Daniel Vézina is a legendary culinary master who wants to please everyone. These character traits are behind a generous cuisine imprinted with the flavours of Québec. A modern, streamlined cuisine.
CHEF
Daniel Vézina has worked in the restaurant business for 32 years, after receiving his chef's diploma in 1979 from Polyvalente de Charlesbourg.
RESTAURANT OWNER
In 1991, Daniel and his wife, Suzanne Gagnon, opened the first Laurie Raphaël in Québec City's Old Port district. In 1996, they moved to their current location on Dalhousie Street.
Since 2005, Laurie Raphaël has been a restaurant/workshop/boutique, offering a modern, progressive, and varied dining experience.
The second Laurie Raphaël restaurant opened in Montreal's hotel Le Germain in the autumn of 2007. It seats 55 persons and has a boutique in the lobby.
TEACHER
Since 2005, Daniel has been giving cooking classes at the workshop in his Québec City restaurant, where students have the opportunity to share his vast store of culinary skills and knowledge. He also hosts private VIP evenings, where he cooks for his guests on the spot.
COMMUNITY ACTION
Daniel Vézina is dedicated to spotlighting and fostering local talent and promoting products from Québec. Everything in the restaurant, from the décor to the food, was created by talented Québec artists and artisans.
Daniel actively promotes culinary talent. He has been a member of the Fondation Serge Bruyère/Foundation since 2004 and is president of the Board of Directors for 2010 and 2011. He and Suzanne Gagnon were co-chairs of the 11th Québec Entrepreneurship Awards for 2008-2009. For the past 8 years, both have been involved with the Fondation de la greffe de moelle osseuse de l’Est du Québec (Eastern Québec Bone Marrow Transplant Foundation), holding an annual Gourmet Golf Tournament for the past five years.
TV HOST
From 1996 until 1999, Daniel Vézina gained national attention as the host of Radio Canada's Attention, c’est chaud. Since then, he has appeared on numerous programs including, Des kiwis et des hommes, Passeport pour la gourmandise, Tout le monde à table, À la di Stasio and Pour le plaisir. In 2011, he hosted his own program, L’effet Vézina on Zest network and was host and coach of Radio Canada's new series, Les Chefs!. For a second year he is back on Zeste network, but this time, with his son Raphaël, to co-host the show Effet Vézina, de père en chef.
WRITER
In 1997, his first cookbook, Daniel Vézina en direct du Laurie Raphaël was published, followed by Ma route des saveurs au Québec in 2001. His most recent release, Le fruit de ma Passion, published in 2005, is a compilation of his monthly columns that appeared in La Presse's Actuel magazine. In 2010, he wrote the introduction for the book Les Chefs!.
