- Feb 5, 2002
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Boutin King was “born and raised” in the Vendée region, the heart of Catholicism in France.
Washington, D.C., restaurant goers surely know the name or the face of this prominent French lady, who for years has worked with famous chefs in D.C. and organized the non-profit galas at the city’s Ritz Carlton Hotel for many years.
As she has confirmed again and again, her food passion and Catholicism come from her heritage: Annie Boutin King was born and raised in the Vendée region of France, a major tourist attraction for its spectacular seaside setting and a major Catholic part of France.
“I was born and raised there,” she said. “The area is 95% Catholic (much fewer practicing nowadays). Most of us were raised Catholic, and my family was very much so. I went to religious schools and my father was a teacher in a Catholic school and had a second job as an insurance agent.” When she was a little girl, her family was a constant fixture at Mass and Vespers; she received her first Communion at age 6 and Confirmation when she was 12 years old.
That explains Boutin King’s Catholicism, of course. But her cooking passion? As she said, “Cooking? Everybody cooks in France. We sit down three times a day for our meals, and not everyone is a good cook, but that is the way it is,” she said. The family meals always included a starter, and then a main course, followed by cheese offerings, a salad and dessert. It perdures in most homes.
Continued below.
Annie Boutin King is the Queen of French Cuisine in the Nation’s Capital
Washington, D.C., restaurant goers surely know the name or the face of this prominent French lady, who for years has worked with famous chefs in D.C. and organized the non-profit galas at the city’s Ritz Carlton Hotel for many years.
As she has confirmed again and again, her food passion and Catholicism come from her heritage: Annie Boutin King was born and raised in the Vendée region of France, a major tourist attraction for its spectacular seaside setting and a major Catholic part of France.
“I was born and raised there,” she said. “The area is 95% Catholic (much fewer practicing nowadays). Most of us were raised Catholic, and my family was very much so. I went to religious schools and my father was a teacher in a Catholic school and had a second job as an insurance agent.” When she was a little girl, her family was a constant fixture at Mass and Vespers; she received her first Communion at age 6 and Confirmation when she was 12 years old.
That explains Boutin King’s Catholicism, of course. But her cooking passion? As she said, “Cooking? Everybody cooks in France. We sit down three times a day for our meals, and not everyone is a good cook, but that is the way it is,” she said. The family meals always included a starter, and then a main course, followed by cheese offerings, a salad and dessert. It perdures in most homes.
Continued below.
Annie Boutin King is the Queen of French Cuisine in the Nation’s Capital
