The current owner of Auberge Baker, Gaston Cloutier, talks about Alvin Baker and his inn

Gaston Cloutier, the current-day owner of Auberge Baker, talks about Alvin Baker, his inn, and some of the keys to his success.

[Gaston Cloutier] Mr. Baker saw an opportunity to come and open an inn here, in my grandfather’s house at 8790 Avenue Royale—it used to be the Lefrançois house back then—and to establish an inn here. No easy feat! It took someone with real determination, someone who was a visionary and a leader. And that’s how he was. Those were two of his qualities.

When he opened the inn here, in 1935, there was nothing else like it. It was a great location, right on what was the main road at that time. He had previously run a business with his wife, so he knew what he wanted. What he felt was most important was to offer the kind of cooking nobody else was. His cuisine was very traditional Quebec cuisine, but also very simple because the most popular items at his restaurant were bass and steak. So around here, it was fish and steak. It was advertised in English, for the benefit of all the American tourists who came to visit the area.

The summer tourists were mostly Quebecers, of course. In those days, people would come on their honeymoon to Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. It was another time! And for the American tourists, it was much easier for them to communicate with Mr. Baker, who was also a native English speaker.

He was such a generous man, and he would give whatever he could. You could eat a full meal here for 50 cents. And it was all-you-can-eat, too. It wasn’t just one steak. If you wanted two, you could have two. And some would eat even more!

Video produced by Aux Trois Couvents, a place of cultural discoveries, 2019