One of Toronto’s top restaurants has some fresh, new faces on hand.
Four Seasons Hotel Toronto has announced Nicholas Trosien as the new Chef de Cuisine of Café Boulud and d|bar by Chef Daniel Boulud. Since his appointment, Trosien has been working in collaboration with Chef Daniel Boulud and his culinary team to refresh the restaurant’s classic menu for spring. The new menu is available until June 21 from 12:00 to 2:30 p.m. for lunch and 5:30 to 10 p.m. for dinner service.
Trosien brings a creative touch, Four Seasons-style management and leadership chops, and culinary worldliness nurtured through assignments in Asia and the Middle East to his new position. A native of Livonia, Michigan, Trosien began working his way up the line at 15 years old, beforehoning his skills at Le Cordon Bleu Miami and going on to work for a famous James Beard award-winning chef in multiple restaurants.
As a young, talented chef in Florida, he caught the attention of both the Food & Beverage Director and Hotel Manager of Four Seasons Resort Palm Beach and soon after landed his first Four Seasons appointment there as a Sous Chef in 2012. A natural fit, Trosien has been with the company ever since, bringing his culinary skills to Singapore and Dubai before landing in Toronto.
Nicholas Trosien is the new Chef de Cuisine at Cafe Boulud in Toronto. PHOTO BY RYAN EMBERLEY
He’s the type of chef whose passion in the kitchen is both in the food and the people.
“My goal is to inspire and develop the team around me while continuously enhancing the menu and overall guest experience,” said Trosien. His new spring menu showcases the best of Canada’s seasonal produce with dishes such as a vegetarian Aubergine, vaduvan eggplant steak served with baby rainbow carrots, morel mushrooms and eggplant puree; St. Jacques, seared scallops with saffron potato, stinging nettles, English peas and duck prosciutto; and Carre d’Agneau, herb crusted lamb rack served with sunchoke, morel mushrooms, mint gel and a truffle lamb jus. The signature rotisserie that Café Boulud has built its reputation on remains integral to the restaurant, which will continue to serve its famous rotisserie chicken and duck for dinner.
I had a chance to chat with him briefly last month at a truly magnificent lunch put on by Trosien and Boulud himself. Trosien chatted about his Detroit roots and how much he’s enjoying being a little closer to home, while at the same time working with some as talented as Boulud, one of the world’s best-known chefs.
Steelhead trout at Cafe Boulud at the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto. JIM BYERS PHOTO
The lunch was truly remarkable, with beautifully presented servings of seared steelhead trout with cauliflower textures and citrus segments, rabbit, pate en croute, oysters, rotisserie chicken, chicken, hen of the woods mushrooms, frites (hey, Boulud is French, right?) and a remarkable chocolate dessert called Foret Noire with kirsch bavarian, manjari chocolate cremeux and Tahitian vanilla ice cream. Top to bottom, one of the best and most inventive meals I’ve had anywhere in the world, all matched nicely with great wines by Julie Garton, the new Wine Director at Four Seasons Hotel Toronto.
A native of Guelph, Garton found her home in hospitality working in restaurants as she traveled extensively around the world. Garton set down roots in Toronto as sommelier and manager of a popular gastropub in the heart of Yorkville, curating wine lists for all three of its sister pubs. Garton remains dedicated to her pursuit of wine knowledge, recently passing the gruelling Advanced Exam through the Court of Master Sommeliers in 2019. As she makes moves to expand the wine program at the Hotel and delight guests of Café Boulud and d|bar by Chef Daniel Boulud, she is also eager to complete the CMS Master Sommelier Exam, deemed one of the most challenging exams in the world.
Julie Garton is the new wine director at Cafe Boulud in Toronto. PHOTO BY RYAN EMBERLEY
Her seasonal selections to sip on when dining at Café Boulud include Gruner Veltiner ‘Senftenberger Piri’, Nigl, Kremstal with dry, tart flavours of grapefruit, green apple and white peach that pair well with spring produce such as asparagus and fiddleheads, as well as a Syrah Jamet, Collines Rhodaniennes, France with deep black fruit and violet floral aromas.
With the wine-savvy clientele at Four Seasons Hotel Toronto, Garton’s experience is that many guests know perfectly well the wines they enjoy. Her goal is to guide them towards a niche producer or something they haven’t experienced before.
“For me, the joy is in creating a great experience for everyone,” said Garton. “Enjoying a special bottle can really make a regular day feel like a special occasion.”
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