Dinner with Chef Connie DeSousa (Charcut) & Chef Renee Lavallee (The Feisty Chef)

This dinner is inspired by the film Brasserie Romantique.

Generous wine pairings with every course, taxes and gratuities included.

Connie DeSousa

Dubbed the Primal Ballerina – for her years of formal dance training juxtaposed with her meat-centric culinary mastery – Connie DeSousa is one of Canada’s Top Chefs having starred as a finalist in the Food Network culinary competition and a Tourism Calgary Culinary Ambassador. Known for stand-out butchery skills, she can debone a pig’s head in record time. Far from gratuitous, Connie and her Calgary restaurant, CHARCUT, are true to timeless honoured culinary techniques, sustainability and walking the “toe-to-tail” talk. In a “back-to-basics style” she expertly prepares authentic, regional food at great value and to high critical acclaim.

Connie obtained Le Cordon Bleu Paris Certification and graduated on the Dean’s List with honours from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology’s culinary program. She competed with the Alberta Culinary Team at the World Culinary Olympics in Erfurt Germany, and worked in Koln, Germany at Taku Restaurant under Chef Sven Feldman. In 2005, Connie opened the Mobil 5-Star St. Regis Hotel, San Francisco. While working in the United States, Connie was awarded many distinctions, and was given the opportunity to train at many award-winning restaurants, including Jean Georges in New York City, and Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California. Connie was recognized nationally as Canada’s 2013 Outstanding Chef in the GE Monogram-Terroir Awards and received the 2013 Vacay.ca award for Top Female Chef in the country.

Renee Lavallée

Born and raised in Shawville, Quebec, Renée Lavallée left home at an early age in hopes of becoming a lawyer, but after “politely” being asked to leave the university she was attending, her parents gave her a choice: find a new school and buckle down or get a job. She promptly applied to George Brown College in Toronto and decided to give cooking a shot. After twenty crazy years in the business, including many stints in restaurants around the world, Renée has called Nova Scotia home for the past ten years.

Since stepping away from restaurant kitchens over four years ago, Renée has rediscovered her passion for cooking. More importantly, she has rediscovered her love for sharing this passion. Renée currently divides her time between her popular communal dinners and cooking classes at Two if by Sea Café, managing her seasonal waterfront hotspot, The Shack Oyster Bar, and running the show at her newest venture, The Canteen (Dartmouth). With years of experience under her belt, Renee has built a successful consulting business under The Feisty Chef brand, working for a variety of clients in both the public and private sectors. Renée’s ability to not only cook, but to confidently communicate with consumers and media in both French and English has led to numerous contracts locally and abroad.