Olivier Perret and Air France: High-Flying Gastronomy

Since 2023, if you’re traveling from Canada in business class with Air France, you have the chance to enjoy dishes created by Olivier Perret. The Montreal chef joins a lineage of renowned French chefs like Glenn Viel, Julien Royer, Dominique Crenn, and Anne-Sophie Pic, who curate gastronomic experiences on various routes of the airline worldwide.

For Olivier Perret, it is a tremendous privilege to partner with such a prestigious brand, whose reputation for gastronomy and elegance is well established. Air France has also been showcasing its Bonnes Tables during the Montréal en lumière event for several years, celebrating its 90th anniversary recently.

“It’s quite an honor to represent France this way with Air France in Canada. It’s a great source of pride,” confides the chef, who is currently preparing for the grand reopening of the restaurant Le Renoir at the Sofitel Montreal Le Carré Doré.

A pride that comes with a certain pressure, Olivier admits. “It was very impressive to join a team made up of some of the greatest chefs in the world, many of whom are triple Michelin stars. There was a lot of pressure from the very beginning,” he continues. “For me, Air France represents elegance, fine gastronomy, a know-how, and a way of being. That’s what I wanted to convey in my cooking: to create refined cuisine that is comforting, flavorful, and makes for a beautiful journey.

From Chalon-sur-Saône to Montreal

Born in Burgundy and exiled in the Americas for over 25 years (“And married to a Québécois!” emphasizes the man himself), Olivier Perret fully expresses this dual identity in his cuisine: the seasonality of local products paired with a high level of mastery of French culinary techniques and know-how. It is the sum of all his experiences, from Lyon, where he took his first steps in the kitchen, to Montreal, where he has served as the executive chef of Le Renoir for over 10 years, with stints in Washington and Chicago in between.

“I think a good cook is someone who can integrate well into their region. They need to understand what’s happening there in terms of ingredients, producers, and harvests, all of that. The cuisine I create at Le Renoir and the one I prepare for Air France are the same. I try to use seasonal products as much as possible,” he explains.

The menu, which changes with the seasons, showcases iconic products from Canada and Quebec, his adopted home: maple syrup (Olivier is also a culinary ambassador for Quebec Maple), cheeses, mushrooms, lobster, salicornia, and sumac, to name a few. “I think it’s important to source as many products as possible and highlight the many producers who do excellent work in the region,” he continues. “The idea is to extend the experience of people traveling in Canada all the way to Paris. To leave them with a little memory of Quebec and Canada on their plate.”

Of course, offering such a high level of gastronomy at 10,000 meters altitude comes with its challenges. The perception of flavors, in particular, is not the same while flying. “It’s important to have a cuisine that is flavorful, delicious, and indulgent,” explains Olivier Perret. He has been able to rely on the expertise of Air France’s chefs to adapt his creations to the realities of in-flight service. The chef also sees several similarities between aviation and gastronomy: “In an airplane, you need an entire crew. It’s not just a pilot. In a kitchen, it’s the same. It’s really a team effort, and I want to highlight that.”

Just the First

The Montreal chef admits he was very moved when his dishes took flight for the very first time on June 1, 2023. “It was quite an incredible emotional moment. You don’t think it will ever happen, and then it does,” he recalls. “One of my sous-chefs made me laugh. He said, ‘It’s like you won the lottery.’ And that’s kind of how it feels!”

While he is very honored to represent his adopted country in the Air France brigade, the chef remains grounded and hopes that others will have the same opportunity after him.

“I just want to be the first, and for Canada to have other signature chefs after me.”

Safe travels!

Written by Jean-Philippe Tastet
Photography by Mikael Lebleu