Celebrating RDP's chefs
The Atelier Duo de chef team cooks up a storm at On prend la rue, August 3, 2024 in Montreal's Parc Armand-Bombardier (Photo: Mike Euclide Jean-Baptiste / Montreal Headshot).
Hundreds gathered in Rivière-des-Prairies on Saturday August 3 for the fifth anniversary of Atelier Duo de chef.
To celebrate five years of success, restaurateurs Rick-Andy Jean-Baptiste, Donald Joseph, Karl-Jude Cétoute and Rémi Jean-Baptiste invited everyone to the On prend la rue event in Armand-Bombardier Park. On the menu were BBQ classics, Haitian-Quebec fusions, tropical refreshments and inflatable games, all to the sound of DJs, rappers and singers.
"The neighborhood has really embraced us [... ] and it was only natural to return the favor to RDP, who has loved us so much," the cofounder nicknamed Chef Ray explained.
Since he and the majority of the team hail from RDP, it was only natural for their catering and take-away service to have a foothold in their corner of Montreal. However, the COVID-19 lock-down, imposed just a few months after the inauguration, gave them the full measure of the craze for their cuisine.
We really felt the family spirit when we opened and there was the pandemic," Chef Ray says. We had a bad trip for a day because we didn't know what was going to happen, but the next day it was all clear because we could see that [orders via home delivery service] Uber were on fire. So it's really normal for us to give back to the neighborhood."
Artists like Kelly Krow, a day one supporter of Duo de chef and friend of Chef Ray since their childhood in RDP, were part of the party. "It's so important [a business like this for the community] [...] Our generation is the first to be able to do something like what Duo de chef has done in Rivière-des-Prairies, and I think it can influence a lot of young people right now who want to be chefs. It's not something we saw back in the days," said the MANYENM singer.
In addition to establishing itself as an essential gourmet address - with "unbeatable" mac 'n' cheese, as HollyWoodd Henrik SoIcey, host of the Chroniques des alcooliques podcast, puts it - Duo de chef is committed to its neighbourhood. For example, the company works with the Centre d'horizon de l'Est to integrate newcomers. "Here, it's very different from their country of origin, they're like numbers, they have trouble integrating and many have been traumatized by their journey, so since we already have new arrivals among our families and employees, we've made it our mission to help them by offering them internships in restaurants, familiarizing them with maintenance companies and developing their CVs," Chef Ray explained.
Resilience and creativity
The Atelier is also described as a model of entrepreneurial success. During the pandemic, it was able to expand where many hit a brick wall due to sanitary measures.
"It's all to their credit, this resilience and beautiful creativity," praised real estate investor Thierry "Collect" Joubert. " Black-owned businesses are important. We need role models that young people in the community can identify with. It's easy to look at a Musk, a Zuckerberg, but for a Haitian from Montréal-Nord, from RDP, it's hard to identify with them. When you watch Duo de chef, you can say to yourself: "wow! If I'm passionate about something and I'm serious, rigorous, I too can succeed and make a comfortable living from it.""
"Five years is a long time," admitted Jud, host of the popular Love and Sex podcast, which is celebrating its sixth anniversary himself. "I know it takes work, it takes grind to make yourself known and become a fixture in the community [...] It's good to have positive examples of black business thriving. Look at an event like today, that brings the neighborhood together, the weather's nice, people are happy, that's what we want to see in Montreal, a good vibe."
Event organizer Christina Sterling agrees. "The resto became a success really quickly - shoutout to them!" noted the founder of Mille et une. "They want it to grow from year to year, with more people, more suppliers, so this is like the start of a new adventure."
For HollyWoodd, Duo de chef represents the kind of initiative that needs to be supported in Montreal. "We need to encourage the guys who are doing good things in the community, especially in the black community. The time to do it is now. The events are here, so come and support them, ladies and gentlemen," said the host.
