Martin Kouprie

co-owner & chef

Ask chef Martin Kouprie the secret of his culinary success and he’ll tell you that it’s a love of fresh food.  In fact, fresh ingredients get Martin Kouprie’s creative juices running high. “One of the most amazing recent experiences I’ve had was harvesting U10-sized Diver’s Scallops with my own hands in the icy waters off Newfoundland,” explains Kouprie.  “I couldn’t resist sampling a few of those gorgeous fresh scallops right from their shells when I got back on the boat. Once you know what truly fresh food tastes like, you’ll never compromise your cooking by using less than perfect ingredients.”

This passion for freshness and an understanding of the science of cooking allow Martin Kouprie to create menus and recipes that celebrate the magnificence of each season’s harvest. Although local ingredients hold centre stage in Kouprie’s cooking, he also views his pantry through the lens of the latest food trends. As a result Kouprie’s fans come to Pangaea often to enjoy his ingredient driven cooking which is simultaneously regional, modern and sophisticated.

Kouprie works hard to balance global food trends with his keen responsibility to the environment. To that end he has been an active participant in programs such as Oceanwise, an initiative spear headed by the Vancouver Aquarium, which works with fish and seafood suppliers to ensure that chefs can access ingredients that not only taste delicious but fish and seafood products that have a negligible impact on ocean ecosystems. Likewise, Kouprie works closely with local farmers, foragers and ingredient suppliers so that he can create cuisine form every food group that has regional, sustainable roots.

This sense of community is a core value for not just Martin Kouprie, the man, but for Pangaea, the business. To that end he and his staff participate in numerous charitable events each year including large fundraisers such as Toronto Taste and Empty Bowls as well as smaller grass roots events. “It’s important to give back to the community,” says Kouprie. “Pangaea has been a successful business because Torontonians have supported us. We’re proud to be able to lend a hand to help others enjoy better health and  greater success, too.”

After more than twelve years as the executive chef and co-owner of Toronto’s acclaimed Pangaea Restaurant, Martin Kouprie has proven himself to be more than just a gifted cook. He’s a savvy business man, a mentor and even a pretty good dishwasher. “When you own a restaurant, even a large one like Pangaea, you don’t stay on the top ten lists without being willing and able to do every job no matter how menial,” notes Kouprie. “I’ve learned to read a spread sheet, a cookbook or a contract with equal understanding and I’m certainly not afraid to take out the trash or rewire an ice cream machine so that we can make sorbet for a tasting menu.”

The high standards and culinary imagination Kouprie uses to set Pangaea’s menus have won him accolades from near and far: Gourmet Magazine, Toronto Life, The Financial Post, and The New York Times have all given Pangaea Restaurant their seals of approval.  Pangaea has also received the Wine Spectator Magazine Award of Excellence for many years and continues to grow its wine list. In April 2009 Martin Kouprie and his partner Peter Geary will be presented with the Ontario Hostelry Institute’s Gold Award as Independent Restaurateurs of the year.

In his personal life Martin Kouprie is an accomplished carpenter and a specialty scuba diver. He is the father of a son, Oliver and is married to cookbook author and food concept architect Dana McCauley.