Former Café L'Europe chef leads the restaurant into a new era

Former kitchen manager for now former-named Café L'Europe Will Parard can be found in one of two places: in the kitchen or out catching the fish he is going to serve.

Bradenton native Parard has been a part of the Oysters Rock Hospitality family for nine years and consistently brings his Florida roots and family recipes into his work. As Café L'Europe heads into a new era with the renamed The Café on St. Armands, Parard was promoted to the head of culinary for all Oysters Rock Hospitality restaurants, which includes six Anna Maria Oyster Bars.

His new position debuted on Thanksgiving Day as he guided the Oysters Rock team through Thanksgiving dinner, which was the first time they had opened for the holiday.

Deep Florida roots

Parard’s grandfather, Gene, was the cook of the family, running Friday night dinners for the American Legion. While he helped in the kitchen there, the Kentucky native learned about the ins and outs of Florida cuisine. Gene started growing vegetables, smoking mullet, harvesting clams in winter and shrimping with all the native Floridan cooks.

Parard said the spices were the most important lesson of his grandfather's recipes. As a World War II veteran deployed in the Philippines and living in the Dominican Republic for a few years, Gene's travels taught him to love unique spices and how to use them to enhance food.

Gene would use chili peppers, herbs, cloves, star anise, soy sauce, citrus and vinegar in his classic meals. His base flavors and spice mixes are in everything Parard cooks today, prioritizing his family's love of sweet, salty and sour tastes.

Gene passed away before Parard was born, but his father, William Sr., shared all of Grandpa Gene's recipes with him. William took over the Friday night dinners at the Legion for Gene, with Parard being a dishwasher and running food for him. 

"My dad taught me all my grandfather's recipes, like how to fillet fish and smoke it," said Parard. "They are my biggest influences in the kitchen. My dad broke the barrier for me as a child about a man in the kitchen."

During his teenage years and early 20s, Parard worked at many restaurants in the area, including Tommy Bahama on St. Armands Circle, Pelican Pete’s in Cortez Village and Ezra Cafe on Manatee Avenue. In between these, he tried different jobs, such as tree cutting and crab fishing. 

In 2016, Parard started working at Anna Maria Oyster Bar on Cortez Road as a part-time breakfast cook and was promoted to assistant kitchen manager in 2017. In 2019, he was promoted to kitchen manager at the pier location. 

During this time, Parard said the cooks would go out to Anna Maria Pier to catch fresh fish for dinners at the Oyster Bar. 

"I'm a fisherman, so I grew up catching fresh fish and grilling them right afterward," said Parard. "That's one of my favorite things and it connected me a lot with my grandpa's recipes, working at the pier location and fishing right at the pier. We would have just had fresh fish multiple times a week. We also dove for stone crabs and ate them fresh. That is what I am hoping to bring back."

Presence in the kitchen

When Oysters Rock bought Café L'Europe in 2022, Parard started working there temporarily. After no one matched his energy in the kitchen, Parard happened to be the right fit and became its permanent kitchen manager in February 2023. 

“The most important thing I have learned at this job was presence in management,” said Parard. “John Horne, our owner, has a big presence. He's not a sit-at-home manager. He's a come in and open your coolers manager, who eats your french fries and tries your coleslaw and walks down your line to make sure you're doing your job.”

After hurricanes Helene and Milton devastated Café L'Europe, the restaurant decided to use it as an opportunity to remodel its vision and reputation. With his ambitious work ethic and unique menus, Parard became head of culinary to lead the kitchen team into this new era at the cafe.

In his new position, he is responsible for creating new recipes and menus for all the restaurants, team-building activities and leading the staff through catering events. He will first be focusing on launching the “Café on St. Armands” concept. Along with doing paperwork and hiring new employees, Parard said he is happy he still gets to stay in the kitchen about three days a week experimenting with different flavors for new menu items.