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Little Italy restaurant Mon Lapin will no longer be part of the Joe Beef group of restaurants, as sommelier Vanya Filipovic and chef Marc-Olivier Frappier are taking full ownership of the renowned St-Zotique Street establishment.
And in another shake-up for the group, Filipovic and Frappier will no longer work for any Joe Beef restaurants.
The pair, who are married, announced the news on social media over the weekend. While these are big changes, there’s no drama here — Filipovic confirmed to Eater that they were departing on a positive note.
“It’s totally amicable, it’s really just that we live around the corner from Mon Lapin and we have been so happy to be contributing to all these places but we really need to slow down and focus, we don’t really have any brain space for any future projects.”
Filipovic has worked as Joe Beef’s head sommelier since it opened in 2005, and Frappier as a chef in various roles since 2009. Both have become prominent names in their fields, right behind owners David McMillan, Fred Morin, and Allison Cunningham, and held ownership shares in Joe Beef, Liverpool House, Vin Papillon, and Mon Lapin. They’re giving those up, and McMillan and team are ceding their shares in Mon Lapin.
“We’re doing a clean break and letting go of our shares in [the restaurants on] Notre-Dame and recuperating,” says Filipovic.
Filipovic adds that she and Frappier are looking forward to being involved more closely at Mon Lapin, although it’s too early to say whether there are concrete plans to develop or change any elements of the restaurant.
“I’m obsessed with the restaurant, it’s the perfect little shoebox and I love everything in it and am super pumped to be more evolved.”
The pair officially finish their duties with Joe Beef’s Little Burgundy restaurants on December 21, before the restaurants close for a short holiday season break.