Cassandre Osterroth and Pierre-Olivier Pelletier opened the Kebec Club Privé restaurant in November 2019.
By Noémie Berne
Cassandre Osterroth, originally from France, and Pierre-Olivier Pelletier, who grew up in Bas-Saint-Laurent, met at the Laurie Raphaël restaurant. For 4 and a half years, they have been chefs and co-owners of their own restaurant, Kebec Club Privé. We met the chefs in their establishment located at 767 Rue Saint-Joseph Est, in the Saint-Roch district.
Different journeys, same destiny
What dish or food immediately takes you back to your childhood?
Cassandra Osterroth: They are mostly memories linked to my grandmothers, like the potato pancakes of one and the spaghetti Bolognese of the other. These are specialties that she still cooks for me today when I visit them and it’s still just as good.
Pierre-Olivier Pelletier: I would say chicken noodle soup. It also reminds me of my grandmother. Every time we went to her house, we ate this soup before the meal.
What sparked your interest in cooking?
CO: For me it’s the love of good food. No one in my family comes from this background, but I was quickly educated to eat well. From a very young age, I was taken to nice restaurants and I think that’s how I found an interest in cooking.
POP: I think it was during a home economics class in high school. This course unfortunately no longer exists today, but it taught us the things of life; sewing, accounting, cooking, etc. I was very picky when I was young, but after making chili con carne, I finally found it really good. It wasn’t at that moment that I fell in love with the profession of cooking, but I discovered that it could be good when it was done well.
What training have you done?
CO: I did a technological baccalaureate in France, which combines all aspects of the hotel and catering industry. Then I did a BTS option in table arts, during which I participated in the France-Québec culinary competition which allowed me to come and work at Laurie Raphaël.
POP: For my part, I first did a DEP in cooking in Rivière-du-Loup, followed by a specialization in market cooking. That’s really when the passion was born, when I knew I wanted to do this with my life. A little later, I took a course in business launch. As soon as I started actually working, I knew that one day I would open my own restaurant.
What restaurants have you worked in?
POP : Among my longest experiences, there is La Table du Chef, in Sherbrooke and the Laurie Raphaël, where I met Cassandre. For shorter periods, I also worked at La Planque, Panache and Auguste, in Sherbrooke, with Danny St-Pierre. I also opened Entourage sur-le-Lac, in Lac-Beauport, as executive chef.
CO : Before arriving in Quebec, I did several internships in Luxembourg and France. Among others, I worked at the El Théatris restaurant in Metz and at La Barbacane, a gourmet restaurant located in the medieval city of Carcassonne. The year spent at Laurie Raphaël was my first big experience outside of school.
When did you open the Kebec Club Privé restaurant?
CO: When I arrived at Laurie Raphaël, I was only supposed to stay three months in Quebec. Finally, I met Pierre-Olivier and I never left. We worked together for about a year at Laurie Raphaël before opening Kebec Club Privé in November 2019.
Get out of town
Any restaurant recommendations in Quebec?
Both : The Kundah Hotel is the first that comes to mind. We could go there every week! Le Clocher Penché too, especially since Joël Pelletier is its chef, is really excellent. Otherwise there is the Torii Izakaya, our neighbors. We go there quite often and it’s always good.
In reality, we prefer to eat in the region. Often, the setting corresponds more to the values of the restaurant, which is difficult to have in the city in general.
Any plans for the future?
CO: Precisely, our plan would be to get out of the city. We would like to open a gourmet restaurant in the region, with a unique table or not, we don’t know yet. Later, we would also like to have rooms associated with the restaurant.
POP: These would be rooms or small independent chalets. Our restaurant concept, here in Quebec, is very friendly. This spirit focused on “we welcome you to our home” would work even better in the region, with a more interesting setting and view, even if things are going very well currently.
We also have a smaller, short-term project, which is to celebrate the restaurant’s 5th anniversary. We can’t yet say exactly what we are going to do, but we are currently working on the project and we hope to be able to announce the event during the summer.
To be continued…
In a future article, Cassandre Osterroth & Pierre-Olivier Pelletier we will talk about their cuisine and the reasons which motivated them to choose the unique table concept.
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