Our team
Le Râtelier is a family, literally and figuratively. Behind every service — a small private gathering or a very large group in Mont-Tremblant, across the Laurentians and elsewhere in Quebec — our passionate team gives everything to make your event a success. Customer service is too often an afterthought these days; at Le Râtelier, it is exactly what sets us apart.
Joel Leclerc
Chef · Founder
A passion born in Canada's grand hotels
Joel Leclerc did not fall into hospitality by default. While travelling in Western Canada, at the Jasper Park Lodge in 2001, he worked his first wedding banquet. He loved it, and on returning to Quebec City decided to go deeper, completing his diploma in restaurant service and sommellerie in 2004. A few years later he headed to Vancouver to take on his hotel management diploma. Since 2001 his career has taken him through the country's most demanding hotels: the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge from 2001, the Delta Québec, Le Concorde Québec, the Radisson Canmore, the Fairmont Banff Springs, the Fairmont Waterfront and the Fairmont Mont-Tremblant. From 2005 to 2006 he worked in restaurants at the Rimrock in Banff, while also serving from 2006 to 2010 as cellarman at the Banff Wine Store, one of the most complete wine shops in Canada.
Through those years he built a rigorous discipline in both service and kitchen, along with a particular feel for banquet events and staff management — the ability to turn a meal into an unforgettable moment, whatever the scale or the setting.
His sommellerie studies and his hotel management diploma broadened his view: gastronomy is not only about the kitchen, it is a complete experience, from the first food-and-wine pairing to the last plate cleared, where service is a priority in its own right.
After opening a restaurant in Lac-Supérieur (Le Rustique), Joel founded Le Râtelier, where he works as chef, to bring that standard to in-home catering and events across the Laurentians and all of Quebec — with the flexibility and warmth the great houses cannot offer, while staying true to who he is. For Joel, having fun among friends is the foundation of the business, and it shows in the service he and his team deliver every day.
Career path
- 2001Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, first steps in luxury hospitality
- 2002Restaurant service studies at the École hôtelière de la Capitale
- 2003Sommellerie studies at the École hôtelière de la Capitale; banquet service at the Delta and Le Concorde in Quebec City during those years
- 2005-2006Restaurant work at the Rimrock, Banff
- 2006-2010Cellarman at the Banff Wine Store; Fairmont Banff Springs
- 2010Hotel management certificate; Fairmont Waterfront and Fairmont Mont-Tremblant, banquet department
- 2013Opening of a fine-dining restaurant in Lac-Supérieur (Le Rustique)
- 2014Founder and chef of Le Râtelier, caterer in the Laurentians
- TodayStill as passionate about events as ever, from designing the menu to the last plate served, every wedding and every event is an opportunity to create memorable moments.
A family affair
Joel is a partner at Soluflex Laurentides, the HR firm led by his partner Jessica Pearson, which lets Le Râtelier draw on a pool of reliable, trusted staff. Most of the team are friends, acquaintances or referrals, chosen because they share Joel's standards.
Across the Laurentians and all of Quebec, that is what separates a caterer from a team: we do not manage your events, we take part in them.
Work with us
Want to be part of the adventure? Send us your resume.