New Classics with Chef Rob Feenie
Hosted by Rob Feenie, the acclaimed executive chef and owner of Vancouver's Lumiere Restaurant,New Classics with Chef Rob Feenie is for serious foodies who want the best the West Coast has to offer. A wizard in combining flavours, Rob explains and illustrates his philosophy each week using only the freshest local ingredients and French cooking techniques to enhance the natural flavours of his dishes.
Robert Feenie is the owner and executive chef of Lumière Restaurant in Vancouver, Canada. Since it opened in 1995, the restaurant and Feenie have received accolades from notable food critics around the world. Lumière has been awarded Vancouver's Best Restaurant and Best French Restaurant awards for an unprecedented five years in a row. In November 2000, Lumière became the first freestanding restaurant in Canada to receive the Relais Gourmand designation, an honor reserved for those who specifically cater to the passions of the art of living, quality, refinement and a sense of the exceptional.
Feenie’s interest in cuisine started during a high school exchange program in Europe. At 20, he attended the Dubrulle International Culinary and Hotel Institute of Canada in Vancouver, the country’s leading culinary school. Following graduation he became Sous-chef in some of the region’s top restaurants, notably The Rim Rock Café and Oyster Bar in Whistler, British Columbia, and The Cherrystone Cove and Le Crocodile in Vancouver. While at Le Crocodile he began a series of work and educational travels, or stages, throughout Europe and North America. He started in Alsace with Chef Emile Jung at Au Crocodile and Antoine Westermann at Le Buerehiesel, both Michelin three-star rated restaurants. In North America he worked with America's top chef, Charlie Trotter, at Trotter's Restaurant in Chicago, and with Daniel Boulud at Restaurant Daniel and Jean-Georges Vongerichten at Jean-Georges in New York.
Both nationally and internationally Feenie has also developed a reputation as a chef-consultant. He opened Accolade Restaurant in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Toronto and undertook the monumental task of restructuring the dining experience at Le Régence in the Hotel Plaza Athenée in Manhattan, pulling the restaurant "right out of the doldrums" according to the New York Times.