Icon Award 2025, sponsored by Lavazza

Normand Laprise

Montreal

Quebecois fine-dining innovator

Seasonality, commitment to local produce (both farmed and wild) and a menu grounded in French tradition but unafraid to incorporate flavours from Asia, Mexico and more: from a 2025 perspective, these approaches may not seem revolutionary. But 30 years ago, when Normand Laprise opened Toqué!, this local-meets-global outlook represented a major break from the norm of Quebecois fine dining, where traditional French restaurants were still the order of the day, and frozen and imported products were still commonly found on menus.

Laprise's childhood in rural Quebec – where relying on seasonal ingredients and canning and preserving summer harvests for use throughout the long cold winters were not a trend, but a fact of life – indelibly shaped his professional philosophy. Disappointed by the reliance on frozen and imported ingredients at the culinary school in Quebec City where he trained and in his subsequent postings, it was at Montreal's Citrus where he first introduced diners to his ingredient-forward approach.

In June 1993, Laprise opened Toqué! along with Christine Lamarche. The restaurant quickly outgrew its first location and in 2004 it moved to the Quartier International, where it remains to this day. Here, there was ample space to create a kitchen that could accommodate the creative experimentation undertaken by Laprise and his team. The result was a fresh take on Quebecois cuisine, utilising the best of the region's wild fish, seafood and locally grown ingredients thanks to careful cultivation of relationships with the region's producers. From 2010 to 2024, Laprise also ran Brasserie T!, a French-inspired gastropub.

Laprise's success at Toqué! has earned him widespread recognition: he was made a Relais & Châteaux Grand Chef in 2006 and in 2015, he was named a named a Member of the Order of Canada for his promotion of Quebec's cuisine. Toqué!'s influence continues to be felt in Canadian gastronomy today, since many of the country's most notable chefs passed through its doors, including Cheryl Johnson and Charles-Antoine Crête of Montréal Plaza, Frédéric Morin of Joe Beef Group and Jessica Noël of Mon Lapin.

Now his ongoing legacy is further cemented by receiving the Icon Award, sponsored by Lavazza, as part of North America's 50 Best Restaurants. Chapeau, chef.

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