Chartier has a new executive chef, and she’s preparing to launch her first menu with the beloved Beaumont establishment in April. But Chartier (named Edify‘s Best Brunch in 2022) die-hards need not worry — the French Onion Soup, for one, isn’t going anywhere.
“And the poutine will always be there,” adds Crystal Higgins, who was named executive chef in January 2026. She kicked off her work at the restaurant with a locally themed Valentine’s Day menu — which will inform her new creations for the spring menu.
As she steps into the executive chef shoes, she’s looking forward to elevating the offerings. While Chartier’s menu skews French-Canadian, with dishes like the Beaumont Smoked Meat Bagel and Second Only to Mémères Tourtière, Higgins is leaning into French cuisine.
“I want to bring it back to more classic stuff. Julia Child wasn’t awesome because she tried to reinvent something that was already great, right? It was, ‘let’s just do it and do it right,’” Higgins says. “Let’s give (the menu) more vegetables, because the French know how to cook vegetables very, very well.”
Also coming to the refreshed menu? Steak, potatoes — not just in the form of fries — and an elevated burger. What isn’t new is a continued focus on freshness and sourcing great ingredients from local suppliers. What excited her most was Chartier’s commitment to the community, and the community’s support of the restaurant when they announced their closure in 2023, bringing it back from the brink of shuttering.
Although she traces her love of cooking back to childhood, where she was the family cook from the age of 10, Higgins didn’t begin her culinary career until her 30s. Following a career in collections, then working in customer service while raising her kids, it was her father-in-law who encouraged her to follow her natural talent for cooking.
“On my 35th birthday, I enrolled in the culinary arts program at NAIT, and everything just grew from there,” Higgins says. “The minute I walked into the NAIT hallways, I knew I was home.”
Higgins comes to the job after working as sous-chef at the Royal Glenora Club, and as much as she loved that role, she’s excited to step into a new environment with the Chartier team, including the owners, with whom she immediately clicked. Their slogan of “food is love” resonated with her own cooking ethos.
“Food is the end-all be-all of human connection. Right?” Higgins says. “It’s getting around that table, enjoying that, nourishing someone. I’ve always said if I’m cooking something for you, this is my love language. This is me showing you that I love you and I want you to be well.”
Chartier
Centre Ville | 5012 50 Street Unit 102, Beaumont | dinechartier.com
