Active in the Masonic Lodge he was also a member of the Royal Order of Jesters. My uncle in contrast was a restauranter, networker, and bon vivant. There is little question that Mauran was a remarkable entrepreneur. (Except for the back office where my uncle entertained the town’s movers and shakers.) For the almost 45 years the Chalet Lucerne was in business it did not serve any alcohol. My uncle however served only a charcoal barbecued chicken menu ribs and other entrees were not on the menu. My uncle’s Chalet Lucerne restaurant offered basically the same chicken menu that most people now recognize as Swiss Chalet. Whether Maurice Mauran was the idea person behind the barbecued chicken, the Swiss Roll, the dipping gravy, the Cole slaw, the finger bowls with a lemon slice, or it was my uncle is not clear. I also remember the menu, especially the Swiss roll which he had catered in. I remember visiting him and being introduced to staff who had been working there for decades. His Chalet Lucerne was the go-to location for a barbecued chicken meal, especially after a Montreal Canadiens game at the Forum. He ran that business very successfully until 1982 when he passed away and the restaurant and building were sold by his estate. I don’t have a confirmed date for the formation of the Chalet Lucerne, but it was probably 1948. Catherine Street in Montreal, close to Guy Street. Mauran seems to have continued operating the Chalet Bar-B-Q restaurant while my uncle started his own restaurant, Chalet Lucerne, on Ste. I was told as a child that Mauran and my uncle had some sort of falling out that resulted in the Chalet partnership being dissolved. He had trained and apprenticed as a cook in Switzerland. Like Mauran he was a Swiss immigrant landing in Montreal in the 1930s. That partner was my uncle, Joseph (Joe) Bossart. Passing mention is made of a partner he had in establishing the Chalet Bar-B-Q business. (I lean towards the 1944 date.) Credit is generally given to Mauran for the concept of barbecued chicken.

The Swiss Chalet menu traces back further to an original Chalet Bar-B-Q restaurant in Montreal, alternatively listed as formed in 19. The origins of the Swiss Chalet chain of restaurants trace back to Maurice Mauran and his first Toronto restaurant established in 1954 according to the Prezi article. All articles are lacking some relevant information that should prove helpful to these barbecue sleuths. I also found an older National Post article on the subject. An article in blogTO reviewed the origins of Swiss Chalet in Toronto.

These include a Wall Street Journal article that looked into the origins of barbecue in Montreal and Swiss Chalet. A few articles have popped up in my reading list in the past couple of months that discuss and somewhat investigate the roots of Swiss Chalet and its barbecue tradition.

Royal order of jesters 2017