Hubert Marsolais played football for the Concordia Stingers in the early 1990s and now owns three of the top restaurants in Montreal.
Yet to Marsolais, a restaurant should please every sense. “In French we say ‘créer un lieu,’” the Quebecois restaurateur points out. “It means to create a place, somewhere that people can gather around food, of course, but also design, good wine and human interaction.”
And although his menus are always impeccable, Marsolais’s restaurants are known just as much for their elegant ambiances as they are for their appetizers and aperitifs.
According to a 2014 Montreal Gazette review of Le Serpent: “The decor is very stylish... The acoustics are so well thought out that in this relatively noisy room, you’ll have no problem making conversation. The floor staff is young, attractive, smiley and very sharp.”
Although many universities tried to lure the talented young Montreal football player, Marsolais chose Concordia because of its urban setting — where he thrived on the field.
“Hubert was a gifted athlete who had a great pair of hands and tremendous body control,” says Pat Sheahan, BSc 78, GrDip 81, MA 99, Stingers head coach from 1989 to 1999.
“He was one of several outstanding francophone receivers I recruited to Concordia during my career there,” he adds. “And although he was very intelligent and deeply philosophical, he also had a lighter side which made him fun to be around. That he has successful career in the hospitality business was no surprise to me.”
Marsolais studied in Concordia’s Department of Political Science in the early 1990s before leaving to focus on his career in hospitality.
He says the classes he took across a number of departments — philosophy, anthropology, sociology, women’s studies and art history among others — shaped him as the businessman he’s become.
Hubert Marsolais, right, with Claude Pelletier, Marsolais’s business partner of 17 years and executive chef and co-owner at three of his restaurants.