Chef Mathieu Cloutier’s living local pantry

There’s a quiet revolution simmering at Choux Gras, the Fairmont Tremblant’s flagship restaurant, and at the heart of it is Chef Mathieu Cloutier. With a pedigree that spans Michelin-starred kitchens, and a Gold Medal Plates win for Best Chef in Canada, Cloutier brings gravitas, but no ego.

Raised to believe that little of value lay beyond Québec, Cloutier’s devotion to local was, ironically, forged oceans away at Australia’s legendary Mietta’s Queenscliff Hotel. Asked to fetch the calamari, he checked the freezer. Nothing. Then the fridge. Still nothing. Finally, he was handed a bucket and realized the calamari were in the ocean.

“Freezer, fridge, ocean,” he says. “I’ll never forget that.”

A living local pantry has shaped his philosophy ever since. The new Choux Gras menu, a celebration of the region’s bounty, is proof: halibut from Gaspé, foie gras from Marieville, duck from Saint- Canut.

Recently, I experienced this vision firsthand. First, oysters with seared foie gras and a spicy maple syrup finish—an elemental, decadent bite. Next, chilled foie gras with berry coulis, a luxurious mole-style dark chocolate and coffee sauce, studded with roasted hazelnuts. Then a perfectly crisped fillet of halibut with salmon caviar atop velvety beurre blanc. Finally, a duck filet, flawlessly seared and blushing pink, served with a potato mille-feuille and fresh asparagus.

His menu is exciting, grounded, and deeply collaborative. Cloutier didn’t overhaul the kitchen: he elevated what was already thriving.

Exclusively for locals, Choux Gras now offers a four-course Discovery Menu every Sunday and Monday evening in August for just $62. It’s an opportunity to experience cuisine of this calibre at an unrepeatable price.

And if that weren’t enough: oysters daily at the Axe Lounge from 4 p.m. and Thursday jazz happy hour on the Terrasse Après-Ski.

Tremblant is famous for its slopes, but this summer, Cloutier is carving bold new lines on the food scene.