Outaouais in the Kitchen: Three Chefs Honoured at a Gourmet Evening
Outaouais in the Kitchen: Three Chefs Honoured at a Gourmet Evening
The second edition of L’Outaouais en cuisine, presented by Tourisme Outaouais in partnership with the École hôtelière de l’Outaouais, brought together more than 120 guests on February 25. At the end of the evening, three regional chefs were honoured by both the jury and the public.
The Jury Prize, which includes a $5,000 award, was presented to Simon Beaudry of Restaurant Les Fougères for his Brylee Farm beef tartare. His creation stood out for its technical precision and creativity.
The students on his brigade — Paige-Alabama Léger, Mathias Ricard and Richard Ricard — were also recognized, receiving a basket of local products and regional gift certificates.
The jury included five prominent figures from Quebec’s culinary scene: Jean-Philippe Cloutier; Liam Carey of La Maison du Village; Marie-Ève Gingras of La Muse et Bar à vin Héron; Odette Chaput of Terroir et Saveurs du Québec; and Véronique Leduc of Magazine Caribou.
In the savoury category, the public’s choice award went to Joël Maheu of Souche-i for his trompe-l’œil doughnut filled with duck pastrami cream from Ferme Moreau. He received a $1,000 prize presented by Doyon Després. The members of his student brigade — Shana Rochefort, Gladies Bomanza and Stéphanie Uwimana — were also honoured.
For the sweet category, the public’s favourite was Dominique Lalonde of Kîsisam Pâtisserie for her pavlova featuring Clavalier American pepper. She also received a $1,000 award. Her brigade — Loubna Youssoufi, Aurélie Desrochers and Mélanie Derouin — was presented with a basket of local products and regional gift certificates.
Over the past several weeks, 12 chefs from the Outaouais region were tasked with creating savoury or sweet bites specially designed for the competition. Each chef was paired with a brigade of three to four students from the École hôtelière, who were responsible for preparing and presenting the dishes during a public cocktail reception.
The event was made possible through financial support from the 2022–2025 Sectoral Agreement for the Development of the Biofood Sector, as well as the collaboration of numerous partners from the regional agri-food and tourism industries.
