HISTORY
A Man for the Times
By Kay Orde
Louis Perrotte, CEC, AAC, built a legendary
business at Le Coq Au Vin, the fine-dining
French restaurant in Orlando, Fla., where
for 28 years he was chef and which he
co-owned with his wife Magdalena. Such a
long, productive career, he says, began with
the simple joy of cooking.
quality food at a fair price, with customer
satisfaction and employee happiness our
daily concerns.”
Perrotte
“Then it became an obsession that was
constantly being fed by the energy and
knowledge of others,” he says. “And
I was taking full advantage of all the
opportunities that were in front of me,
giving me the chance to change with the
times and keep interested in the trade.”
Three years ago, Perrotte sold Le Coq Au
Vin to his friend, Reimund Pitz, CEC, CCE,
AAC, who today “is running the show.” He
remains as a partner, and although he’s
retired from cooking every day, he hasn’t
left the industry.
him get elected to his continental director
position two years ago, he says. He adds
that ACF’s longstanding role in WACS
is something the organization has an
obligation to continue.
Perrotte attributes his professional success
first to growing up in his parents’ pastry
shop in France, where he witnessed their
dedication to their business. He remembers
tagging along with his dad on daily trips
to farms and markets to find the freshest
products. “And later, I saw the love, the
attention to detail, the respect for tradition
and his pride in displaying his work,” Perrotte
says. “I experienced the highs and lows of
running a business, the joy and satisfaction
of a job well done, the comments and the
accolades, but most important, the hard
work it took to be successful.”
Perrotte is the World Association of Chefs
Societies’ (WACS) Continental Director
for the Americas, and his involvement
in WACS, a global network of chefs
associations founded in 1928 in Paris, is
longstanding. “The challenges, as in most
international organizations, are numerous,”
he says. “Other than the expected
differences in language, resources and
values, we have to take into consideration
regional and local traditions in cooking
styles and taste, government regulations,
and what kind of culinary education is
available, if any.”
He joined ACF as a charter member of
ACF Nation’s Capital Chefs Association
in 1972, and is today a member of ACF
Central Florida Chapter. He received
the 2007 Hermann G. Rusch Chef’s
Achievement Award, and Le Coq Au
Vin, which has consistently earned top
food ratings in Zagat’s America’s Top
Restaurants, received ACF Achievement of
Excellence awards in 2003 and 2009.
He also credits several years as executive
chef for Marriott Corporation, where he
added managerial skills and business
know-how to his culinary experience. But
the most important reason for his success,
he says, was teaming up with Magdalena,
whose strengths in managing the front of
the house complemented his back-of-the-
house experience. “We worked hand in
hand, through good and bad times, making
As continental director, Perrotte is the
liaison between the group of countries that
come under the Americas umbrella and the
WACS executive committee and board of
directors. “It is a must to know about all the
differences and act accordingly,” he says.
“Knowledge of needs and expectations
and a careful approach in teaching and
coaching are also a must.”
Perrotte says what ACF should focus on
in the future is the education of cooks and
its certification programs. And, he says,
it’s the ideal place for young culinarians
who are looking to the future. “ACF is well-
established, and anyone with an interest in
bettering his or her future can fill that need
by joining ACF.” ACF benefits, he says, from
the young people “who bring the same
thing that I and all past members brought—
our energy, our ideas, our desire to make
our profession a noble one.”
His knowledge of the needs of WACS in
the Americas, his language proficiency, and
his relationships and friendships with most
of the associations, as well as his familiarity
with ACF’s resources and strengths, helped
Perrotte continues in that endeavor today,
in addition to fulfilling his WACS duties and
giving back to the profession and to ACF.
With such a busy, productive life, he isn’t
thinking about retiring anytime soon. “I still
have tons of desires to satisfy,” he says. “I
want to go till the end of my dreams.”
