Nothing makes sense and everything works inside Chez Jean-Paul's kitchen

Isaël Gadoua took the scenic route to restaurant ownership. At 30, when many chefs are already running kitchens, he was just entering cooking school, having abandoned a mediocre jazz career and a string of retail jobs he wasn't fond of.

"I have no idea why I went back to cooking, to be honest," Gadoua explains from behind the counter of his 35-seat restaurant, Chez Jean-Paul. "I always liked it, but for 13 years I didn't work in restaurants."

A decade later, he's become one of Montreal's more distinctive culinary voices in recent years thanks to dishes that defy categorization but command devotion from a growing crowd of industry insiders and diners that lean adventurous.