On the morning of October 28, 2023, a talented 25-year-old chef is passionately leading a culinary workshop at the Devour Festival in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. On the menu of the workshop, clam grater and molasses cake smell of Acadian cuisine. This thirteenth edition of the annual Annapolis Valley Food and Film Festival honors French gastronomy and its Quebec, Acadian and Cajun derivatives. The young chef proud of his Acadian cuisine is Shane Robicheau, son of Nadine and Scott Robicheau, owners of the famous seafood restaurant La cuisine Robicheau, in Saulnierville, along Baie Sainte-Marie, in the municipality of Clare.

Since opening his parents’ restaurant in Saulnierville in 2012, young Shane has been passionate about authentic, quality Acadian cuisine while working with them. His conviction has gradually strengthened. Yes, he will be a chef. In 2018, he graduated from the Kingstec campus of Nova Scotia Community College in Kentville, where he graduated with Chef Instructor Peter Dewar. He was then selected to Canada’s Culinary Team to compete internationally. Today, Shane offers his services as a private chef in his native region, along Baie Sainte-Marie.

However, Shane remains very attached to his parents’ La Cuisine Robicheau, where they still practice fine seafood cuisine brilliantly. On the restaurant’s menu is the traditional and unmissable Acadian Rappie Pie, the great specialty of southwestern Nova Scotia. The Robicheaus cook it by mixing chicken or clams with the shredded potatoes, all browned in the oven. It’s no coincidence that clam grating was featured in Shane’s culinary workshop at the Devour festival. The Acadians of Baie Sainte-Marie are very fond of the rich and tasty flesh of the large clam (called “paloune”) that lives buried in the sand of the intertidal zone (between high and low tides). It is mainly collected in the vicinity of the village of Grosses Coques which owes its name to it.

Entrepreneurial and generous

But Shane Robicheau has many other merits. Since 2020, as an ingenious entrepreneur, he has opened Le P’tit Robicheau, a food truck serving gourmet burgers and poutines, in Saulnierville. He also opened Cabane d’Horizon, two cozy beachfront AirBnBs built from shipping containers. In 2023, he inaugurated SeaRoots Dining, a brand new quality dining and music experience by the sea. To top it off, Shane is a citizen who is deeply committed to food security for the most vulnerable residents of his community as a volunteer. Still in 2023, he created a community refrigerator in Comeauville, to which he devotes about twenty hours a week, faithful to the motto “Take what you need, leave what you can.” His various commitments as an active volunteer have earned him the title of Volunteer of the Year 2024 by the Municipality of Clare. This is a great mark of recognition for this young and generous entrepreneur, an accomplished chef, who honours the youth of Clare.

Header photo: Shane Robicheau, by Coreen Hildebrand, Maritimes Maven.

Jean-Marc Agator
Paris, France