Marcel Desaulniers

Marcel Desaulniers

Born	1945 (1945) Woonsocket, Rhode Island, United States
Cooking style	American, Slow Food, Chocolate
Education	Culinary Institute of America
Current restaurant(s) The Trellis, Williamsburg, Virginia
Television show(s) The Burgermeisters, Death by Chocolate

Marcel Desaulniers (born 1945) is the American chef and part-owner of the Trellis Restaurant in Williamsburg, Virginia, cookbook author, Director Emeritus of the Culinary Institute of America and self-described "Guru of Ganache."

Personal life

Desaulniers was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and resides in Williamsburg with his wife, Connie, who is an artist. He served in the United States Marine Corps and, in 1965, graduated from the Culinary Institute of America. Desaulniers serves as a Trustee Emeritus and Life Fellow of the Culinary Institute of America.

His daughter, Danielle Desaulniers, is a respected sommelier. She trained at the Culinary Institute of America and has worked at San Francisco's One Market Restaurant and at New York City's Restaurant Daniel, Café Boulud, Ducasse, and Del Frisco's Steak House.

Professional life

Restaurant

In 1980 Desaulniers opened the Trellis Restaurant in Colonial Williamsburg's Merchants Square. In addition to his residence and restaurant, Desaulniers maintains a food and art studio in Williamsburg which he has dubbed Ganache Hill.^[1] Desaulniers and his business partner, John Curtis, have sold their landmark restaurant, The Trellis.^[2] The Trellis was sold to David Everett, who owns and operates the Blue Talon Bistro, also located in the Square.^[3] Desaulniers and Curtis operated the award winning Trellis restaurant for 29 years.^[4] The restaurant was inducted into the Nation's Restaurant News Fine Dining Hall of Fame in 1995.^[5] He plans to pursue other ventures tied to the restaurant business through his new company, MAD About Food.^[6][7]

Television

He has hosted several television cooking shows including "The Burgermeister" and "Death by Chocolate" and has appeared on Julia Child's television show, Baking with Julia and on PBS' cooking shows Cook-off America and Grilling Maestros.

Cookbooks

Desaulniers has written 10 cooking books^[8] including "Death by Chocolate." His concentration on chocolate cuisine and his fondness for chocolate ganache has earned him the sobriquet of "Guru of Ganache."

Awards and honors

• Ivy Award: The Trellis, Restaurants and Institutions Magazine, 1989
• Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic, James Beard Foundation, 1993
• Best Pastry Chef: Mid-Atlantic James Beard Foundation^[9]
• Best Dessert Book, James Beard Foundation, 1993
• Best Single Subject Cookbook: The Burger Meisters, James Beard Foundation, 1995
• Lifetime Achievement Award, Culinary Institute of America, 1996
• Outstanding Pasty Chef, James Beard Foundation, 1999
• Honor Roll of American Chefs, Food & Wine Magazine

Bibliography

• Desaulniers, Marcel (1992, 2003). Death by chocolate: The Last Word on a Consuming Passion. ISBN 0847815641. 
• Desaulniers, Marcel (1992). Trellis Cookbook: Expanded Edition. ISBN 0671748424. 
• Desaulniers, Marcel (1994). Burger Meisters. ISBN 0671865382. 
• Desaulniers, Marcel (1995). Desserts to Die for. ISBN 0684811391. 
• Desaulniers, Marcel (1996). An Alphabet of Sweets. ISBN 0847819817. 
• Desaulniers, Marcel (1997). Death by Chocolate Cookies. ISBN 068483197X. 
• Desaulniers, Marcel (1998). Salad Days: Main Course Salads for a First Class Meal. ISBN 068482261X. 
• Desaulniers, Marcel (1999). Grilling Maestros: Recipes from the Public Television Series. ISBN 0965109550. 
• Desaulniers, Marcel; Brett Bailey and Kelly Bailey (2000). Death by Chocolate Cakes: an Astonishing Array of chocolate enchantment. photography by Duane Winfield. ISBN 0688162975. 
• Desaulniers, Marcel (2002). Celebrate with Chocolate: totally over-the-top recipes. ISBN 0688162983. 
• Desaulniers, Marcel (2007). I'm Dreaming of a Chocolate Christmas. ISBN 0764599003. 

Notes

1. ^ Ganache Hill Gallery
2. ^ [1]
3. ^ [2]
4. ^ [3]
5. ^ [4]
6. ^ [5]
7. ^ [6]
8. ^ [7]
9. ^ [8]

External links

• Global Gourment - Marcel Desaulniers
• Baking with Julia - Marcel Desaulniers
• The Trellis, Williamsburg, VA
• Interview with Marcel Desaulniers
• Culinary Institute of America - Alumni Spotlight

Persondata
Name	Desaulniers, Marcel
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	dt=1945
Place of birth	Woonsocket, Rhode Island, United States
Date of death
Place of death