Chef Coulson Armstrong on Cooking, Clothing, and Self-Expression
The Top Chef Canada winner and Prime Seafood Palace Executive Chef opens up about food, fashion, and why great style isn't so different from great cooking.
Chef Coulson Armstrong has spent the last decade building one of Canada's most respected culinary careers. After training with Oliver & Bonacini and travelling through some of the world's most acclaimed kitchens — including Noma in Copenhagen and SingleThread in California — he returned home to help shape Toronto's dining scene alongside Matty Matheson at Prime Seafood Palace.
As a longstanding friend and client at Harry Rosen, we caught up with Armstrong at a pivotal moment in his career to talk culinary evolution, personal style, and everything in between.
Q. Where did your passion for cooking come from?
"My passion started in my early 20s — a little late compared to some. As some chefs say, I fell into it. I took a leap year after high school, found myself in a kitchen, put my head down, and didn't really look up for about ten years."
“Growing up in Aurora, I worked at a pizzeria where this chef named Mario kind of kicked my butt to go to school. From Humber College, I started my career as an intern at Canoe Restaurant with Oliver & Bonacini — and finding the right mentors early on gave me the insight and inspiration to really commit to the field."
Q. What was the first thing you cooked that made other people take note of you?
"It took years — it didn't just happen overnight. My first real chance of putting a menu together and cooking my own food was at Canoe, my second time around, running the daytime lunch menu. My chef gave me the opportunity and said, 'This is your menu — be seasonal, be creative.' That's the first time I felt that sense of ownership, and it felt really good.”
"The dish that sticks in my mind most is a bread we made with tuna and rhubarb — we still do a variation of it at Prime Seafood Palace today. Those are the dishes that stick in your foundation, ones you want to keep revisiting and reinterpreting year after year. It's not unlike fashion, actually — you have your foundation, and then you want to be inspired by new trends."
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Q. What’s one piece of equipment every home chef should have (that might not already)?
“Two things that I think every home chef should have: a trivet and a Thermapen.”
“A trivet is something that lives in your kitchen that you can put hot pans or pots on — there are so many different variations, but that's something I love to have in our kitchen, professionally and at home.”
"And a Thermapen is just a thermometer that gives a quick read. There's so much on the line now — things are so expensive, you can't be wasting food and everything has to be cooked perfectly. Just having that Thermapen to check a piece of meat, piece of fish, or vegetable, to know it's at the exact correct temperature — that gives you that consistency."
Q. What’s one item every man should have in his wardrobe (that he might not already)?
“You know, for me, watches are a big thing. I love to have the accessories along with all the toys in the kitchen. When you have all your knives and your gear, it's the same as building a great wardrobe; you have your belts, your shoes, your socks, and your watches.”
Q. How would you describe your cooking style or “cuisine” at home?
“Really seasonal, one pot wonders — 30-minute meals. You want to be quick, you don't want to overthink it, you just want it to be tasty. Have the right foundations in your pantry: different sauces, vinegars, soy sauce, katsuobushi, seasonings — things you can use to make sure something tastes really good.”
“Quick, easy, minimalist, but very focused on protein and sustainable food that makes you be able to do what you need to do in your day to day.”
Q. How would you describe your personal style?
“My personal style is very focused on workwear — I'm not always in my chef whites, but I'm always working. I need jeans that I can work in, in and out of the truck.”
“I love my white tees too — having an array that fits different styles. Right now it's the baggy, more lived-in look, but sometimes I want something that's both workwear and athletic, so you feel like you can be working out all day but you're comfortable.”
“And then something to throw on — something you can button up, easy to go on and off, so you're not pulling a T-shirt over your head three times a day.”
Upgrading a basic outfit foundation — like a T-shirt and jeans — is as simple as adding an anchor piece; for example, a sport jacket, overshirt, or bomber jacket. Each adds visual depth, practicality, and intention without overcomplicating the look.
Q. What are three things you need to have in your fridge at home at all times?
“Hot sauce is very important, and I’ve got about three different hot sauces going at the moment. One we just picked up from Victoria, B.C., at this place called Shuck Taylor’s — it’s an oyster bar and it had this incredible hot sauce.”
“Eggs are also really important. And then fruit, the kids are just living off fruit, and that's probably what takes up the most room in the fridge at the moment.”
Q. What are three things you would always want to have in your wardrobe?
“It's shoes for me — I'm always changing out the style. I love sneakers, dress shoes, Birkenstocks that I can feel comfortable in, especially when you're doing a lot of steps in the day.”
“Then it goes back to workwear — I want pants that I can live in, feel comfortable in, feel that I can cook in and move, but also feel tailored. You're always in the city, always in the mix, you always want to look presentable.”
“And then it comes down to the white tee — but I love belts! You need to have an array. Growing up in my 20s, I only had one belt, and then all of a sudden I got a mixed bag of different ones. I love to tuck my T-shirt into my pants as well — I love that look.”
Q. When was the last time you truly impressed yourself in the kitchen?
“Last week. We did a dinner in Victoria — a Top Chef reunion with Alex Kim and Kristian Eligh hosting us at Marilena Cafe. We had to do 150 tasting menus, three dishes in three days. Halfway through I was like, 'We got this. The food's in a good spot, it's tasting right, it looks good.' That's the moment where I felt all the hard work just paid off.”
"The bite was the clam pasta — orecchiette, 60 pounds of clams that were pulled out of the water about an hour away. Having that Pacific seafood on the island was amazing. And we had spot prawns on the menu too. Spot prawns have a very short season, and being there during spot prawn season was really special."
Q. When was the last time you impressed yourself with an outfit?
“Last weekend — an old pair of shorts, a new shirt, and the right shoes — I put together a fit. The weekend is such a special spot — you don't really overthink it, you just put on a couple of different pieces and all of a sudden you're like, 'This is style, who's got the camera?' Having the kids and the dogs too, you're just building that whole look.”
For Chef Coulson's high-paced days — spanning from farmer's markets to kitchens to being a super-dad back at home — we styled him in versatile, hard-wearing staples he can fully live in. A dark denim overshirt, classic tank top, and relaxed-fit casual pants: pieces selected to move as seamlessly between settings as he does.
Great cooking and great style both come down to confidence: when you know what works, you stop overthinking it.
Ready to build a wardrobe that works as hard as you do? Book a complimentary style consult with a Harry Rosen Style Advisor for curated wardrobe recommendations and style advice tailored to your unique lifestyle.
