Chez La Mère Michel Owner Micheline Delbuguet Has Died

Chef and owner of Guy Street restaurant Chez La Mère Michel, and pioneering woman on Quebec’s dining scene Micheline Delbuguet died this week according to an obituary in the Montreal Gazette.

Delbuguet arrived in Montreal aged 32, from the south of France, bringing a sensibility for fresh and aromatic ingredients with her.

She founded her restaurant 50 years ago this year doing classic French fare, According to a 2016 interview on Radio-Canada’s Bien dans son assiette, she remained a daily fixture in the kitchen for the restaurant’s lifespan, working with many of the same service staff and suppliers for decades. So-called “continental” cuisine and ingredients were much less prominent at the time, but Delbuguet successfully convinced various suppliers to grow ingredients unfamiliar to Quebecers at the time — her restaurant was reputedly the first to serve endives in the province.

Delbuguet is survived by her husband René, two children, and four grandchildren.

• Obituaries: Micheline Delbuguet [Montreal Gazette]
• Bien dans son assiette (archives) [Radio-Canada]