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Go big or go home.

That was the choice facing the owners of Lumière and Feenie's after executive chef Rob Feenie walked away from their partnership last fall.

David and Manjy Sidoo decided to go huge.

Instead of closing the restaurants (a seriously considered option), they recruited superstar Daniel Boulud as their new business partner and executive chef at Lumière.

"I think this will be good for Vancouver," said Mr. Sidoo, who will be introducing Mr. Boulud at a press conference on Friday.

That's putting it mildly. Mr. Boulud is the first major celebrity chef to open a restaurant anywhere in Canada. The news has sent shockwaves through the culinary community.

Born in Lyon, Mr. Boulud trained in France but made his mark in New York. He was the executive chef at Le Cirque during the famed restaurant's heyday in the late 1980s.

He now owns six award-winning restaurants in the United States, including Daniel, his flagship fine-dining restaurant in New York. This spring, he will be opening a seventh restaurant in Beijing.

"We weren't restaurateurs, but we were forced into it," Mr. Sidoo, a venture capitalist and former Canadian Football League player, explained.

He and his wife were silent investors in Feenie's when the restaurant opened in 2003. Three years ago, when Lumière was on the verge of bankruptcy, they bought a majority ownership and became more actively involved in the restaurant's operations.

Their long-simmering differences with Mr. Feenie came to a boil last November, when the executive chef walked away from the restaurant, citing a breach of his employment

contract.

"[Daniel] has been a good friend throughout all of this," said Mr. Sidoo, who has had to cope with a major exodus of staff since the highly publicized split.

"He was the first one to call and say, 'What can I do?' "

Though the terms of the contract are confidential, Mr. Sidoo says he and Mr. Boulud are equal partners in the venture.

He won't say how much time Mr. Boulud will actually spend in Vancouver.

"He will spend a lot of time here initially to transform the menus and bring both chef de cuisines up to his standards of quality."

Feenie's, which shutters for renovations on Mar. 20, will reopen as DB Bistro Moderne Vancouver.

The new restaurant will be modelled after Mr. Boulud's casual New York restaurant where he launched the world's most expensive hamburger (a prime rib patty topped with braised short ribs, seared foie gras and 20 grams of shaved black truffle, which now sells for $150 U.S.).

At Lumière, Mr. Boulud will work with Dale MacKay, the chef de cuisine who has been running the kitchen since the fall. The restaurant closes for renovations at the end of April for about two months.

At DB Bistro Moderne, Mr. Boulud will bring in a new chef from one of his U.S. restaurants. The restaurant closes on Mar. 20 and should reopen at the end of June.

Mr. Sidoo said he is encouraging the staff who stuck with him to reapply for work when the restaurants open again.

Mr. Feenie, who has often cited Mr. Boulud as a mentor, says he is flattered by the choice of replacement. "Do you think he came cheap? If this is the only way they can replace me, that's great. It's great for the restaurant and it's great for Vancouver."

The best of Boulud

Restaurants Daniel (New York), Café Boulud (New York

and Palm Beach, Fla.), DB Bistro Moderne (New York), Bar Boulud (New York), Daniel Boulud

Brasserie (Las Vegas), Maison Boulud (Beijing)

Awards Among others, the James Beard awards for Outstanding Restaurateur (2006), Outstanding Chef of the Year (1994) and Best Chef of New York (1992)