Ottawa born and raised, Chef Stephen La Salle brings an ingredient-driven and thoughtful approach to on-trend, tasty and inviting culinary experiences.

Chef Stephen La Salle is an Ottawa native with a penchant for opening hotel dining destinations in Ottawa with thoughtful and bespoke expressions of cuisine. From a Canadian expression of modern British Gastropub and charcuterie bar at The Albion Rooms to contemporary (coast to coast to coast) Canadian cuisine at Feast & Revel to most recently classic French bistro with a National Capital lens at Cocotte Bistro, La Salle creates dialogue, sense of place and invitation in his cuisine and curated menus.

The Albion Rooms

2012 - 2016

At 25 La Salle was the opening chef of The Albion Rooms restaurant in the Novotel Ottawa hotel, creating a culinary destination with a Canadian take on gastropub and charcuterie bar cuisine. During his tenure of leading the Albion Rooms, La Salle participated in the 2014 Gold Medal Plates competition as the regional qualifier for the Canadian Culinary Championships, was a board member of local food advocacy group Savour Ottawa, co-founded the Bytown Chefs Collective, a charity driven chef’s group and garnered national press for The Albion Room’s bar and culinary offer.

Andaz Ottawa ByWard Market

Feast + Revel, Copper Spirits + Sights

2016 - 2021

Next, Chef La Salle would join Hyatt as Food and Beverage Director and Executive Chef of the new Andaz Ottawa hotel, opening that luxury lifestyle brand which included a rooftop nightlife destination, Copper Spirits & Sights, a contemporary Canadian restaurant, Feast + Revel along with banqueting operations. During this time, La Salle was chef of the Sky Lounge dining experience, a 150-foot-high suspended from a crane dining experience over 17 days to celebrate Canada’s 150th and became an advisory committee member for the Culinary and Baking program at Algonquin College.

Cocotte Bistro

The Metcalfe Hotel

2022 - 2023

After the pandemic, Stephen joined Gray Collection to reopen the Metcalfe Hotel as a 4 star property with new, well received French bistro, Cocotte.  Cocotte opened to quick fanfare for La Salle’s National Capital expression of French Bistro cuisine.

Building from concept to opening has been a passion for La Salle that goes beyond menu development and concept creation. Procurement, recruitment, retention, cost control, inventory management, human resources, P&L reporting, marketing, sales, guest relations and strong financial acumen are all tools in La Salle’s roster that have bolstered his demonstrations of an ingredient-forward cuisine with thoughtful roots, purposeful preparation and on-trend and tasty presentation and execution.