Chef Louise Duhamel
Chef and Instructor
New England Culinary Institute,
Montpelier, Vermont
Chef Louise Duhamel teaches and directs the "A La Carte Fine Dining Class" at the Essex campus and the evening fine dining service at the Inn at Essex's Butler's restaurant. Every afternoon, Chef Louise teaches subjects ranging from the origins of foie gras in ancient Egypt to the tastes and flavors of contemporary regional dishes. Come evening, her classes turn totally hands-on as she conducts the fine dining service with her second-year students. They prepare a daily menu featuring the best and freshest New England products. Butler's features a great selection of New England cheeses. Some of Chef Louise's favorites are the new Bonne Bouche ash-ripened chevre and the Chevrier aged goat cheese from the Vermont Butter & Cheese Company. You will also find Great Hill Blue and Vermont Shepherd's Tomme and Timson on her cheese tray as well as in her dishes.
Chef Louise Duhamel's career began twenty years ago when she opened a small bistro in the Laurentian ski country, north of Montreal, Quebec. It was the first step towards her mastery of fine cuisine, as she understudied with some of France's greatest chefs and grew her first bistro into a top-rated gourmet restaurant. Before turning to teaching, Chef Louise Duhamel was Executive Chef of the Langdon Hall Country Hotel, in Cambridge Ontario, a member of the prestigious "Relais & Chateaux" group. Under her hand, Langdon Hall's cuisine garnered four Mobil double diamonds and was chosen one of the ten best in Ontario by Gourmet Magazine. Whether Chef Louise Duhamel is working in Quebec, in Ontario, in France or here in Vermont, her quest for tastes and flavors has made her a strong advocate of working with fresh local regional products.
At the New England Culinary Institute, Chef Louise shares this passion with her students and tries to communicate to them the importance of then never-ending search for the finest ingredients.
Chef Louise Duhamel teaches and directs the "A La Carte Fine Dining Class" at the Essex campus and the evening fine dining service at the Inn at Essex's Butler's restaurant. Every afternoon, Chef Louise teaches subjects ranging from the origins of foie gras in ancient Egypt to the tastes and flavors of contemporary regional dishes. Come evening, her classes turn totally hands-on as she conducts the fine dining service with her second-year students. They prepare a daily menu featuring the best and freshest New England products. Butler's features a great selection of New England cheeses. Some of Chef Louise's favorites are the new Bonne Bouche ash-ripened chevre and the Chevrier aged goat cheese from the Vermont Butter & Cheese Company. You will also find Great Hill Blue and Vermont Shepherd's Tomme and Timson on her cheese tray as well as in her dishes.