The Palais des congrès and its exclusive caterer, Capital Catering, are pleased to introduce their executive chef, Simon Devost-Dulude. Chef Devost-Dulude recently took over as head of the seasoned staff at Montréal’s largest institutional kitchen. He plans to add his own unique flavour to renewing the Palais culinary experience, a process that began in 2010.
“Selecting a local chef demonstrates how much we appreciate Québec cuisine and our eagerness to widely promote it among our regional and international customers seeking culinary discoveries,” says Marc Tremblay, President and CEO of the Palais des congrès de Montréal. “The dynamism and passion of our gardener chef Devost-Dulude will soon define every dish we serve to the thousands of guests expected this year.”
“With the support of his experienced kitchen staff, Simon Devost-Dulude is determined to showcase fresh-picked Québec products, such as the vegetables and fine herbs from the Palais rooftop garden, grown literally just steps away from the guests,” declares Sébastien Hébert, Capital Catering’s Director of Sales and Development.
A local chef
A graduate of the ITHQ hotel management school, Simon is a member of Québec’s new wave of chefs who never miss an opportunity to showcase locally grown products. Passionate and creative, he is meticulous in his drive to provide every guest with an unparalleled experience, whether for business or gala events.
According to Simon Devost-Dulude: “Each customer is unique and my team and I especially love to offer them dishes that stand out because of the freshness of the products and the way the flavours come together. Our rooftop garden gives us this opportunity during summer since it doesn’t get any fresher than using products picked the same day just a few metres from the kitchen!”
A garden next door
The Culti-Vert project, comprised of plant life and a container vegetable garden, originated in 2011 atop the roof of the Palais des congrès de Montréal as part of the Palais Sustainability Action Plan and in collaboration with the Montréal Urban Ecology Centre. Capital Traiteur, who partners in the project, benefits from a portion of the harvest, as do the Intercontinental hotel and the Crudessence restaurant. This means the Palais’ upscale clientèle enjoys incomparable freshness thanks to the carefully selected fruit, vegetables and fine herbs. The Palais is also happy to share with the local community by dedicating part of his garden to Herstreet Foundation, who can enjoy their own summer harvest.
2011-2012 in review: A very successful year
The Palais des congrès de Montréal ended its 2011-2012 year eclipsing its previous record of 2010-11 by 5%, after breaking attendance records with 368 events that attracted more than 657,000 participants. These results confirm Montréal’s standing as the Number One host city in the Americas for international association event, as ranked by the Union of International Associations. During that period, 34% of events included green planning and hosting initiatives, and our gardener chef Simon and his team had the pleasure of serving thousands meals to those who participated in the conventions, exhibitions, galas, meetings and conferences held at the Palais. A mission accomplished in a flavourful, creative and eco-friendly manner!
