Will Joël Robuchon's Montreal Chef Be Éric Gonzalez?

This past April's blockbuster Joël Robuchon, Casino de Montréal restaurant announcement elicited a lot of questions. Questions like: "Is this ultimately good for Montreal?" "Is this what we want from a taxpayer, government-funded entity?" And so on. The question of who Robuchon's Montreal chef will be is no less intriguing. Critic Lesley Chesterman noted in a Gazette article about the project that the casino's current executive chef, Jean-Pierre Curtat "has not met Robuchon, who has not yet set foot in the Montreal Casino. This is also the first time, to Curtat’s knowledge, that Robuchon will not be brining in chefs trained in his establishments."

One French expat Montreal chef who has definitely met Robuchon is Éric Gonzalez. The somewhat itinerant ex-chef at Les Enfants Terribles, L'Auberge Saint-Gabriel, and others, currently helms the kitchen at the Casino de Mont-Tremblant, another Loto-Québec, Société des casinos du Québec property.

The public relations director for Loto-Québec denied today that Gonzalez had been chosen for Robuchon's Montreal restaurant. "The selection process for this post is not yet complete," affirmed Marie-Claude Rivet. "It would be risky to announce Gonzalez just yet." Still, stay tuned.