Bernard Cretier, former chef-owner of Le Vichyssois, died on July 21. Bernard Cretier was born in Vichy, France, in 1946. He and his American wife Priscilla opened this lovely, discretely elegant but unpretentious restaurant in the far away Northwest village of Lakemoor, in Mc Henry county, in September of 76.
The white brick stylish building looked a bit like a French country ‘’Auberge’’’such as those that you would find in Normandy or in Burgundy.
The large windows of the two spacious dining rooms with well- spaced tables covered with white linen cloth and furnished with antiques, and traditional copper pots, opened on a pleasant small patio. Fresh flowers were always in evidence, and the silver, porcelain plates and pretty glasses were nicely arranged and classy. Art work decorated the walls, and the bar in the lobby where an impressive antique desk was serving as a hostess stand, was a very welcoming place.
Cretier and his family lived upstairs when they opened the place, as it was the case in many traditional provincial restaurants in France in the good old days. He then moved to Lake Barrington.
Before coming to Chicago in the late 60s, Cretier worked in the kitchens of such iconic French chefs as the Frères Troisgros and Paul Bocuse, as well as Maxim’s. In 1970 he became the executive chef at Maxim’s in Chicago were he stayed for 6 years.
I am sad to say that I never had an opportunity to eat at Le Vichyssois since from what I read and heard from other French chefs as well as from friends in Chicago, I am sure that I would have loved his traditional French cuisine, that he prepared with great care and precision.
Cretier was not an adept of the Nouvelle Cuisine and did not make a mystery of his convictions.
His repertoire was classic French.
His pâtés and terrines, such as quail with juniper berries, brandy-flavored duck, venison, or a simple pork country pâté were very popular. And so was of course his Vichyssoise soup, that all American tourists used to order at Maxim’s Rue Royale in Paris, and an oyster and lobster bisque. Some of the restaurant’s favorite main courses were veal in a morel cream sauce, duck in red wine and vinegar sauce, rack of lamb with a tarragon sauce, scallops in a lobster sauce or in puff pastry, and lake trout in a Champagne sauce. Vegetables were served in small copper pans or pots, and the salad often was a mix of French endive, mâche, and haricots verts fins in raspberry vinaigrette.
Women raved about his dark chocolate and almond base desserts. And according to a 1984 review in the Tribune, Cretier would serve a very good grapefruit-Champagne sorbet between appetizer and entrée. Nothing was very expensive, even the daily specials that changed often.
According to a review published in 84, that year the average cost of a dinner for two would average $ 60.00.
It was a modest price to pay for such quality.
Cretier decided to closed his restaurant in 2014 because, according to him, he was tired of working for so long hours.
It is sad to lose one of the most talented representative of the traditional traditional French cuisine we had in Chicago for so many years.