LeCHOP 2016

Montreal is an eclectic place where gastronomy is part of the DNA of the city. Each season features a culinary event, from the food trucks in the summer months to the Montreal à Table in fall.

This winter, as the temperature drops, Ville-Marie Collection drops the prices on exclusive tables d’hôte created by the executive chefs at five of their restaurants including, L’Atelier d’Argentine (down town and in the Vieux-Port), Decca 77, Newtown, and Wienstein & Gavino’s.

What’s Different This Year? This year marks the fourth edition of LeCHOP.

The event will run from January 4th to February 11th, 2016, where 3 course menus of 3 entrees, 4 mains (3 constants and 1 rotating LeCHOP special edition dish), and 3 desserts will be served at each restaurant, for an exclusive price of 25$. This year, the highlight of the event is a competition between four chefs, hosted by former Olympic champion and co-host of Breakfast Television, Alexandre Despatie.

Each week, chefs Natalia Machado, Jean-Sébastien Giguère, Giuseppe Sacchetti and Paulo Fraga will receive a secret ingredient that they must use to build a main dish that will be featured in each of their restaurants that week. The show can be watched online, at www.lechopMTL.com, every Monday, starting January 4th, 2016. Viewers run the chance of winning a 3-course meal at one of the participant restaurants, simply by voting for their favourite dish.

What you need to know:

4 Chefs, 5 Restaurants, 6 Weeks !
Fans vote for their favourite dish each week for a chance to win a free LeCHOP meal for two !
Real-time voting updates on lechopmtl.com ! Featuring a 6-episode web series chronicling the chef competition !
Chefs: Natalia Machado, Giuseppe Sacchetti, Jean-Sébastien Giguère and Paulo Fraga !
Host: Alexandre Despatie !
Book reservations at lechopmtl.com

Meet the Chefs

Natalia Machado and L’Atelier d’Argentine:

Natalia grew up in Buenos Aires, with a mother that created unique dishes and who inspired her to become a determined chef in an industry led by men. Through spending summers in Patagonia, and through attending culinary school in Buenos Aires, Natalia learnt to combine the sophistication of the city’s cuisine with the freshness of coastal produce. Her next destination was New York City, a mecca for up-and-coming chefs. In 2013, Natalia joined L’Atelier d’Argentin in Montréal, as a way for her to bring authentic Argentinian food to Montrealers. Natalia is also a winner of the Food Network’s Chopped and Sweet Genius.

She describes her cuisine as Sophisticated Argentinian. Think bread-wrapped Argentinian sausage, classic chimichurri, grapefruit salsa and empanadas saltenas.

Jean-Sébastien Giguère and Decca 77:

Inspired by the aromas of his dad’s kitchen, chef Jean-Sébastien started off his culinary journey at the age of 15. In the spring of 2005, young Jean-Sébastien joined the famous Toqué!, ascending to the role of kitchen chef in 2012, under the supervision of Normand Laprise. In 2013, Jean-Sébastien joined Decca 77 as an executive chef with the opportunity to run his own kitchen.

How does he describe his cuisine? Simple, local and in the season. Think Charlevoix lamb, Quebec halibut, wild mushrooms, and oysters flavoured with Île d’Orléans strawberries

Giuseppe Sacchetti and Newtown:

Giuseppe is a Montreal-based chef who has strong ties to his Italian heritage. Giuseppe, or Joe, as his friends call him, started cooking as a way to bring his loved ones together. He pursued his culinary studies at The Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec, and went on to work in well-known kitchens such as the ones at Cavalli, Queue de Cheval, Time Supper Club and La Coupole.

Joe has also competed on Chopped in November, 2014. Although formally trained in classic French cuisine, Joe’s passion lies with Italian food, and, as a former chef of Wienstein& Gavino’s, he provides Montrealers with fresh homemade pasta, meat ragus, delicious risottos, and true Italian Osso Bucco.

Paulo Fraga and Wienstein & Gavino’s:

Paulo started cooking as a child after watching Julia Child and other famous chefs cooking on PBS. Paulo started cooking professionally at a very young age, and never looked back. He has owned and operated two very successful restaurants in Montreal and abroad. Paulo’s kitchen is a very loud, fast, hot, crazy, dangerous and organized place.