WHO WE ARE

CHEF VINCENT FRAISSANGE

Vince first fell in love with food as a young boy spending his summers at his grandparents’ farm in rural France.  After getting dirty in the fields and sneaking bites of growing vegetables, he would spend afternoons in the kitchen helping his grandmother with the cooking, canning and preserving.  Back home in Vancouver, BC for the colder months, school nights were spent taking out the trash at his father’s restaurant, doing homework in back-booths and soaking up the secrets of the hospitality industry. 

At 19, Vince started out as an apprentice at Vancouver’s highly acclaimed Le Crocodile and spent the next 7 years moving up the ranks in the city’s best kitchens.  After a year in Bora Bora Luxury Hotels, he then honed his skills on Luxury Yachts for several seasons cooking for celebrities and royalty. He finally settled back down in Tofino, British Columbia to open the beloved Spotted Bear Bistro in 2009.  

Unfortunately/fortunately for Vince, he met his wife, Cat, on a trip to NYC just 3 years later.  He eventually made the move to Brooklyn and took over as Executive Chef at Isa Restaurant in Williamsburg.  In his time here, Vince has built solid relationships with farms in NJ, PA, and in the Hudson Valley.  The sustainably farmed livestock and produce they provide have allowed him to continue to cook with integrity and passion. 

Vince’s menus are seasonal and focused on sustainability, purity of flavor and well-executed technique.  His cooking is honest and joyful – both qualities come through in his dishes - and he is constantly spurred on by his love for food and true zeal for what he does.