Fourchette - Atelier Culinaire
A catering business and central production kitchen I developed in Montreal, bringing together food production for my own restaurants, supply for other venues, corporate catering, and a neighborhood lunch counter.
More control over what we served
As Le Gourmet Burger grew, I wanted more control over the brioche buns. Working with an outside bakery meant I could not always get the product exactly as I wanted it.
When a friend offered me the opportunity to take over an equipped central kitchen, I saw a way to bring that production in-house and build a business around it. That became Fourchette.
One kitchen, several businesses
I brought in a baker and chef, added the proofing equipment we needed, and we began making our own brioche buns for Le Gourmet Burger and focaccia for Kafeïn.
From the same kitchen, we prepared condiments and other products for my venues and supplied other cafés and restaurants. Fourchette gave us a place to develop recipes and produce them for several businesses, with more control over the ingredients and the finished product.
Catering and the lunch counter
The kitchen also supported corporate catering, from breakfast buffets to launches and cocktail receptions. That included daily breakfast buffets for staff at Google’s Montreal office.
With businesses around us on William Street, I also opened a weekday lunch counter. We served sandwiches, soups, salads, daily specials, drinks, and desserts, bringing the food we made in the kitchen directly to people in the neighborhood.
Fourchette brought production, catering, and a lunch counter together in one operation. It supported my existing restaurants while becoming a food business of its own.