Chef Margaux Herder opens Chez Céline, Vancouver's acclaimed French spot

Margaux Herder carries herself with the quiet confidence of someone who knows exactly what she's doing in the kitchen. That certainty was evident the moment we sat at a picnic table beside Chez Céline on Fraser Street in the heart of the Fraserhood, where she and her partners have built one of Vancouver's most acclaimed restaurants.

Since opening, Chez Céline has earned recognition in the Michelin Guide, was named Best French Restaurant by Vancouver Magazine, landed on Canada's 100 Best Restaurants list, and was also recognized among Canada's Best New Restaurants. The food feels both refined and approachable—a warmth that owes as much to Montreal's great neighbourhood restaurants as it does to classical French technique.

Herder was born in California but moved to B.C. as a child when her family relocated to Keremeos to start a small family winery in the South Okanagan. Winemakers and chefs regularly passed through the family home, and food became part of everyday life. "My parents were like, 'Hey Margaux, we're running a business, just us, so you can cook dinner every day,'" she recalls with a laugh. That passion eventually led her to the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts in Vancouver, where she worked nights at Cactus Club—a restaurant she had grown up visiting whenever her family came to the city.

By 21, she was a sous chef. The position offered stability and a clear path forward, but it wasn't enough for Herder. "I always wanted to do fine dining," she says. "I wanted to grow as a chef." That ambition led her to St. Lawrence, where she spent years working alongside chef Jean-Christophe Poirier, refining her technique and learning what separates good cooking from great cooking. Poirier became more than a mentor—Herder speaks about him with enormous respect, not only as a chef but as someone who taught her to think critically about flavour, balance, and why certain dishes resonate while others fall flat.

While Herder had always been drawn to French cuisine, it wasn't until her years at St. Lawrence and subsequent trips to Montreal that she discovered the kind of food she wanted to cook. Restaurants like Joe Beef, Mon Lapin, and L'Express left a lasting impression. "I was like, 'Oh my God, this is amazing. This is what I want to eat and how I want to cook,'" she says.

What resonated wasn't elaborate technique or culinary theatre. It was the confidence of classic dishes executed exceptionally well. "Simple is usually better," Herder says. "If the classic is better than the reinterpretation, then keep it classic." That philosophy can be felt throughout Chez Céline—a neighbourhood restaurant that knows exactly what it is.