LAURENT DAGENAIS' CULINARY JOURNEY

Having worked at Montreal’s Le Local and Araxi in Whistler, Dagenais’ history as a top-class chef proceeds him, and underpinning his playful and carefree exterior is a person who is passionate about cooking with seasonal, locally sourced ingredients. Launching his Tik-Tok account in 2021, the young chef has quickly accomplished a fervent following for his varied recipes that bridge the gap between traditional French cuisine and a modern, global attitude to cooking.

Sitting down with the internet sensation to celebrate the launch of the UrlfreezeShops x Salomon XT-6 “Dark Truffle”, UrlfreezeShops and Laurent Dagenais delve into his culinary history and the art of foraging.

Can you tell us a little about your background and cooking? What initially piqued your interest in cooking?

My background of cooking started off with culinary arts school, from there I started working in French bistros and on to fine dining for about 8 or 9 years. My passion for cooking started during school, as I was looking for what I wanted to do after college. I had two friends who were already working as chefs, so I thought it was a good idea to try something that was more hands on than sitting around in an office. Once I was in culinary school, I really developed my passion for cooking: the whole world of it, all the techniques and the ingredients, the produce. I became really invested, watching tv shows about cooking, reading books. I worked a little in FoH, before coming back to cooking through my videos, which is now my full time job!

Can you recall what your first experiences cooking were like?

I’m not really sure if I can even recall it! It was probably at home cooking barbecue, something like a pork tenderloin with some rice. Nothing fancy, but I thought it was fun to create something and serve it to your family and loved ones. I don’t even know if it was good, but that was pretty much the first time I started cooking.

Did you have any specific role models who guided you through the process of learning to cook?

I had two mentors who were my good friends who went to culinary school right after high-school - they were already really into cooking, talking about it and sharing the passion. It was very contagious. My mentor, David, who is the owner/chef of the restaurant Bar-St-Denis in Montreal, he’s a beast! He knows so much about cooking techniques and produce. He pretty much got me into enrolling in culinary school.

How has Montreal’s culinary scene influenced your own approach to cooking?

Montreal has definitely had a huge impact on my cooking style and the way I see food. We have so many talented chefs in Montreal and world renowned restaurants, such as Joe Beef, Au Pied du Cochon, and many more. When I was in culinary school, these chefs were my idols – I was looking up to them as the masters of their craft. Now I get to chat with these guys and have their respect, which is a huge thing for me. Montreal has a French background with a North American twist, so it’s a very unique style of cooking here. The cooking scene is unreal and, as seen on a bunch of shows with Anthony Bourdain, it’s one of his favourite cities in the world for cooking as there are so many great restaurants, as well as the French culture of living and enjoying life. Having a good time with good food and wine, just getting together with all of your friends and having a blast.

You launched your first cookbook last year – Always Hungry! – what is the theme of the book and what inspired its recipes?

I launched the first version in French, only for Quebec, last November. It’s coming out in English in September. The inspiration was creating a book that reflects my image – 20 recipes that exist already on my social media accounts and 15 new ones. It was pretty much dictated by whatever seasonal ingredients were available at the time of shooting – so salads, soups, vegetables, meat, fish, seafood, desert and cocktails. Everything is reflecting my vision of cooking. I like working with simple but good ingredients.

Having amassed monumental followings across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, are you focussing solely on building out your own approach to cooking beyond the traditional restaurant world?

I’m always going to stick to my style of cooking and focus on the videos; that’s the bread and butter of the whole operation. Now we have this big following we’ve got to find some ways to make this thing work long term. So that’s why I’m launching my merch brand in a few months, alongside the cook book and an olive oil that recently was released in collaboration with La Belle Excuse, as well as a hot sauce. Cooking-wise, I’m always going to stick to my style, and I don’t know what it is going to evolve into later, but it’s been two and a half years, so I'm just focussing on staying authentic to myself and putting the best food content out there that I can!

How has social media changed the landscape of cooking for you?

The good part about social media is that I get to do what I love, which is cooking, but I don’t have to deal with the crazy and stressful life of working in a restaurant, with the horrible working hours and the often-toxic environment. It’s meant that I can work with only the good part of it, and get a chance to travel and meet some amazing people – even coming to the UK to work on projects like the UrlfreezeShops x Salomon collaboration in the forest! It’s all fun!

Foraging for ingredients has become quite a significant pastime for many involved in the culinary arts and home-cooks alike, beyond the niche groups who have traditionally followed this approach – what appeals to you about foraging for ingredients? Why do you think it has become more popular in recent years?

Foraging has always been a big part of my cooking journey - it's interesting to be able to find your ingredients. Every year we go to find wild garlic and ramps in the Spring, then morel and chanterelle mushrooms, it’s fun to follow the seasons. It’s maybe become more popular as food has become a bit trendier throughout the past couple of years, but also through social media people can post their foraging finds and people want to do the same. Social media has definitely had a pretty big influence on the foraging trend.

What advice would you offer to someone who wanted to get involved in foraging but didn’t know where to start?

For me, the number one rule is to always pick only what you know. The good thing about mushrooms is that most mushrooms that are edible don’t really have any lookalikes, so there’s nothing that is close to a chanterelle or a morel. Buy some books about mushrooms or about foraging in general and study it. There are a few apps out there now that allow you to even scan your mushrooms so that you know what it is for sure. Get out there in the forest and get your eyes trained for the best places to look. Maybe go with someone who is already experienced in foraging to show you the basic tricks of it. It’s a really fun thing to do and everyone should get into it!