Jesse Bouchard This is Me

Education

 Web References

1. 1. Inn By The Sea - Wine Tasting And Cooking Classes

   www.innbythesea.com/press_rele - [Cached]

   Published on: 3/1/2004   Last Visited: 8/15/2007

   On Sunday the Inn's own Executive Chef, Jesse Bouchard delighted his audience with a demonstration and tips on cooking seafood. The Inn by the Sea specializes in fresh local seafood, and Chef Bouchard shared his recipe for the Audubon Room's popular lobster bisque.

2. 2. Inn By The Sea - In The News, Inn Welcome New Chef

   www.innbythesea.com/press_rele - [Cached]

   Published on: 3/1/2003   Last Visited: 8/15/2007

   Continuing the tradition of serving fine regional cuisine, Chef Jesse Bouchard joins the staff of the oceanfront Audubon Dining Room at the Inn by the Sea, in Cape Elizabeth. Susan Legge, owner of the restaurant and catering services at the Inn, announced that Jesse Bouchard has joined the staff and team of eight banquet chefs responsible for the inn's social and corporate events.
   ...
   Bouchard comes to the Inn with a great deal of experience in preparing fresh seafood, having been a chef at the Hilton Resort and Marina in Key West, Florida before returning to Maine. A native of Maine, Chef Bouchard began his career as banquet Chef at the Marriott in South Portland. Bouchard is a Culinary Arts graduate from Southern Maine Technical College, and has won several awards for ice carving.
   ...
   New menus at the Inn have been created to accommodate any guest according to Chef Bouchard.

3. 3. Inn By The Sea - Downeast Magazine Article

   www.innbythesea.com/press_rele - [Cached]

   Published on: 12/1/2004   Last Visited: 8/15/2007

   Her colleague in the kitchen, head chef Jesse Bouchard, echoes that sentiment with every flick of his whisk. A self-described "garnish freak," Bouchard passionately supports the idea that smaller - and closer to home - is best.
   
   "There's such a difference in the food when you grow it yourself, or procure it from a small, local farm," he insists. "The flavors are much more intense. Sure, I can get organic lettuce and vegetables shipped in from New Mexico. But the produce I buy from Alewive's Farm down the street is so much better. That's because they're small, and their soil hasn't been exhausted by multiple plantings."
   
   Although born and professionally trained right here in Maine (Bouchard is a culinary arts graduate from Southern Maine Technical College), he sharpened his skills preparing fresh seafood at the Hilton Hotel in Key West, Florida. Two years ago he joined the inn's staff, heading up a team of eight chefs responsible for everything from weddings (they average three each weekend during the summer) to corporate events to the homemade cookies delivered to each guest room at night.
   
   One senses his particular satisfaction, however, with these dark days of December, when the inn is lit from within by firelight and candles, and luxuriously draped in holiday balsam. A slower pace replaces the harried bustle of the high season, and the inn's lobby resembles an elegant living room. Overstuffed chairs are pulled close to the glowing fireplace and classical music plays in the background. Guests awaiting their dinner seatings sip wine, and Bouchard himself may join them for a brief visit.
   
   "I'm a family-oriented guy," he says. "I think that affects the way things turn out in the kitchen."
   
   Among the "family" recipes he turns out is the Audubon Room's signature lobster bisque. While the inn has undergone a number of face-lifts over the years, the bisque remains a constant, garnering Best Bisque awards years before Bouchard's arrival. Creamy without being thick, infused with tarragon and a splash of dry sherry, it hints at the sweetness one finds in only the freshest lobsters.
   
   "I call Jody down at Alewive's and tell him, ‘Find me the lobsters with the hardest shells imaginable,' " explains Bouchard. "He would have just pulled them that morning. Those old-shell lobsters are full of meat and really sweet."
   
   Chef Bouchard Bouchard adheres slavishly to the twin tenets of super-freshness and local procurement.
   ...
   While seafood features prominently on the appetizer menu (Maine mussels simmered in Octoberfest beer, roasted garlic, and leeks; Damariscotta oysters with a spicy cocktail sauce; or golden-crispy goat cheese Maine crabcakes resting in lemon carrot coulis), Bouchard likes to tempt patrons with the Audubon Room's homemade sausages. He fills his casings with such marvelous combinations as duck with champagne, rosemary with venison, or chicken with apple.
   
   But he saves his true artistry - his "garnish freak" tendencies, if you will - for dinner. A creamy, seafood-artichoke risotto arrives amid a fireworks-like display of minced herbs, crisp vegetables, and a generous, sweet lobster claw. Roast breast of duck looks almost festive in a deep, red lingonberry sauce; golden onion rings form a garland atop a rack of lamb. In another venue this might seem pretentious, but instead it's fun, whimsical . . . and absolutely delicious.
   
   Although Bouchard and his staff do some baking in-house, this chef's "it-takes-a-village" ideal of bringing the best of local Maine into the dining room extends to dessert as well.