WILLIAMSBURG — Acclaimed James Beard award-winning Chef Marcel Desaulniers passed away on Tuesday, May 28 at the age of 78.
Born in Rhode Island, Desaulniers graduated from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in 1965 before joining the Marines to serve in Vietnam.
“I attribute my success in life to three things. A great upbringing, my service in the Marine Corps, and the Culinary Institute of America (CIA),” Desaulniers told the institute’s blog.
After the service, he worked as saucier at Hotel Pierre in New York City from 1968 to 1970 before moving to Williamsburg. He honed his craft working for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation until opening Williamsburg Food Brokers, a food service business, in 1975.
In 1980, Desaulniers opened the popular Trellis Café Restaurant & Grill in Downtown Williamsburg with business partners John Curtis and Tom Power.
The Trellis became known for its famous Death by Chocolate dessert, which inspired a cookbook of the same name and catapulted Desaulniers to fame.
He would go on to host several television cooking shows, including “The Burgermeister” and “Death by Chocolate,” and appeared on many others in addition to writing ten cookbooks.
After 29 years of business, Desaulniers sold Trellis Café Restaurant & Grill in 2009.
Desaulniers and his wife, Connie, then opened MAD About Chocolate, a café and art gallery, in 2012. The couple sold the business in 2016 on his retirement.
Link to Marcel Desaulniers’ obituary.
No memorial services have been announced at this time.
