EXECUTIVE CHEF…AND MUCH MORE!

Jean Soulard, the first Canadian Chef to be awarded the “Maître cuisinier de France”, has held the position of Executive Chef at Fairmont Le Château Frontenac since 1993 – year of the hotel’s centennial. The gastronomic art at the Château is indeed enriched by Chef Soulard’s many years of culinary experience as well as his international reputation.

Jean Soulard was born in the small French village of La Gaubretière of which, he often jokingly adds, had more ducks than people. These roots provided Chef Soulard with an enduring love of nature, a passion for a job well done and, above all, the dual culinary heritage of his grandmothers, one of who had an inn and the other a bakery. According to Soulard, “I grew up in the countryside where nature was bountiful and where farmers handed down their land and their passion from one generation to the next. Respect for local produce was absolute, like a solidly established family tradition. Nowadays, we are experiencing the need to return to nature, which has so often been abused, to rediscover the true tastes and flavours of the past.”

In 1966, he began his studies at the École hôtelière de Saumur where he graduated as the “Meilleur apprenti-cuisinier de France” (best apprentice-cook of France). Jean Soulard has applied his culinary skills in a number of countries. He worked in France, Switzerland and England before venturing to Canada in 1975, where he worked at Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth hotel in Montréal. Then, in 1976, he moved to Asia for three years before returning to Québec. 

Sophistication and quality characterize Jean Soulard’s kitchens (four in total) at the Château’s restaurants, Le Champlain and the Café de la Terrasse, as well as the many banquet halls and the catering service. Indeed, more than 3,000 meals are served daily under the supervision of the Executive Chef. Chef Soulard draws from the depths and heights of Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, inspired by its wealth of prestige and cultivating his marvelous fresh herb garden on its towering roof. The relative simplicity to which Chef Soulard’s cooking aspires can also be experienced in his various cookbooks. His seventh cookbook ‘‘400 years of gastronomic history in Quebec City’’ was released in January 2008 and is Chef Soulard’s signature for the 400th anniversary.

For over seven years, Chef Soulard has hosted his very own TV cooking show, ‘‘Cuisinez avec Jean Soulard’’ on Canal Vie (French Life Channel).  Additionally, he continues to be one of the morning anchors on CITF Radio Rock-détente in Quebec City where he brings his passion for food and life to thousands of listeners each morning. When Chef Soulard is not creating a new recipe or overseeing the daily operations of his kitchens, you might find him taking his daily jog on Quebec City’s Plains of Abraham – as he is indeed an accomplished marathon and triathlon runner.