Martin Picard has been a professional chef since the 1990s. Although he has worked with renowned chefs in several different countries, most of his culinary experience draws from working in Montréal.
He was a member of the culinary team that opened Montréal’s internationally acclaimed restaurant Toqué. Furthermore, his connection with Italian cuisine expert Elena Faita introduced him to Italian conviviality. This was a determining factor in the creation of his restaurant. The family spirit which characterizes the Italian traditional kitchen largely influenced the esthetics and character of Au Pied de Cochon.
At the beginning of his career, Martin Picard earned distinction for his mastery of Southern French cuisine. At Au Pied de Cochon, he uses traditional French cooking as a base and adds his own flare from his years of experience to make it unique. The result, a gastronomical transformation of several dishes resulting from the popular tradition – most notably the poutine foie gras and the creation of completely original dishes, such as le pied de cochon au foie gras (pig’s feet with foie gras) or Chinese stag pâté.
Since its opening in November 2001, Au Pied de Cochon hasn't stopped evolving nor accumulating awards and honors. Non-conformist and bit of a rebel at heart, Martin Picard now has a platform through which he can express his views on cuisine and the world of gastronomy in general. For him, eating well has nothing to do with decorum. The simple pleasure of eating itself is the key. The absence of tablecloths is perhaps the most obvious example of choosing quality on the plate over what’s placed under the plate.
In 2007, Martin wrote and published his first cookbook entitled Au Pied de Cochon: The Album. A collaborative effort with employees from his restaurant, The Album is no ordinary cookbook: it is the story of a culinary adventure, and an homage to creative epicureans everywhere. An instant hit, the book sold out on its first run. Moreover, in April of 2007,the Album received recognition at the annual IACP conference, winning the Best Design prize at the IACP Cook Book Awards.
« When you go to a restaurant to eat salad, you have a problem » – Martin Picard
The raison d'être of Au Pied de Cochon is to delight its customers, as much through its exquisite food as through its friendly atmosphere. When it is a question of pure pleasure, one would have a hard time convincing us that the feeling of fresh vegetables cracking in your mouth, as good as it may be, is as pleasurable or as intense as a piece of meat, cooked perfectly, especially at the moment it releases its fat and its juices, filling the body with warmth an instantaneous feeling of well being. One thus goes to Au pied de cochon for the comforting pleasures of a meat-plentiful and generous kitchen, terroire inspired. Keep in mind that Martin Picard is a larger-than-life character, for whom eating well means eating a lot, and drinking well means drinking a lot.
A cuisine that adjusts to the seasons
The restaurant Au Pied de Cochon has made a name for itself with its comfort food and meat-bountiful cuisine, its generous portions, slow-cooked dishes, and extensive use of foie gras. This is a cuisine that warms the bitter cold of our winters and fits the image of our woodsmen ancestors like a glove.
Many people wonder what to order during the warm summer months, preferring to eat something lighter than a dish of poutine foie gras followed by a pork râgout. Like the changing temperatures of the seasons, the kitchen at Au Pied de Cochon offers a variety of seasonal fare. Without giving up the pillars of the meat repertoire that characterizes the restaurant, Martin Picard’s estival cuisine includes a large number of fish and seafood dishes.
Each year, a team of chefs visit the Gaspésie and Isle-de-la-Madeleine regions to meet with local fishermen in order to convince them to send biweekly, by plane their best catches. It is thus not rare to find on one’s plate a fish which, the day before, reveled in the joys of the open sea.
Several terrariums and aquariums laid out in the dining room also transform the decoration of the restaurant. Filled of crabs, giant shrimp and lobster, they confirm that recipes using marine animal-life take center-stage at the restaurant for a few months.
It is also in summer that the most superb dishes are offered. The various seafood platters on the menu are like baroque sculptures which seduce the eye as much as the belly. They come in various formats and the largest of them, which involves 3 courses, can feed 3 to 4 people. Au Pied de Cochon is the only restaurant in Québec offering such menu choices, made up almost exclusively of products coming from the gulf of the St-Laurent. These dishes are inspired by French brasseries of the coastal cities of the Atlantic.
It is thus necessary to reject the idea that Au Pied de Cochon is a winter restaurant and come pay a visit in the summer.