Eric Leveillee is the culinary director of The DeBruce, a 12-room boutique hotel in the Catskills community of Livingston Manor, New York, where he has worked since 2020, offering a seasonal tasting menu as well as regular à la carte service.
He spent his formative culinary years in Philadelphia after graduating from Temple University with a degree in economics. He started at a Mexican restaurant called El Camino Real, where he fell in love with his waitress and got a job in the kitchen to try to get to know her better. It worked — they’re still married — and Leveillee went on to pursue a cooking career, working at Vernick Food & Drink under Greg Vernick and then heading up the kitchen at Marigold.
His next stop was Lacroix at The Rittenhouse Hotel, where he worked during the run-up to the pandemic and then ended up at The DeBruce.
He recently shared his perspective on highlighting the ingredients that he sources from the area, buying most of his produce from a farmer within walking distance of the property, as well as the occasional import, such as the Mexican herb epazote that he said goes well with trout.
Menu Talk is a collaboration between Restaurant Business Senior Menu Editor Pat Cobe and Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News. You can subscribe to it wherever you listen to podcasts.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.