Love to eat? You'll love this store

It’s pretty darned wonderful when a friend you’ve loved and admired for a lifetime receives accolades in her professional life, too. That’s been the case with my friend Jill Foucré the past couple of years – let me explain.

After a 30-year career in health insurance, Jill did something she’d always dreamed of. Combining her love of cooking and entertaining with her business expertise and family heritage, she opened a gourmet retail store named for her grandfather, a French chef. Marcel’s Culinary Experience (in Glen Ellyn, Illinois) is not even four years old yet, but Jill and her retail store/cooking school have already been featured in The Wall Street Journal and Money Magazine. Jill was at the The International Home + Housewares Show here in Chicago last weekend to accept the Kitchenware Retailer of the Year Award and the U.S. Global Innovator Award from Gourmet Retailer. After she was here the Chicago Tribune published a video following our award winner snaking around the gigantic show at McCormick Place – they wanted to see how a winner does it!

I’ve written about Jill Foucré here on the Safe & Sound blog before. I spent countless nights hanging out at Chez Foucré with Jill and her sister Jenny when we were teenagers. Their dad was a handsome man with an exotic first name: Jacques. Their mother, Suzanne, was a stand-out blonde. They were a young family in a beautiful old house: high ceilings, modern furniture, bookshelves packed with hardcover books, and they even owned sculpture!

That’s Jill at Marcel’s Grand Opening gala in 2011, in the middle, flanked by her sister Jenny, and Jenny’s husband Dean.

Jenny, Jill and I were in our high school band together and can still tell story after story about exploits on school buses to neighboring towns, building floats for homecoming parades, band trips to California and Florida. Jill is a gifted pianist and played bassoon in the band. Jenny played flute and married her high school sweetheart, a French horn player. I was the band librarian. Music brought us together, and we’ve been friends ever since.

Jill’s love for the culinary experience came from her father’s side. Namely, from her grandfather, Marcel. I never had the privilege of meeting Jill’s paternal grandfather, but I’ve heard a lot about him. Marcel Foucré was a French chef and restaurateur. He grew up in Tours, and Jill and her father, Jacques, went to France a year before she opened the store to trace Marcel’s footsteps. To encourage you to visit this award-winning store yourself, I’ll leave you with a quote from the editor of Gourmet Retailer:

“While a relative newcomer to the kitchenware retailing industry, Jill Foucré and her team have created a successful and thriving concept that combines the best brands of the housewares industry in a space that is warm and welcoming,” says Anna Wolfe, Editor-in-Chief of The Gourmet Retailer. “In addition to being active in the community, Marcel’s has also met a need amongst its customers — helping them develop their cooking skills — all while having fun. Marcel’s Culinary Experience is proof that it is possible for independent retailers to thrive in today’s competitive marketplace.”

Felicitations, mon amie. Tu es magnifique.