Key Takeaways
- Auberge Saint‑Mathieu, a 24‑seat restaurant in Saint‑Mathieu‑du‑Parc (Mauricie, QC), earned a Michelin star, a Michelin Green Star, and was named Canada’s 98th‑best restaurant in just a few days.
- Co‑owner Samy Benabed received the Lauriers de la gastronomie québécoise “Chef of the Year” award and Michelin’s “Most Promising Young Chef” honor.
- The accolades reflect teamwork: chef de cuisine Maxim Guillemette runs the kitchen, maître d’hôtel Étienne oversees front‑of‑house, and both mentor locally‑hired staff.
- The restaurant prioritizes sustainability, using whole ingredients across its fine‑dining menu and the bistro Le Comptoir, led by chef Jana Larose.
- Strong relationships with local producers turn suppliers into friends, reinforcing a locavore ethos already common in Quebec cuisine.
- Despite rapid fame, Benabed stresses that the awards belong to the entire team and view recognition as motivation to continue evolving, not as a finish line.
- The establishment remains true to its rural roots, avoiding big‑city fine‑dining pretensions while refining a culinary language tied to Quebec’s landscape and seasons.
- Benabed’s personal ambition is to stay authentic, resist changing to please expectations, and keep the restaurant’s values at the forefront of its growth.
A Humble Village Restaurant Meteoric Rise
Auberge Saint‑Mathieu, nestled in a village of roughly 1,500 inhabitants in Saint‑Mathieu‑du‑Parc, Mauricie, has quickly become one of Quebec’s most compelling culinary destinations. In just a few days this month, the modest 24‑seat establishment garnered a Michelin star, a Michelin Green Star, and a placement at number 98 on Canada’s 100 best restaurants list. Simultaneously, co‑owner Samy Benabed was honored as Chef of the Year at the Lauriers de la gastronomie québécoise and named Michelin’s most promising young chef. The rapid succession of accolades left Benabed incredulous, describing the feeling as “surreal” amid a flood of reservation requests and nonstop phone calls.
Recognition as a Team Achievement
Despite the personal honors, Benabed is quick to deflect credit onto his colleagues. He emphasizes that the awards are the product of collective effort: “Without the incredible team we have at the Auberge, none of this would be possible.” This sentiment underscores a core philosophy at the restaurant—success is not attributed to a single star chef but to a cohesive unit where each member’s contribution is valued. The recognition, therefore, serves as validation of the collaborative culture that Benabed and his partners have nurtured since the establishment opened three years ago.
Kitchen Leadership and Daily Operations
At the helm of the kitchen is chef de cuisine Maxim Guillemette, whom Benabed describes as the true day‑to‑day leader. Guillemette directs the brigade, cooks with precision, guides junior staff, and is unafraid to get her hands dirty. In the dining room, Étienne—Benabed’s associate and maître d’hôtel—maintains high hospitality standards while training a new generation of local front‑of‑house staff. Their complementary roles ensure that both the culinary and service sides of the restaurant operate with consistency and excellence, creating the seamless experience that impressed Michelin inspectors.
Cultivating Local Talent in a Rural Setting
Finding skilled servers, sommeliers, and front‑of‑house professionals in a sparsely populated region has proven more difficult than recruiting kitchen staff. To address this challenge, the Auberge has invested in homegrown talent, hiring young people from the village—some as young as 17 or 18—and training them from the ground up. Benabed speaks of these employees with visible pride, noting that they have become “top quality” and genuinely love their work. This investment not only fills staffing gaps but also strengthens the restaurant’s ties to the community, creating a virtuous loop of local employment and loyalty.
Sustainability Embodied by the Michelin Green Star
The Michelin Green Star, awarded for sustainable practices, holds particular significance for Auberge Saint‑Mathieu. Benabed points out that sourcing locally is already a norm across Quebec’s finest restaurants; the province’s culinary culture embraces a locavore mindset. What sets the Auberge apart is its creative, zero‑waste approach between two kitchens: the fine‑dining restaurant and the more casual bistro Le Comptoir, led by chef Jana Larose. Premium cuts of ingredients—such as the Arctic char from Saint‑Alexis‑des‑Monts—are reserved for the elegant menu, while trims, tails, and offcuts are transferred to the bistro, where Larose transforms them into fillings for fresh pasta. As Benabed puts it, “Nothing goes to waste.” This closed‑loop system maximizes ingredient utilization and reduces environmental impact.
Producer Relationships Rooted in Friendship
Central to the restaurant’s sustainability ethos is the relationships it cultivates with farmers, fishermen, and other producers. Benabed describes these connections as inherently human: “They become friends. We can talk about seeds. We can talk about the season.” Knowing the people behind the ingredients changes how they are treated in the kitchen, fostering respect and a deeper appreciation for the product’s journey from farm to table. These personal bonds also enable better forecasting, more flexible ordering, and a shared commitment to quality and ecological stewardship.
Staying True to Rural Identity
Auberge Saint‑Mathieu deliberately avoids imitating the polished, high‑gloss aesthetic of big‑city fine‑dining establishments. Instead, its identity is shaped by its surroundings: the forests, lakes, and agricultural richness of Mauricie, the intimate scale of the village, and the rhythms of a team that has had to build its own talent pipeline and service style. This authenticity resonates with diners seeking a genuine connection to place, and it has become a defining characteristic that differentiates the Auberge from more generic upscale venues.
Awards as Motivation, Not a Finish Line
The flurry of accolades has been energizing rather than intimidating for Benabed. He views the recognition not as an endpoint but as encouragement to keep pushing forward. “We’ll continue to do what we’re doing,” he affirmed, emphasizing a commitment to continual evolution while staying anchored in the restaurant’s core values. The youth of the establishment—only three years old—means there is ample room for growth, experimentation, and refinement, all guided by the principles that earned the Michelin stars in the first place.
Personal Vision: Authenticity Over Expectation
When asked what kind of chef he aspires to be after receiving the Michelin Young Chef Award, Benabed’s answer is both quiet and revealing. He wishes to remain close to his convictions, to avoid changing merely to please critics or chase fleeting trends, and to resist becoming someone else just because the spotlight burns brighter. This resolve to stay authentic signals that, regardless of future accolades, Auberge Saint‑Mathieu will continue to reflect the genuine spirit of its village, its producers, and its dedicated team—a formula that has already proven to be remarkably compelling.