It feels a bit like being invited to a family dinner. Today, I’m a guest at the table of Cassandre and Pierre-Olivier at Kebec Club Privé. The two chefs had the bold idea of transforming a former hair salon into their own culinary home.

Each evening, they welcome only 10 guests, all invited at exactly 7 p.m. It’s a suspended moment in time, designed like a festive gastronomic gathering where you may not know your table neighbors at first, but connections form quickly.

Awarded the special prize for Best Young Chef Duo and earning their first Michelin star in the guide’s very first year in Quebec, the experience is truly memorable. The chefs even invite guests to step into the kitchen or chat with them directly. The menu, priced around $170 (with a $105 wine pairing), evolves with the seasons.

My experience at Kebec Club Privé

It all begins seated in a lounge-like setting, with a house cocktail aperitif and very fresh bites.

Sturgeon caviar paired with salmon in a lightly smoked crème fraîche opens the evening with elegance. Then comes a mini choux filled with L’Origine de Charlevoix cheese, hiding a tangy beet ketchup that cuts through the richness with a subtle acidity.

At that point, all guests are invited to sit at a long, single table. Candles flicker at the center, fir branches hang overhead, and I catch myself thinking of a Quebec Christmas dinner. The wines (mostly from Quebec) start flowing. And so do the dishes.

First, a baby halibut, precisely cut into tagliatelle-like strands, bathed in a leek broth. The freshness of the fish, lifted by a hint of chili, gently awakens the palate.

Then come the scallops, served with a house-made XO sauce crafted from dried scallops. A refined Hong Kong–inspired touch with deep umami. Between the briny seaweed purée and the subtle sweetness of sweet potato hidden in a crisp element, every component interacts in the pursuit of the perfect bite.

The same feeling carries into the mushroom velouté, remarkably deep thanks to miso. A fully plant-based dish where some mushrooms are lightly fried (not crispy, to preserve their flavor), while others are butter-cooked, creating a play on textures and temperatures with fresh herb shoots. It’s the kind of dish that lingers in your memory.

Then comes the most technical dish of the evening: a white monochrome. A trompe-l’œil celeriac ravioli filled with a very milky ricotta and sunflower seeds, with a runny egg yolk at its center, all set on a lightly tangy milk-based sauce. The dish clearly shows the chefs’ desire to challenge themselves, although the firmness of the celeriac ravioli makes it difficult, in my opinion, to cut cleanly like pasta without the filling pushing out.

Next, the chefs present a perfect cube of brioche, prepared like French toast and filled with lobster roe, accompanied by spot prawns and topped with a bisque emulsion. A deceptively simple dish, almost as if the shrimp were delicately placed on a pedestal.

The final savory course is a meltingly tender Arctic char, served with a trout roe sauce and braised cabbage enhanced with wasabi. The wasabi, grown in abandoned Quebec mines, adds a gentle kick. A fascinating balance between earthy and iodized flavors, and my third favorite dish of the evening.

For dessert, the journey through Quebec continues with a reinterpretation of boreal plants, a refreshing ice cream made with sweetfern and parsnip, dotted with thin slices of pear. Then comes a dessert of puffed rice, meadowsweet, and birch, accompanied by a delicate apple tartlet and a sea buckthorn financier on the side.