Interview with André LaRivière on his book “The Next Course: Reinventing The Modern Urban Restaurant”

On Monday, October 5^th, I had the opportunity to interview Mr. André LaRivière on his book “The Next Course: Reinventing the Modern Urban Restaurant”.  During this interview we discussed many important issues affecting the food and beverage industry, both today and in the future, highlighted throughout the book. André LaRivière, author of The Next Course: Reinventing the modern Urban Restaurant is a specialist in sustainability and social responsibility solutions in the food and beverage industry. He has had a vast career that has allowed him to gain knowledge in many different industries and form the base of his expertise today. Mr. LaRivière started his career at CBC radio where he produced and engineered many projects, gaining experience and knowledge in many different areas of the industry. André then shifted careers, becoming a professional chef by training at New York City’s French Culinary institute and a year’s internship at a Michelin-starred restaurant on the French Riviera. Using the knowledge gained from these two careers he then became a writer/ editor covering important issues facing the Canadian food and beverage industry. In 2011 André began working on the Next Course: restaurant of the future project which transformed O’Doul’s Restaurant & Bar in Vancouver into a next-generation sustainable restaurant for the future. While working on this project Mr. LaRivière was compelled to get an even better understanding of the restaurant model and what kinds of innovation we need moving forward, that is where the book The Next Course; Reinventing the modern Urban Restaurant was born. The book covers a wide range of important topics affecting the health and sustainability of restaurants in the future and features the opinion of many leaders within the restaurant industry.

While interviewing Mr. LaRivière, one of the most important concepts he emphasized was collaboration. Moving forward, if we truly want to progress in the sustainability of our restaurants, we need more collaboration amongst all people in the industry. Not only do we need more collaboration among restaurant operators but with government agents, supply chains, communities, equipment manufacturers etc. By opening the discussion to all people and better communicating amongst each other we can find solutions to problems affecting the industry quicker and drive home the ultimate goal of sustainability amongst everyone within the industry.