Balance. This is Ricardo Larrivée's philosophy as he skillfully works on a number of culinary projects. It is this leitmotif that also led him to revamp his magazine, Ricardo. It now has new features as well as a new look. Last Wednesday, the chef invited his partners for dessert at his new office space in Lemoyne – a first for Ricardo Media — to unveil the results of a year of hard work.
At first glance, the magazine is surprising. Instead of the traditional image of a dish on the cover, readers get to see Ricardo actually dressed as a chef for the first time. In fact, he has avoided the title of chef in the past but now accepts it with pride. "I consider myself a chef now because I am no longer alone; I have a team of talented chefs who create recipes. I run a company but I am also a chef."
Celebrating its eighth anniversary, the magazine now counts twenty full-time employees and is owned solely by Ricardo and his wife, Brigitte Coutu. "Since we're independent, we wanted to centralize everything out of Montreal. We hired a lot of people. We wanted to add content and journalists from all over took part in the project."
The chef is surrounded by a team of four with whom he goes over various themes presented by Brigitte: "We suggest recipes. Once accepted, all the chefs create, develop and adapt them."
Working alone often limits creativity in the kitchen. This new team has opened new horizons for Ricardo. "For example, when I wanted to make a sucre à la crème (similar to fudge) and it didn't turn out to my liking after three tries, I moved on. I didn't have the time to devote to it. You need new blood to keep renewing yourself. You need young people, people with drive, and this is what we looked for. We can critique each other, encourage each other and give each other ideas."
"Strangely enough, the more the company grows, the better our quality of life becomes because each person is extremely good at what they do," he continues. "So we don't need to worry about everything. We can delegate. We can both concentrate on what we do best. This allows us to focus on the global vision: I have a global vision of the kitchen and Brigitte has a global vision of the company."
Related projects
After winning over English viewers with his show Ricardo and Friends, which airs on the Food Network, the chef is now preparing to attract online users by offering an English version of his website, ricardocuisine.com. "Ricardo will be everywhere in the United States and English Canada. I have never changed. It's still the same food. I challenged myself to help people everywhere discover what goes on in Quebec, by presenting the best and the worst, our shepherd's pie, our poutine, our seafood and all of our contradictions."
Ricardo is also the spokesperson for La Tablée des chefs, an organization that offers cooking courses for underprivileged youth: "It's mainly teaching kids how to cook which, to me, is important. There should be compulsory cooking classes in school from kindergarten to the end of high school. I'm not fighting a war against fast food. Make our youth into gourmets and they will demand the best for themselves."
Unlimited energy
When Ricardo laughingly mentions that he had to visit the dentist to get his wisdom teeth removed, you have to wonder where he gets all that energy and joie de vivre: "From all the people around me," he quickly replies. "I often think of myself as an athlete. I don't deny myself anything, but I pay attention to what I eat. Getting enough sleep and spending time with my family are important. Balance is everything. If I don't have enough hands to juggle everything, we need to add another person to the team. We're hiring someone new right now."
A bit like an athlete, the more he takes on, the more he excels. "What I'm doing today in the United States and Canada, I wouldn't have done that ten years ago. I can do it now. Everyone around me makes me happy and stimulates me. Life is beautiful. We are living our dream. We dreamed about having a magazine and now we have one. I am in no position to complain."