French flair at La Baguette

Quebec City natives Sonia Ratté and Olivier Dutil bring some French flavour to Revelstoke, B.C., with La Baguette Catering

These delicious-looking pastries and wraps are available at three locations of La Baguette Catering in Revelstoke, B.C. — Photo courtesy La Baguette Catering

Sonia Ratté opened La Baguette Catering in Revelstoke, B.C., in 2010 and very quickly became so busy that she asked her partner, Olivier Dutil, to join her in the business. The Quebec City couple had worked together before, and, realizing they needed to have separate areas of responsibility, the pair agreed that Ratté would take care of the food production and Dutil would manage the front of house. It’s their formula for a conflict-free partnership, and it works.

It works so well, in fact, that Ratté and Dutil now have two more food outlets. There is another, larger La Baguette at the bottom of the Revelstoke Mountain Resort ski hill and one at the top; those are open only during the ski season.

La Baguette achieved a high ranking in the 2014 Kootenay Business Best Places to Eat & Drink Awards, so we asked Ratté what makes them so popular.

What’s La Baguette famous for?

We make everything in-house, including our croissants. We’re known for our fresh pasta, organic sourdough bread and homemade gelato—40 flavours. We use organic flour and sugar, and local ingredients as much as we can, but we import cheeses from France and Quebec. We get beef from Greenslide Cattle Company near Revelstoke and veggies and herbs from Terra Firma Farms. We use milk from Dutchmen Dairy in Sicamous.

What inspires you?

I just have lots of ideas in my head, but we have to be careful—we can’t make our menu too big. I like to bring food ideas from Quebec. The lifestyle here in Revelstoke is the best, and we’re trying to bring some food influences from Quebec to Revy, to make my world perfect.

Do you have a favourite local restaurant? And a favourite in Quebec?

Here, we love to go to the patio at the Woolsey Creek Bistro, where we both used to work, and the Big Eddy Pub—it’s great to stop for a beer after a bike ride. In Quebec City, L’Affaire est Ketchup has classic French food and it’s awesome.