Opposition roasts Leitão over Robuchon
The province’s finance minister is feeling the heat over the Montreal casino’s decision to hire a French chef over one from Quebec.
But a flabbergasted Carlos Leitão said if the politics of dining are the biggest problem on his plate as minister, hand him a fork and he’ll dig right in.
“This is a problem? That a chef with a planetary reputation is promoting Quebec’s gastronomy in foreign lands?
“My God! If these are the only problems we have to manage here, bring them on.”
Leitão made the comments as the two opposition parties hurled pots and pans across the legislature
floor during question period over the casino’s decision to hire French chef Joël Robuchon rather than a local chef.
“It’s like saying to you, Quebec chefs, you are not hot enough to bring Quebec to another level at the Montreal casino,” said the Coalition Avenir Québec MNA for Granby François Bonnardel.
Worse, added Parti Québécois MNA Sylvain Pagé, the details of Robuchon’s contract — reportedly worth $11 million — are being kept secret.
Quebec chefs didn’t even get a chance to bid in the tendering process, he said.
“Quebecers have the right to know what is hidden behind this agreement,” said Pagé, the MNA for Labelle.
Pagé insisted Montreal hardly needs to boost its culinary image given the fact Town and Country Magazine declared the city the food capital of North America in 2016.
“The reaction of columnists and citizens is unanimous,” Pagé said. “Everyone is saying it’s an insult, even contempt for the great Quebec chefs. Will the minister say this agreement makes no sense and defend Quebec’s savoir faire?”
Montreal Gazette restaurant reviewer Lesley Chesterman has also criticized the contract between Loto-Québec, which runs the casino, and Robuchon, arguing that pouring money into the casino restaurant is undermining taxpaying restaurateurs.
But Leitão did not waver, noting Montreal’s Institut d’hotellerie et tourisme du Québec (ITHQ) Tuesday signed its own agreement with the casino, which means young Quebec chefs will have access to Robuchon’s wealth of knowledge and experience.
“We are attracting to Montreal a major player from planet gastronomy,” Leitão said. “It is excellent for Quebec and it is excellent for Quebec and Montreal’s gastronomy so I am delighted with this contract.
“It will put Montreal on the same level as London, Paris, Tokyo and New York. That’s what they (in the opposition) don’t understand.”
On a more practical level, Leitão — who is responsible for LotoQuébec — said the government has no plans to meddle in decisions made by Loto-Québec because as a Crown corporation it is independent. That also explains why Loto-Québec is entitled to keep the agreement with Robuchon confidential.
“It is not the government which negotiated such an agreement,” Leitão said. “It is the Crown corporation and it has all the administrative latitude it needs to sign such agreements.”
I am delighted with this contract. It will put Montreal on the same level as London, Paris, Tokyo and New York.