Shane Chartrand brings his story to the table
For chef Shane Chartrand, the path to opening Paperbirch began long before his television appearances, international travel or award-winning cookbooks. It started on a small acreage outside Penhold, Alberta, surrounded by animals and the rhythms of rural life.
“I grew up around agriculture,” says Chartrand. “Even as a kid, I understood where food came from.”
That understanding would eventually shape a culinary philosophy rooted in Indigenous culture, storytelling, and deep respect for local producers — values now woven into every aspect of Paperbirch, the bustling market café he opened inside the Old Strathcona Farmers’ Market.
Chartrand’s culinary journey has been anything but conventional. After attending culinary school in Manitoba, he spent years working in hotels, bistros, and fine-dining kitchens while trying to figure out what would make his voice distinct in the culinary world.
“I knew there was something I was supposed to be doing,” he says. “I just didn’t know what it was yet.”
Competition became one of his greatest teachers. In his twenties, Chartrand threw himself into culinary competitions, earning medals while learning equally important lessons through defeat.
“When you lose, you learn a lot about yourself,” he says. “How you respond matters because one day you’re going to mentor other people.”
Over the next decade, Chartrand immersed himself in ceremony, powwows, language, travel, and traditional foodways. That work culminated in his award-winning Indigenous cookbook, tawâw, and eventually led to television appearances on shows including Chopped and Top Chef Canada.
Today, even with another (secret, for now) major television project underway, Chartrand says the market has become one of the most meaningful parts of his career.
Paperbirch emerged almost accidentally. While walking through the market one day, Chartrand learned a kitchen space was available.
“They told me I could do whatever I wanted with it,” he says. During regular weekend market hours, the casual quick-service menu focuses on approachable breakfast and lunch fare with local ingredients taking centre stage. Bannock has become one of the café’s biggest sellers alongside its breakfast sandwiches.
Chartrand also wanted to create an Indigenous dinner series. These Indigenous Taste of the Market dinners — intimate 20-seat experiences held on the second Wednesday of every month — have become one of the city’s hardest reservations to secure, with tickets often sold out quickly. Guests gather around long communal tables decorated with china, glassware and Indigenous art while Chartrand shares stories gathered over 16 years of travel and cultural study.
More than half the ingredients used for the Indigenous dinners come directly from market vendors. Before each dinner service, Chartrand walks the aisles, selecting whatever inspires him that week.
“I’m not trying to make ‘local’ into some marketing term,” he says. “To me, this is just how food should work.”
That philosophy, equally grounded in farming roots and Indigenous teachings, is what gives Paperbirch its warmth. It feels less like a restaurant concept and more like an extension of Chartrand himself: welcoming, thoughtful and deeply connected to place.
“The storytelling, the people, the market — it means the world to me,” he says.
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