Françoise Kayler

Françoise Kayler (? in Bois-Colombes, a suburb of Paris, France – 24 April 2010, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada)^[1] was a journalist and food critic. She wrote for La Presse for more than forty years^[2] and was the most-prominent culinary critic of Quebec.^[3]

Françoise Kayler
Born	1930 (1930) Bois-Colombes, France
Died	24 April 2010(2010-04-24) (aged 79–80) Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Occupation(s)	Journalist, food critic, dietician
Years active	1961–2006
Employer	La Presse
Awards	Albert Desjardins Medal (1994)[1]

Biography

In 1951 Kayler married Jean Vaillancourt, a Québécoise journalist at La Presse. When he died ten years later, Kayler gained employment with the same newspaper.^[2] In 1964 she began creating a page on food. Initially, this involved food in general, involving recipes and reports on agriculture. After a few years she started writing culinary reviews. She helped to promote a culture of good eating. Her reviews sometimes brought death threats, and to preserve her anonymity she wore a wig and faced away from the camera for television interviews.^[2] Kayler became the most prominent culinary and gastronomic critic of Quebec.^[3]

After retirement, Kayler continued writing about food in the blog Gastronote. She sat on a number of committees to promote local restaurateurs, producers and regional products.^[3] Kayler died in her sleep at the age of 80. In March 2011 the Quebec Institute of Tourism and Hospitality (ITHQ) inaugurated a room in her honour. The foundation of the ITHQ awards a Françoise Kayler scholarship^[4] for cooking and sommelier students.^[2]