Born in the Burgundy Region of France, Poilevey started learning his trade at age 14 in a series of local restaurant kitchens.

In the mid-1960’s, he moved to London and worked at the Café Royale and the Colony Club. In 1968, he and the late Great Chef Jean Banchet, were recruited to open the Playboy Club & Resort in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

Several years later in 1973, he moved to the Chicago area to open La Fontaine Restaurant with several partners, and Poilevey was responsible for the exquisite French cuisine for the next 20 years. In 1993, when La Fontaine closed its doors, Chef Poilevey felt it was time to downsize to something simpler, a 40 seat quintessential French bistro, Le Bouchon.

In 1994 Great Chefs taped him at Le Bouchon for two dishes for their Great Chefs- Great Cities, and one dish for their Great Chefs of America, in one of the smallest kitchens they’ve ever taped in.