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  Bertrand BouquinCulinary Expert  By Teresa J. Farney, Staff Food Columnist Leave it to The Broadmoor hotel to jump at the chance to hire a top-notch chef when the five-star restaurant he worked at abruptly shut down. Bertrand Bouquin was executive chef at Maisonette, in Cincinnati, Ohio, which held the culinary world’s ultimate Mobil Five-Star rating longer than any restaurant in the country — 41 years — until it closed in July. Bouquin, only the fifth executive chef in the restaurant’s history, had maintained the rating for four years. When Craig Reed, director of food and beverage for The Broadmoor, heard that Maisonette was closing and their chef was up for hire, he wasted no time: He made the call, and Bouquin (pronounced boo-CANN) and his family were out here in a flash to fill the vacant executive chef position at the Penrose Room. Bouquin is a 35-year-old French chef who, like many fine chefs, hopped from one restaurant to the next, honing his skills and developing his own style. Here’s his curriculum vitae: He grew up in the small village of Nevers, in the rural, southern part of France’s Burgundy region. As a child, he helped his parents cook at home, and by age 13 had decided he wanted to be a chef. He began his restaurant apprenticeship at 16 and worked near Lyon and in the south of France. He soon found himself working at La Bastide de Gordes, where the acclaimed Alain Ducasse was the consulting chef. Studying Ducasse’s cuisine and cooking methods, he says, was the high point of his career. It wasn’t long before he landed his first sous chef position, at the Michelin three-star Restaurant Bruneau, in Brussels, Belgium. He spent two years there before realizing his dream of moving to the United States, in 1997. He passed up a job at a restaurant in the French Embassy in Washington, D.C., to work for another famed chef, Daniel Boulud at his Manhattan restaurant, Daniel. In 2000, he left Daniel for Pebble Beach, Calif., to take the top chef position at Club XIX, where he produced contemporary French cuisine with a California accent — dishes such as scallop and oyster ceviche with cilantro and lime; sautéed Monterey Bay Abalone; Chilean Sea Bass with Provencal Crust. When the longtime executive chef of Maisonette, Jean Robert de Cavel, decided to open his own restaurant in 2001, Bouquin was hired. Perhaps he would have stayed on, but a plan to relocate the restaurant from downtown got mired in red tape, according to the Maisonette Web site. “Delays in zoning approval have led to delays in construction,” said third-generation owner and proprietor Nat Comisar. “We came to the difficult business decision that continued operation downtown would not be feasible.” So Bouquin is now going to work his magic at the Penrose Room. But it will be a while before we can experience the new chef’s cuisine because the luxury restaurant is being renovated. It should reopen in May with new decor, a small private dining room addition, a new menu and, of course, a new chef. While the Penrose Room is undergoing its extreme makeover, Bouquin will perform some nips and tucks on the menu at another Broadmoor restaurant, the Tavern. Once the Penrose Room opens you can expect some of its renowned classic dishes, like the Caesar salad, to remain. But Bouquin plans to blend his contemporary French cooking flair with Colorado ingredients for some unique new dishes. “I’ll be doing like I did at Maisonette,” he said. “Keep the same high quality of food but adding dishes that will have influences of Italy, Spain, Africa and of course, my culinary basis, French.” His challenge before the Penrose Room re-opens is to raise the quality of the food being served in the Tavern and to “make the menu more understandable,” he says. “The Penrose Room has long been our most traditional restaurant, whose name is synonymous with fine food and wine,” Reed said. “Bertrand’s outstanding culinary experiences along with his passion for excellence will no doubt take the Penrose Room to even higher levels.” Price Range: $55.00 -- $200.00 Menu: The Prix Fix menu selections of a three course at $55.00, four course at $65.00 or seven course at $95.00, with wine pairing $150.00, emphasizes gourmet Contemporary Continental cuisine, featuring tableside preparations. The Chef’s Table with wrap around deck located on the 9th floor is available for parties of fourteen beginning at $200.00 per person. Libations include an award-winning wine selection and an extensive menu of cognacs, armagnacs, single-malt scotches and ports. Hours: 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm Monday -- Thursday and 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm Friday and Saturday Attire: Jackets are required for gentlemen Location: Broadmoor South, top floor Reservations: Recommended. Click here for more information on Bertrand Bouquin |
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