Julie Le Clerc Signed As Gourmet Ambassador

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Julie Le Clerc Signed To New Caledonia Tourism As Gourmet Ambassador

Auckland, New Zealand – 08 December 2008. Renowned culinary author, chef and food personality, Julie Le Clerc has joined New Caledonia Tourism as ‘Gourmet Ambassador’ for the New Zealand market.

A self confessed ‘Francophile’, Julie boasts not only a strong French heritage and passion for “all things French” but also an impressive collection of miniature Eiffel Towers which have been gathered on her numerous visits to and time living in the region. From a culinary perspective, Julie is a Cordon Bleu trained chef and flavours of France play a major part in her recipes that have been published among the ten cook books she has written and which can be found on bookshelves around the world.
The prolific author has also held positions of food editor and columnist for a number of high profile publications in New Zealand.

Julie describes her appointment as “a dream job” as she has a deep love affair with the Pacific region and France, so New Caledonia presents the best of both worlds – “and all just 2 1/2 hours from Auckland” enthuses Julie.

In her role, Julie will escort culinary visits to the region and lend her writing and photography skills by producing a New Zealand ‘Gourmet Guide to New Caledonia’ such as Trans Tasman colleague and celebrity chef, Gabriel Gaté has done for New Caledonia in Australia. Julie will also support the tourism and promotional efforts of New Caledonia throughout the year at trade and consumer events including ‘The Food Show’ which Julie has been a popular guest chef at for the past nine years.

New Caledonia Tourism Regional Manager, Karen Priest says that the success of
Gabriel Gaté in the Australian market and his recent popularity at the 2008 Food Show, proved that New Zealanders have a keen interest in food and wine when it comes to selecting their destination so the search began for our very own Gourmet Ambassador.

New Caledonia presents an exceptional range of culinary experiences and what has been described as the best French gourmet experience outside of France. Karen Priest says that for holidaymakers to the region this presents a “delicious array of experiences from self drive holiday makers wishing to picnic en route to those wishing to try their gourmet skills on a self catering holiday to the dining holiday maker.”

Commenting on the search for a New Zealand Gourmet Ambassador to the region, Karen says that she saw Julie’s unique combination of French heritage and passion with her exceptional culinary credentials as a perfect fit for our destination.”

Julie will commence her ambassadorial role for the region in January 2009.

ENDS

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