V chef cater’

Deana Lancaster
News Reporter deana@nsnews.comi

LIFE has changed a lot in three

years for chef Louis Gervais.

From 1990 to °96 he was the executive
chef ar one of Vancouver's AAA Five
Diamond-rated hotels, The Sutton Place
Hotel.

e had a kitchen brigade of 60 and was
responsible for five different kitchens. The
food and beverage department did more
than $5 million in sales and although he
did plan menus for gala dinners and special
events, much of his role was administrative.

“Yo remember being frustrated by the
phones ringing and people coming in to
ask questions. I use to go hide in the bar
behind a post to do my wark.”

Ail char has changed now. After leaving
the high-pressured environment of the
hotel, the North Vancouver resident
lainched Louis Gervais Fine Foods &
Catering.

He works from the corner of a bakery
warehouse, uses the support staff of the
bakery and hires servers and bartenders
from a Vancouver restaurant for events he
caters. He has one part-time assistant.

Although he must rely on himself for
motivation, he finds working for himself
satisfying. And his business is taking off.

“It’s doing all right,” he says with a
laugh. “TI still own my home.”

Actually, he’s still recovering from the
Christmas rush. He and another driver
delivered 30 turkey dinners on December
24 and 25. He had the schedule planned
down to the minute, but he didn’t account
for the massive snowfall that hit on Dec.
23.

“It took me six hours to deliver 10
turkeys,”he says. “When I yot home on
Christmas Day I poured a big scotch and
enjoyed myself. Next year someone else
can do the deliveries.”

Now he’s gearing up for his second
wedding season as a Caterer, and expects it
to be even better than his first.

As well as the quality and preparation of
the food, Gervais said he likes to focus on
the presentation.

“It has to look good.” He decorates the
buffer table, using breads, folded parch-

Wednesday Jan. 27

net era i
>

NEWS photo Brad Ledwidge

CHEF Louis Gervais changed gears -~ from the hectic schedule of a
hotel executive chef, to the hectic schedule of running his own catering

business.

ment paper decorations and anything else
the bride and groom choose.

“We had all kinds of themed dinners at
the hotel,” he says. We had one with a spice

island theme — different stations had food
using spices from different countrics.”

For information, contact Gervais at
728-5697.

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