Stephen Langlois is a

Chicago area The Chicago metropolitan area, also colloquially referred to as Chicagoland, is a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States. Encompassing 10,286 sq mi (28,120 km2), the metropolitan area includes the city of Chicago, its suburbs and hint ...

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

and author (with Margaret Guthrie) of ''Prairie: Cuisine from the Heartland'' (1991). As chef of

Prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

restaurant in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Langlois was a pioneer in the

local food Local food is food that is produced within a short distance of where it is consumed, often accompanied by a social structure and supply chain different from the large-scale supermarket system. Local food (or "locavore") movements aim to co ...

movement. Langlois was an innovative chef who defined American Midwestern cuisine in the 20th century. As chef of the now-closed Prairie from 1986 to 1997, Langlois showcased strictly Heartland regional fare, even steering clear of ocean fish. As

Alice Waters Alice Louise Waters (born April 28, 1944) is an American chef, restaurateur, and author. In 1971 she opened Chez Panisse, a Berkeley, California restaurant famous for its role in creating the farm-to-table movement and for pioneering Californi ...

delineated

California cuisine California cuisine is a food movement that originated in California. The cuisine focuses on dishes that are driven by local and sustainable ingredients with an attention to seasonality and an emphasis on the bounty of the region. The food is hi ...

, so Langlois highlighted foodstuffs of the Midwest, "Stephen Langlois was one of the pioneering chefs who brought local food to national attention during the height of the contemporary awakening to American cuisine when he opened the groundbreaking Prairie in Printers Row." such as

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

pheasant,

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

whitefish and Sheboygan sausage. The food at Prairie, Langlois said, was inspired by the

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

Prairie School Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in ...

architecture of the restaurant, which was located in Chicago's historic Printers Row neighborhood. Langlois is currently executive chef of the

Hyatt Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American multinational hospitality company headquartered in the Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchises luxury and business hotels, resorts, and vacat ...

Lodge in

Oak Brook, Illinois Oak Brook is a village mostly in DuPage County with a small portion in Cook County in Illinois. Per the 2020 census, the population was 8,163. This suburb of Chicago has the headquarters of several companies and organizations including Ace H ...

, a facility owned by

McDonald's Corp. McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger ...

and which caters mostly to the staff and executives from its corporate headquarters. Foodservice Equipment & Supplies
,""2003 Tabletop Award Winners," 10/1/2003 A graduate of the hospitality program at

Triton College Triton College is a public community college in River Grove, Illinois. History Junior College District 300 was voted into existence in a referendum in March 1964. In March 1965, a second referendum was passed approving the purchase of an campus ...

River Grove, Illinois River Grove is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,612 at the 2020 census. Geography River Grove is located at (41.925830, -87.840135). According to the 2010 census, River Grove has a total area of , all lan ...

and the

Culinary Institute of America Culinary arts are the cuisine arts of food preparation, cooking and presentation of food, usually in the form of meals. People working in this field – especially in establishments such as restaurants – are commonly called chefs or ...

Hyde Park, New York Hyde Park is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States, bordering the Hudson River north of Poughkeepsie. Within the town are the hamlets of Hyde Park, East Park, Staatsburg, and Haviland. Hyde Park is known as the hometown of Frankl ...

, Langlois also worked at the Chicago restaurants Cafe D'Artagnan and

Maxim's Maxim's is a restaurant in Paris, France, located at No. 3 rue Royale in the 8th . It is known for its Art Nouveau interior decor. In the mid 20th century Maxim's was regarded as the most famous restaurant in the world. History Early history ...

and the

Hotel Pulitzer Hotel Pulitzer is a five star luxury hotel in Amsterdam, located on the Prinsengracht and Keizersgracht. The hotel consists of 25 historic canal houses from the 17th and 18th century, merged into one and opened as a hotel in 1970 after several can ...

Amsterdam, Netherlands Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban are ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Langlois, Stephen Living people American chefs American male chefs Writers from Chicago American food writers Cuisine of the Midwestern United States Year of birth missing (living people) Culinary Institute of America Hyde Park alumni

See also

References