No one understands the art of cooking in Temiskaming Shores, like local resident Vivianne Chartrand. Whether she’s cooking for her grandchildren and their friends, hosting intimate dinner parties or catering a backyard BBQ for 500 – everyone eats well.
Vivianne came by her culinary gift naturally – it was passed down from her parents – and her grandmother Mrs. Pilon, who ran a boarding house in Cobalt, Ontario and cooked for her family and the Silver miners who toiled nearby. Vivianne’s family ran a butcher shop catering to customers of all ethnicities. Her parents (family name Desjardins), also foodies, constantly surprised everyone with new dishes; 12 family members would sit around the table and every meal was an event. They all helped out at her father’s butcher shop where there were different butcher blocks for the various ethnic customers.

As a child, she dined on a wide variety of vegetables that today would be called trendy, like eggplant, Sauerkraut and cream cauliflower – English dishes, French mixed with German, Jewish and Asian.

Vivianne was born in Kirkland Lake, Ontario and moved to Temiskaming after her marriage to Roger Chartrand, who was born and raised there. They have traveled extensively – Europe, Caribbean and all over Canada. As travelers, they make of point trying new foods and gather special recipes for their collection.

Buying local

Vivianne shops all over the region – when buying ingredients for her culinary adventures – from Ville Marie, Quebec to Temiskaming Shores. An added bonus is that Vivianne and Roger own Chartrand Independent Grocer – Presidents Choice – in New Liskeard. At the store, they catered to the major cultures in the region; French, English, and Algonquin (moose, beaver, sturgeon, bannock bread).