I have known Olivier Jean since that time when, in his mid-twenties, he launched the iconic Lac-Saint-Jean tourtière on the market.
I went to meet him at his home, at the time, in his apartment in Rock Forest where huge freezers with gables in the living room served as cool storage. He was then at the start of the gourmet adventure.
“I dove into it without really knowing what form it would take. And now I’m about to open my own store.”
It is there, in the cocoon of his delicatessen, that the freezers filled with ready-to-eat products now sit. His father’s spag sauce, his mother’s scallops (nicely renamed Sainte-Line shells) sit alongside the popular pogos and Lac tourtières that have made the brand famous. Soups, meatballs, pâtés, chili, pizzas (including one with pogos, a house specialty), honey sauce, blueberry pies and other delights line the shelves.
Olivier Jean is now associated with his parents, Line Claveau and Donald Jean, in the gourmet adventure Le Gars du Lac. The trio opens their delicatessen on rue Saint-Joseph, in Bromptonville, on June 12. In particular, you can find pogos and tourtières from Lac-Saint-Jean, the house specialties, as well as St-Laurent cheese from Saint-Bruno. (Jean Roy/La Tribune)
My Jeannoise eye immediately notices the bricks of cheddar at the sign of the cheese shop from my childhood.
“Wait, do you have St-Laurent?!”
“It’s a surprise for the people of the Lake. I told myself they would be happy to find it here.”
I confirm, we’re laughing. Between Bleuets rooted elsewhere, we understand each other. We know what detours are capable of those who, like us, sometimes miss the flavors of the kingdom.
A little over two years ago, the explosion at the CVA (Food Recovery Center) almost cost Olivier Jean his life. The contractor suffered second degree burns over 40% of his body. He is doing well today, he says. (Jean Roy/La Tribune)
The Great Burns at Heart
We’ve chatted several times since our first handshake when he launched his business.
The last one was a few months after the explosion at the CVA (Food Recovery Center). The one which blew down the building and which could have cost him his life, in March 2022. It was almost miraculously that he managed to escape the burning building. He suffered second-degree burns over 40% of his body and spent weeks in hospital. Death came lurking nearby, let’s put it that way.
I highlighted his great resilience. His strength. His fighting attitude in the face of adversity. His generosity, too.
Because even though he had not yet recovered, in November 2022, and he still had compressible fabric gloves on his hands for healing, he had undertaken to collect money for the benefit of the Grands Brûlés. To offer food respite, support, a safety net to people who were going through what he himself had gone through.
Now, even as he embarks on a new project and prepares to open his gourmet boutique on rue Saint-Joseph, in Brompton, he continues to be involved in the cause.
“In two years, we raised nearly $35,000 for the Grands Brûlés. We are also partnering with the Sainte-Justine Hospital and next year, we would like to be able to include the Quebec Hospital. We put on a show in tribute to the Cowboys Fringants to raise money. Giving back is a Source of great pride for me. I want to continue to help people who are not lucky enough to be surrounded like I was. I received so much, when it was difficult. Without that, I don’t think I would still be here.”
— Olivier Jean
Olivier Jean continues to be involved in helping severe burn victims, a cause that is close to his heart since he himself was treated for serious second-degree burns. (Jean Roy/La Tribune)
That’s when I ask him: how are you, Olivier? A little over two years after the explosion?
“I’m doing well. I can now play guitar, but not for very long. I still have a lot of pain in my back, it’s difficult for me to work standing for long periods of time. Hot, cold, I’m more sensitive to it. And I always have to be careful of the sun. I still live with the fear of propane. I did some tests over the fryer, I’m having trouble with that.”
With other stuff too.
“I easily imagine the worst, the disaster scenarios, now. If I go see a show at the Bell Centre, I tell myself that there could be a bomb or that something could fall from the ceiling. If I cross a bridge, I fear it will collapse. It’s like I’m constantly in hypervigilance. It doesn’t make me sad, it doesn’t stop me from going ahead and doing stuff, but it’s there.”
— Olivier Jean
Beside him, his mother’s gaze becomes veiled: “I still have difficulty talking about it, I quickly become emotional. We were so scared…”
“When you say he was 30 seconds away from having his legs amputated, because the swelling was too bad, that gives you an idea of what we went through,” adds Donald.
Donald Jean, Olivier’s father, put retirement aside to join his son’s entrepreneurial project. (Jean Roy/La Tribune)
You’ve come a long way, huh, Olivier?
“I’ve come a long way, yes. You could say that.”
In his cell phone, there are photos after the accident. To the hospital.
“I showed you some of them when we saw each other last time. But probably not this one. Until recently, I was unable to watch it. When I came out of the coma, I was already less upset than that.”
He is unrecognizable in the image. Face burned, features swollen. It hurts just to see his blistered skin, cardinal red color.
That’s where he’s coming back from.
He already had a little boy, Émile, when the tragedy occurred. He has since had another, Eli, who is 10 months old today. Two joys.
“It’s been a big two years for my girlfriend, for the whole family. I’ve always worked a lot, I still do, but I’m trying to balance my schedule more. The accident made me realize that. I want to have time with my loved ones.”
— Olivier Jean
Time is a key as much as a horizon.
“There is no secret to getting through trials. You have to take it day by day. And sometimes the days are long,” notes Line.
For Olivier’s mother, Line Claveau, there is only one way to get through the challenges: by moving forward one day at a time. (Jean Roy/La Tribune)
She and Donald had just moved to Estrie when the accident occurred.
“We wanted to get closer to our two children, our grandchildren. Fortunately we were very close.”
They were able to be at their son’s bedside. They also took the reins of the company to keep it afloat.
“Olivier had worked so hard to create Gars du Lac, we couldn’t let it die out. We had to keep the products available. We rolled up our sleeves, we put retirement aside, we held everything at arm’s length.”
— Line Claveau and Donald Jean
Last year, some 4,000 Lac tourtières came out of the ovens. With the pogos, they found themselves in the grocery store. The challenge of breaking into the supermarket was ambitious.
“We decided to review our plans. I have kept points of sale, especially in the region, but it is not easy to find a place in large stores, explains Olivier. It’s a marketing thing. You need to increase your tasting activities to make yourself known. In a context where people have less money in their wallets and where food prices are increasing, this is not easy. We chose to move towards something else, to focus on proximity.”
In the delicatessen that he opened on June 12 with his parents, Olivier Jean offers different cooked dishes, including pizzas with smoked salmon and others with pogos, a house specialty: “It’s like pepperoni -Gars du lac version cheese.” (Jean Roy/La Tribune)
Hence the idea of having a storefront, banking on unique products and the good taste of home cooking.
“We already had our kitchens in Brompton for a year. Moving here made sense. We want to get involved in the community, to offer what we know how to cook to the population,” summarizes Olivier, who is associated with his parents in the project.
The trio has a lot of ideas in the slow cooker. Christmas Eve boxes, others for 5 to 7, among others. From one idea to another, there is a common trait: family recipes steeped in childhood memories.
“There are recipes from my grandmothers, others from my parents,” emphasizes Olivier. We don’t reinvent anything, but we do things with heart, with good ingredients, also focusing on seasonal products. The honey in our honey sauce, for example, comes from a local producer. In fava season, we will surely make soup.”
Olivier Jean also offers a range of fine products in store: “I have done a lot of public markets over the years, I have come across different flavor creators, I wanted to introduce them to the population by offering their products .” (Jean Roy/La Tribune)
“We also supply different restaurateurs with our pogos. We will perhaps offer already cooked tourtière, in store. Because people are always surprised to see how many hours it takes to cook.”
No shortcut possible: making a typical Lac-Saint-Jean tourtière, cooking it, takes time. The crusted dish must wait in the oven for at least 7 or 8 hours, sometimes 12.
Which brings me back to time. This precious time that Line was talking about. A key ingredient in cooking, a key element for overcoming challenges as well as for setting up a business project. There is no secret in all of this, but there is one constant: time and generosity are part of the recipe.
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