Patrice Demers on the Shake-Up at Les 400 Coups

Pastry chef par excellence Patrice Demers (at left) recently announced that he would be leaving his restaurant, Les 400 Coups, after three years. The amicable split includes his two partners, Marie-Josée Beaudoin and Marc-André Jetté, who will also take their leave to pursue other projects. Demers took some time to discuss the changes at Les 400 Coups, his new venture and his television work. Translated from French.

September 3 was your last day at Les 400 Coups. Can you describe how it went and the transition period has been like?

In reality, me and Marie-Josée (sommelière/maître d'hôtel) were done on August 31. As for Marc-André, it has been two weeks since he left. Last month was devoted to planning the transition to the new team. Brian Verstraten, the new pastry chef, started today. We worked together for a total of three years at Laloux and Newtown. Guillaume Cantin, the new chef de cuisine, starts next week. He was our sous-chef. The new sommelier is William Saulnier (former assistant to Marie-Josée) and Xavier Girard (a server with us since Laloux) is the new maître d'hôtel.

Your new project is a pâtisserie. Can you share some details about the location and the concept?

I'm still in the process of trying to find a location. As far as the concept, the approach will be to combine a pâtisserie with a dessert and wine bar under the same roof. I will offer pâtisserie courses one night a week and Marie-Josée will offer wine appreciation courses on occasion.

Finally, what can you tell us about the new season of Les dessert de Patrice on Canal Vie?

The fourth season of the program will feature a lot of great guests, like Michelle Marek of SAT Foodlab, Les Chocolats de Chloé, Stéphanie Labelle of Pâtisserie Rhubarbe but also a lot of visits with my favourite producers. We will also include some reportages we shot in Paris with some of the best pâtissiers in the world
· Official Press Release on the Departures of Marc-André Jetté, Patrice Demers and Marie-­Josée Beaudoin [Les 400 Coups]
· Nouveau souffle pour le 400 Coups [La Presse]
· Interview with Guillaume Cantin [La Presse]
· Les 400 Coups [Official Site]
· Les dessert de Patrice [Official Site]