Daniel Vézina, the chef and very heart and soul of laurie raphaël, has come a long way since leaving school. He has managed to discover the world while remaining firmly rooted in the Quebec restaurant industry. Here are some highlights from his career:
Daniel Vézina graduated from Polyvalente de Charlesbourg in 1979 as a cook and has been working in the Quebec restaurant industry for nearly 27 years.
In 1991, together with his spouse Suzanne Gagnon, he opened his first restaurant, laurie raphaël, in Quebec City’s Old Port.
laurie raphaël tripled its seating capacity after moving to a new location in the Old Port in 1997. Its current address is 117 rue Dalhousie.
He was won numerous awards and distinctions over the years, including the regional cuisine development award for the Quebec City region at the Grands Prix du Tourisme Québécois gala, the 2002 Renaud Cyr Award for National Merit in the Food and Restaurant Industry, and many others.
From 1996 to 1999, Daniel Vézina gained national fame with the daily TV program “Attention c’est chaud” on Radio-Canada, which he co-hosted for four years with ever-cheerful Suzanne Lapointe.
In August 2004, a series of 13 shows co-hosted by Frédérique Meunier was broadcast on Canal Évasion. Daniel welcomed viewers into his very own kitchen, where he prepared thirteen classic menus from his favorite destinations.
Daniel Vézina has also appeared on a variety of TV programs, including Radio-Canada’s “Des Kiwis et des Hommes” in 2006 and 2007 and Canal Évasion’s “Tout le Monde à table” in 2006. He has also collaborated on many radio programs.
In 1997, he published his first recipe book, “Daniel Vézina en direct du laurie raphaël,” which sold over 25,000 copies. In 2001, he published a second book, entitled “A Taste of My Quebec,” which has sold 20,000 copies to date. His third and most recent book, published in 2005, “Le fruit de ma passion,” brought together a series of articles on fine dining published monthly in the Actuel section of daily La Presse over the last four years.
Daniel still publishes monthly in La Presse. His food column appears on the last Saturday of every month on the first page of Actuel on a broad range of subjects, including recipes, cooking tips, and nutritional information.
And last but not least, since the redesign of laurie raphaël in 2005, Daniel has provided cooking classes and meal demonstrations at his new restaurant Workshop. A Boutique has also been added featuring an exclusive line of LR products designed by Daniel, as well as many exclusive items created by Quebec artisans.