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Stephen Langlois facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Stephen Langlois is a well-known Chicago area chef and author. He wrote a cookbook called Prairie: Cuisine from the Heartland in 1991 with Margaret Guthrie. As the head chef at the Prairie restaurant in Chicago, Langlois was a leader in the "local food" movement. This means he focused on using ingredients grown or produced very close to the restaurant.

Chef Langlois was a creative chef who helped define what American Midwestern cuisine means. Midwestern cuisine uses foods and cooking styles from the central United States. From 1986 to 1997, he was the chef at Prairie, which is now closed. He only used foods from the Midwest, like pheasant from Iowa, whitefish from Lake Superior, and sausage from Sheboygan. He even avoided using fish from the ocean! Just like Alice Waters helped define "California cuisine," Langlois showed what Midwestern food was all about.

Langlois said that the food at Prairie was inspired by the restaurant's design. The building was in Chicago's historic Printers Row area and had a special style called Frank Lloyd Wright Prairie School architecture.

Stephen Langlois's Career

Stephen Langlois has had an interesting career in cooking. He is currently the executive chef at the Hyatt Lodge in Oak Brook, Illinois. This hotel is owned by McDonald's Corp. and mostly serves staff and leaders from McDonald's main offices.

Langlois studied cooking at two different schools. He went to the hospitality program at Triton College in River Grove, Illinois. He also graduated from the famous Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. Before working at Prairie, he cooked at other Chicago restaurants like Cafe D'Artagnan and Maxim's. He also worked at the Hotel Pulitzer in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

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Stephen Langlois Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.