Provence Marinaside is nestled along the waterfront in Vancouver's tony Yaletown neighbourhood. Specializing in traditional French cuisine with a West Coast flair, the restaurant's award-winning menu offers many items that executive chef Jean-Francis Quaglia grew up on. Hailing from Marseille, a port city in southern France, Jean-Francis combines the Mediterranean comfort food of his youth with professional experience that spans more than 30 years.
Jean-Fracis' culinary journey came naturally. His mother, Suzanne Quaglia, was a celebrated French chef who owned the famed Le Patalain restaurant in Marseille. “My mother was one of the very first female chefs in France,” he notes. “At eight, I started baking tarte au citron (lemon tart) using my mother’s recipe. Today, that same tart is one of my best-selling desserts at Provence Marinaside.”
After studying at École Hôteliere de Marseilles, Jean-Francis worked in several high-end kitchens, including the Michelin star Hotel Negresco, where he met his Canadian-born wife and fellow chef Alesssandra. The couple later moved to Canada together in 1992 and Jean-Francis joined Le Coq D’Or as a sous chef. It was only five years later that he pursued his dream and opened his own restaurant Provence Mediterranean Grill in Point Grey. By 2002, Jean-Francis opened his second location: Provence Marinaside. In November 2016, he sold the grill to a former employee and now focuses all of his attention on his Yaletown dining room.
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Provence Marinaside is celebrating Vancouver’s 10th annual Spot Prawn Festival throughout May and June with a special $60 three-course prix-fixe menu. To start, select a yellow tomato gazpacho soup with avocado and spot prawns, or tuck into grilled spot prawns with a sweet, smoky flavour. Entrées include a French-inspired spot prawn poéle, halibut paired with spot prawns, and a chef-recommended spot prawn duo: half are grilled, half are served Provençal style sautéed with butter and flambéed with brandy. The waterfront restaurant is also running an Instagram contest to give snap-happy diners the chance to win 8lbs of spot prawns.
View this Smart ListWhere Davie Street meets False Creek in Vancouver’s popular Yaletown neighborhood, Provence Marinaside is a great place to meet your friends or relax with family. Choose to sit at the bar or on the patio and watch the action in the marina or on the seawall. Provence Marinaside’s award winning food, warm ambiance and friendly service turns every meal into a special occasion. Chef/owner Jean-Francis Quaglia shares his love and philosophy of food in each dish that is created. Located on the water there is a focus on fresh local seafood including a raw oyster bar.
View this Smart ListThe French Mediterranean food at this Yaletown staple makes for a perfectly lovely date night. But the location really shines at brunch, when you can sit on the sunny patio overlooking False Creek. The basket of baked goods and cake-like waffles get any sunny Sunday off to a very pleasant start indeed.
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