There is a reason the world's greatest dishes take time. Flavour, like character, cannot be rushed — it must be coaxed, layered, and given space to develop. This is the philosophy that has guided Chef Alex Chen throughout a career that includes leading Team Canada to a top-10 finish at the prestigious Bocuse d'Or in 2013, earning Gold at the Canadian Culinary Championships in 2018, and helming the kitchens at Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar in Vancouver and Wild Blue in Whistler.

His foundation in French cuisine is not incidental to this recipe — it is everything. French cooking, at its core, is a discipline of respect: for ingredients, for process, and for the time it takes to do things properly. That same discipline is what makes this dish so extraordinary in the hands of someone who truly understands it.

"Cooking at home allows me to create my best work. When you're preparing a meal for loved ones, there's no pressure. You put your heart into it, infusing each dish with love, and serving it at just the right moment." - says Chef Alex

That sentiment lives inside every layer of this recipe. French onion soup is a dish that rewards patience above all else. The caramelized onions, the braised short ribs, the reduced wine — none of it can be short-circuited without consequence. What you get when you commit to the process is something that lingers on the palate the way a great wine does: complex, warm, and deeply satisfying.

This is slow food at its finest. And it is exactly the kind of dish that transforms a dinner party from an event into a memory.

The Recipe: French Onion Soup with Braised Beef Short Ribs

_{Serves 4–6 | Best made 7–10 days ahead and stored in the fridge or freezer}

Ingredients

1. Beef short ribs

2. Quality beef stock (congealed, butcher-sourced, or homemade)

3. White onions, thinly sliced

4. Madeira wine and Sherry wine

5. Bay leaf, parsley, thyme, and rosemary (for a sachet)

6. Gruyère cheese (or Comté, Emmental, or Swiss)

7. Day-old baguette

8. Quality olive oil

9. Garlic

10. Balsamic vinegar

11. Flaky salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Method

Step 1 — Sear the Short Ribs

1. Remove short ribs from the fridge and season generously with salt and pepper

2. Heat a heavy-bottomed pot on the Wolf cooktop over high heat and add olive oil

3. Sear all sides until deeply caramelized — the high-output burners deliver the consistent, fierce heat a proper crust demands

4. Remove excess fat, then deglaze with Madeira and Sherry wine, scraping up every bit of flavour from the base

Step 2 — Caramelize the Onions

1. Heat a separate pan with olive oil and add thinly sliced white onions

2. Begin caramelization on the stovetop, stir often and let the gentle, even heat do its work — this is where the magic happens, and it cannot be rushed

Step 3 — Build the Braise

1. Combine the short ribs, caramelized onions, rich beef stock, Madeira and Sherry wine in your pot

2. Tie bay leaf, parsley, thyme, and rosemary into a sachet and add to the pot

3. Braise low and slow, skimming often for a clean, refined broth

4. The short ribs are ready when they are tender and yielding — not shredded, not tough

Step 4 — The Croutons

1. Slice a day-old baguette and toss it generously in quality olive oil

2. Toast in the oven until golden and crisp

3. While still warm, rub each piece firmly with a raw clove of garlic

Step 5 — The Finish

1. Ladle soup into oven-safe bowls

2. Float croutons on the surface and cover generously with Gruyère

3. To achieve the perfect Gratinée, broil until the cheese is bubbling, golden at the edges, and beginning to cascade down the sides

4. That slight imperfection? Entirely intentional

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Cooking with Luxury Appliances in the Sub-Zero | Wolf | Cove Display Kitchen - Trail Appliances Richmond Showroom

The newly renovated Sub-Zero / Wolf / Cove display kitchen at the Trail Appliances Richmond Showroom, designed by SSDG Interiors Inc., showcases what cooking at the highest level truly looks and feels like. Having Wolf appliances in both personal and professional kitchens, Chef Alex—whose formative years were shaped by the precision and discipline of French cuisine—recognizes the Wolf cooktop as a natural extension of his craft.

The Wolf induction cooktop delivers dual-stacked sealed burners that offer an exceptionally wide range of heat output, from a roaring sear to a whisper-low simmer. For a dish like this one — where you need fierce, even heat to properly caramelize short ribs, and then the patience of a gentle flame to reduce wine without burning — that range of control is not a luxury. It is a necessity.

Designed to preserve food at its peak for longer, Sub-Zero units use a dual refrigeration system that keeps the refrigerator and freezer environments completely separate — preventing the transfer of odors and maintaining the precise humidity levels that protects the investment you made at the butcher and the market, and ensures that every ingredient you reach for is exactly as good as the day you brought it home.

Cove dishwashers are engineered with the same exacting standards as the professional kitchen tools it cleans and deliver a customizable wash experience. With flexible rack configurations designed to handle large pots and delicate stemware in the same cycle, and wash performance powerful enough to cut through the residue of a long braise without compromising the integrity of your cookware.

Visit the newly renovated Sub-Zero / Wolf / Cove display kitchen at Trail Appliances' Richmond Showroom and experience what it truly means to cook with exceptional appliances.