Youssef Jbari brings Japanese precision and Moroccan warmth to Fairmont Pacific Rim's RawBar

Chef Youssef Jbari's first plate announces his entire philosophy: lightly torched king salmon, still beautifully raw through the centre, served with seasonal greens, toasted sesame seeds and a vibrant goma dressing. Tiny kale leaves add freshness; the acidity cuts cleanly through the fish's richness. It's restrained, elegant, balanced.

Every movement behind the counter at Fairmont Pacific Rim's Lobby Lounge & RawBar is deliberate. Every garnish seems to have a purpose. The precision feels unmistakably Japanese—but the cooking carries something else: quiet confidence hinting at years of experience, curiosity, and refinement.

Jbari grew up in southern Morocco, where food was never just about eating. "In Morocco, everything is family style," he says. "The food is always in the middle." His childhood revolved around slow-cooked tagines, vegetables from the garden, a pantry scented with cumin, paprika, preserved lemons and argan oil. Those flavours became part of his palate long before he stepped into a professional kitchen.

He studied sociology before taking a part-time job in a kitchen while attending university. Somewhere between prep lists and dinner service, he discovered a profession that changed his life. "I found cooking exciting," he says. "Everyone was shocked when I changed careers."

Over the following years, Jbari immersed himself in Thai, Italian and Japanese cuisine, steadily building a foundation that eventually led him to Nobu Marrakech, where he became executive chef. Along the way, one of his most influential mentors was Peruvian, challenging him to think differently about balance, acidity and flavour. Rather than treating every kitchen as a separate discipline, Jbari learned to build upon each experience. Japanese technique became his foundation, but every mentor and every chapter added something new.

After years leading one of Morocco's most celebrated Japanese restaurants, Jbari felt ready for a new challenge. "I wanted to discover North America," he says. "I wanted to go outside my comfort zone." That search brought him to Vancouver, where he found Canadian seafood—B.C. spot prawns, Dungeness crab, lobster—and a chance to continue evolving. No dish captures his cooking more completely than the lobster carpaccio, where technique and restraint finally meet the abundance of the coast.