere.

Feenie is a native of Burnaby, British Columbia, a suburb of Vancouver. He trained at the Dubrulle French Culinary School in Vancouver and worked at some of the area's best restaurants, including Rim Rock Café and Oyster Bar in Whistler, British Columbia, and Le Crocodile in Vancouver. It was from there that Feenie left to discover France, working first with Emile Jung at Au Crocodile, and then with Antoine Westermann at Buerehiesel, both Michelin three-star restaurants in Strasbourg. Upon his return to Canada, Feenie partnered with Ken Wai to open Lumière in 1995.

"Who would think tuna tartare could taste so new and refreshing, and a crab ravioli, another potential yawn, so haunting and spicy?" asked Anya von Bremzen, Travel & Leisure's global galloping gourmet, glowing about Lumière. She was not the only one to shine the international spotlight on Robert Feenie. Then New York Times restaurant critic Ruth Reichl had her own illuminating experience. "Feenie blends flavors with such a sure hand he makes you eager to keep eating," she wrote. Last year Lumière was selected by Gourmet readers as the number one restaurant in Vancouver. And for proof of the restaurant's local appeal, consider that Lumière has topped Vancouver Magazine's list of the Best Restaurants in Vancouver for three years running. Perhaps André LaRivière of Foodservice and Hospitality answers the question at hand most directly. Lumière, he wrote, "brightens the national and international culinary scene."

Join us for Feenie's debut solo at the Beard House. Sunglasses optional.