Henri Lapuyade was born and raised in the Pyrenees in the south of France, where his parents had a farm and a restaurant. His work ethic was established early. “I learned to cook when I was a little boy,” he recalls. “At 9 years old I started washing dishes after school, and when I was 11 they made me quit school so that I could work in the restaurant full time.”
On the family farm they raised the animals and produce that they ate at home. “Every year we killed 3 hogs for our own household. Nothing was wasted. Of course, my mother made blood sausage. A typical breakfast for us was a blood sausage, a pork sausage and a boudin blanc.”
In 1949, as a young man, Henri came to the United States. An uncle and brother were in San Francisco, so that was his destination. “My brother was working at the Palace Hotel (now the Sheraton Palace), so he helped me get a job there as an apprentice cook.”
Henri worked seven days a week, driving a delivery truck on his days off. When deliveries were slow, he would get informal instruction on how to cut meat. In 1957 Henri quit his job at the Palace and apprenticed himself as a meat cutter.
Marcel was born in the US, but his parents had originally lived in the south of France only a short distance from where Henri had grown up. In 1960 Marcel approached Henri about opening their own butcher shop.
Soon Henri was experimenting with making pâtés. “We didn’t sell too much at first, because Americans didn’t know what pâtés were!” he laughs. But when Henri bought Marcel out, a couple of years later, that was starting to change. Henri also began making things he remembered from his childhood. “When you’re a little kid, you watch what your parents do. I dreamed about my mother’s blood sausage, and I could remember the tastes of the pâtés so clearly, so I just worked on duplicating what I could remember.”
In addition to supplying meats and his housemade specialties to hotels and restaurants, the business included a very typical French charcuterie. “We sold meat, pâtés, cheeses, fish, gourmet items from France such as cookies, wine.” And the business grew.
“My parents taught me how to work hard, and I wanted to succeed in this country. I still go to work every day, and I like to talk with the customers.”
Henri is proud of his son Hector who is actively involved and his grandson who wants to learn the business. The recipes for the Marcel et Henri specialties are still Henri’s; anything new needs to be approved by him. Asked how he relaxes at work, he says with a sparkle in his eyes, “I go into my office and listen to music. Accordion music. I especially like the music for dancing.”
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