The Last Night on the Line: Chef Michel Jacob at Le Crocodile

Written for Daily Hive by James Grass, a hospitality industry veteran with over 20 years in the front of house. He is the host and executive producer of Chef’s Favourite, a digital platform sharing the stories of the hospitality industry and shining a light on the incredible people behind our favourite restaurants and bars.

April 30, 2024, was Michel Jacob’s last night on the line at Le Crocodile, one of Vancouver’s most influential restaurants.

When news broke of his retirement in early February, Le Crocodile was inundated with reservation requests. The 85-seat French brasserie received over 4,000 requests over the first 24 hours.

Chef’s Favourite has been privileged to document the progress of the final week of Chef Michel’s tenure, and the experience has been nothing short of inspirational. From the time we met Michel to pitch the story, he’s been incredibly gracious with his time and space amid the chaos of his final nights in his restaurant.

Chef’s Favourite

Over the course of the final week of Michel’s 41-year tenure as the executive chef at Le Crocodile, our cameras captured the remarkable outpouring of love, respect, and emotion that so many had for this humble man. Each night, countless guests were invited into the kitchen to get a photo with Chef Michel and many left with signed memorabilia as a memento of their final Michel Jacob experience.

Our time at Le Crocodile featured interviews with Michel, his dear friend and mentor Umberto Menghi (Il Giardino), and proteges Rob Feenie (Lumiere, Cactus Club), David Hawksworth (Hawksworth, Nightingale), and Ned Bell (Hatch Hospitality, Chef – Eat, Drink Buy BC) among many others. While we were already deeply familiar with his story, we learned so much more over these final seven days.

Feenie will take the reins and re-open the restaurant as Le Crocodile by Rob Feenie early this summer. (Chef’s Favourite)

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Longtime patrons, business leaders, and famous Vancouver celebrities turned out in numbers for a final meal at Le Crocodile. Each had nothing but the highest praise and regaled us with countless stories that started in the restaurant but ended with tennis matches, bike rides, and lifelong memories of all sorts.

The common sentiment that permeated all the conversations we had, with both chefs and diners, was rooted in the incredible commitment to quality and consistency that Chef Michel embodies.

Case in point: for his 41 years, Chef has only taken two weeks of holidays per year and never more than one week at a time… with one exception.

In 2012, Michel Jacob’s son, Anthony Jacob, competed at the 2012 Olympics in London for Canada. For this special occasion, the chef took a generous 11 days away from the restaurant.

From our view in the kitchen, you could tell by the reverence of his talented staff and guests that he is a leader who marries his high standards with a genuine commitment to his people.

Chef’s Favourite

One often overlooked and underrated skill that Chef Michel has truly mastered is how to work a room.

Watching him depart the kitchen each night and acknowledge his diners in the dining room is simply magical. He’s mastered the art of engaging a table. He spends anywhere from 30 seconds to two minutes with each table and when he leaves you, no matter how brief the interaction, it feels like you’ve had an entire night’s conversation with him.

His table presence is of the highest calibre, equal to the finest maître d’ you can think of, the world over.

This presence in the dining room is something that most chefs side-step but that young chefs should strive to emulate.

My favourite story shared by Chef Michel is his love of entertaining his guests and how they responded to him. The restaurant saw hundreds of celebrities over the years, but as Chef recalls, “It was great to have them, they came in, enjoyed themselves, spent money, and left. What I always loved were the people that made Le Crocodile a part of their lives. From anniversaries and birthdays, they would come from Squamish or the Fraser Valley, and it was their whole night out.”

They chose Le Crocodile to celebrate these milestones and they would return year after year as their families grew. “We’ve had guests that I’ve known since they were babies who now bring their own children in. These people are the heroes to me.”

His attention to detail extended into the restaurant’s design. From his kitchen pass, he can see the front door of the restaurant and immediately knows who’s in the dining room, often before the server does.

The energy in the room over the final days was celebratory, emotional, and overwhelming.

Le Crocodile’s last service under Chef Michel saw a full restaurant into the early hours of the morning with a who’s who of Vancouver business and hospitality personalities toasting to the iconic chef and Le Crocodile.

Le Crocodile started in a small restaurant space on Thurlow and Robson Street back in 1983. The influx of diners was instant, and it became apparent that a larger venue would be needed to fulfill the demand. Open for lunch and dinner, Le Crocodile became the place for business lunches and romantic dinner dates.

The restaurant moved to its current location, and the rest is history.

Vancouver, we are lucky to have had Chef Michel Jacob set the standard for hospitality in this city.

Through 41 years, his commitment to his craft and the quality of experience is second to none. In a volatile industry where restaurants close as quickly as they open, his story is legendary.

Vive Le Crocodile!

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