Chef Bernard Cretier says he loves to prove his critics wrong.
When he and his wife and business partner, Priscilla, decided to open a fine French restaurant in the middle of nowhere, skeptical friends told them they would never succeed.
Thirty-one years later, Le Vichyssois is alive and well.
Most customers are not aware of the illustrious credentials that Bernard Cretier built between leaving his hometown of Vichy in Auvergne, France, and immigrating to the Chicago area. He apprenticed under Jean and Pierre Troisgros in Roanne, France, worked for Paul Bocuse in Lyon and worked for four years at Maxim’s in Paris.
Le Vichyssois resembles a French country inn, with 80 seats spread throughout several small dining rooms, including one with just a single romantic table. The food is classic yet contemporary, service is professional but unpretentious, and prices are moderate.
Priscilla Cretier, who runs the front-of-the-house, says: “We like people to feel relaxed. Being out here, we’re slower-paced, and we can relax a little more.” She notes that “out here” is 52 miles northwest of downtown Chicago.
Much like their friends Jean and Doris Banchet, who opened Le Français in an off-the-beaten-path location many years ago a bit closer to Chicago, the Cretiers had faith that customers would find and support them when they learned how good the food was.
“I wanted to own the land and building and have no partners, and I didn’t have too much money,” Bernard Cretier recalls.
PHONE: (815) 385-8221 WEBSITE: OPENED: 1976 CUISINE: French PER-PERSON DINNER CHECK AVERAGE WITH BEVERAGES: $45 BEST-SELLING DISH: salmon en croûte with Champagne sauce SEATS: 80 AVERAGE WEEKLY COVERS: 250 CHEF-OWNER: Bernard Cretier PARTNER: Priscilla Cretier
The location of the one-story, 1920s building on a country highway in McHenry County still seems like an odd spot for a fine restaurant, located near the rustic Volo Antiques Mall and across the street from a taqueria. It’s certainly not a destination that diners would accidentally stumble upon. Yet those who love French cuisine come from miles around for classic dishes including smoked salmon terrine, lobster and clam bisque, salmon en croûte and rack of lamb with basil sauce.
Saucier wins rave reviews “I cook the way I like it,” says Bernard Cretier, who has lightened his sauces as the public’s tastes and waistlines have changed. The chef makes a different sauce with almost every dish. For example, the asparagus flan appetizer has a lobster sauce; galette of crab comes with curry sauce; salmon en croûte has Champagne sauce; and roast chicken is complemented by a sweet-and-spicy chile sauce. Bernard Cretier has become so well known for his sauces that he has developed a demi-glace he sells through a distributor to other restaurants. “If there’s a better saucier anywhere in the world, I’d love to meet him,” says Phil Vettel, restaurant critic for the Chicago Tribune. “He jokes that he’s a dinosaur, but I say if he’s a dinosaur, point me to the tar pits.” Market methods Bernard Cretier also observes the Old World tradition of personally going to the wholesale produce market—some 60 miles from the restaurant—each week so he can see, touch and smell what he’s buying. He is pleased to see that many products that he once had to import are now grown in the region. He also likes the camaraderie of chatting with chefs and producers at the market, officially known as the Chicago International Produce Market. When the Chicago City Council passed a ban on the sale of foie gras last year, Bernard Cretier’s friends at the market kiddingly accused him of bribing the aldermen so his suburban restaurant would benefit from Chicagoans who could no longer get foie gras in the city. But in fact, the restaurant does not regularly feature the world’s priciest ingredients, like foie gras, caviar and truffles, so that prices can be held down. The highest-priced items on the current menu are Dover sole at $34.75 and two steaks at $30.95 each. For example, the chef just took lobster off the menu since prices jumped. He waited until morel mushroom prices came down this spring before buying them. Until the price of the spring mushroom levels off, the chef buys less-expensive shiitake and white mushrooms. Pricing matters Bernard Cretier blames the demise of fine dining, which hurt many restaurants in recent years, on the congressional action to erode tax deductions for restaurant meals as business entertainment, which once totaled 100 percent. Most of his clientele, however, come in primarily for social occasions. While the average check is $45, diners on a tighter budget can scoop up four courses from the restaurant’s Country Bistro Menu for a fixed price of $28.50. They get somewhat smaller portions of some of the same dishes that are on the main menu and may choose from six appetizers, two salads, five entrées and one dessert from the evening’s eight choices on the dessert cart. All desserts are made in-house. Some 99 percent of customers order wine from the French and American list, where the bulk of the wines are priced between $35 and $40. “We like to keep them in the medium-price range so we can accommodate our regular customers and not just special occasions,” says Priscilla Cretier, who has added “fun martinis” to the beverage menu in recent years. Division of labor for marriage and business The separation of labor the Cretiers adhere to works well for their marriage and their business relationship, they say. “We never argue in front of the staff. If I see something wrong in the dining room, I tell Priscilla and not the dining room staff, and she does the same with me in the kitchen,” Bernard Cretier says. Although he would like to visit guests in the dining room, he rarely makes an appearance there. “I like to say hello, but when it’s mostly people I know, nothing gets done in the kitchen, so I don’t come out,” he says. Guests are likely to spot familiar faces among the staff, as there is little turnover, Priscilla Cretier says. “We have pretty long-term people,” she says, except for college students who leave when they graduate. The Cretiers would like to attract younger customers, but they have found that young adults who are raising families generally have neither the time nor the money to dine out. They have developed a contingent of young parents as customers by offering limited carryout. Chefs and owners of other French restaurants in the Chicago suburbs provide friendly competition for Le Vichyssois, the Cretiers say. For example, Michael Maddox, chef-partner of Le Titi de Paris, says: “He cooks with passion, like we do. It’s always a pleasure to see him; he’s always very personable, and so is his wife. We wish each other well.” Maddox says the two restaurants share some of the same customers. “I’m happy if they are here on Tuesday and there on Wednesday,” he says. “We are educating palates of people in the area.” Maddox recently referred a wedding party to Le Vichyssois because Le Titi was booked on the date in question. “There are plenty of customers for both of us,” he says. Mentor plans to keep teaching Bernard Cretier has trained at least 30 young chefs who have gone on to become successful chefs in their own right. He often provides positions for culinary school students from area programs. The chef claims he has a reputation for being “a screamer” in the kitchen but that he has grown calmer over the years. No matter what goes on in the kitchen, turnover there remains low. One young chef who worked for him for three years, Aaron Browning, now executive chef of Koda Bistro in Chicago, says he learned more from Bernard Cretier than he learned in culinary school. “You learn traditional French cuisine, and then you’ll be able to turn that into whatever you want. He does it the same way every time and takes no shortcuts. You had to do it over again if you didn’t do it right,” Browning says. Bernard Cretier likely will have the opportunity to train many more young chefs, since he has no immediate retirement plans. “I like what I’m doing,” he says.Menu Sampler Assortment of cold pâtés—quail, rillette and duck $8.95Tomato and onion tart with goat cheese $7.95 Galette of crab with curry sauce $9.95 JCassoulet of escargots and mushroom bourguignonne $8.95 Smoke salmon terrine “Le Vichyssois” $9.95 Lobster and clam bisque $6 Sea scallops with asparagus tips and lobster sauce $23.95Fillet of Dover sole with vermouth sauce $34.75 Braised lamb shanks with flageolets $18.95 Roast duck with sherry vinegar sauce $20.95 Angus strip steak with peppercorn sauce $30.95 Vichy cake of almond meal, butter cream, raspberries and whipped cream $7.75French kiss—brandy-soaked chocolate sponge cake with pastry cream $7.75 Caramel mousse $7.75 Cheese plate—chef’s selection $8
