The Gourmand Group
Left to right: Chef Ralph Lear, Chef Victor Brown, and Chef Louis Snowden
The Gourmand Group has held the same core tenets since it opened at Findlay Market over 15 years ago—creativity, consistency, and fair pricing. It has become a mainstay in many shoppers’ weekly visits to the Market as they fill their totes with delicious deli salads, sides of salmon, and staple dishes to keep their families fed and happy all week long.
The Gourmand Group is run by a small, dedicated team of chefs—Louis Snowden, Victor Brown, and Ralph Lear. “There are no bosses. We all know what we need to do to be successful, and all of our lives depend on being successful, so nobody minds doing it,” Louis says. He calls on this past summer as an example of their team’s effectiveness. Louis had open heart surgery, which took him away from the business nearly all summer. “We were down to Chef Victor, Chef Ralph, and my neighbor, Todd, who works with us. These three—I don’t know how they did it but we had a really good summer, and I was able to be absent while I was recovering.”
Chef Louis came from a background similar to The Gourmand Group’s current concept—preparing ready-to-eat food at Markets. He cut his teeth in the industry as the Corporate Chef for the Farmers Markets in Orange County before exploring leadership roles in other companies and grabbing some experience with line cooking along the way. Chef Victor comes from a restaurant background, where the shifts are fast-paced and tensions run high.
The two of them met when they were both working at the now defunct Hamburger Mary’s on Vine Street. “Louis was talking about a concept where I would no longer be chained to the line, late nights. As I got older that seemed to be really appealing,” Victor says. “It took me a while to get used to, but it has been nothing but rewarding. I have never been more satisfied with what I’m doing professionally.”
As they were getting The Gourmand Group off the ground, the team realized that they would have to carve out a market for themselves. “It was hard in the beginning. There wasn't really a concept down here to like us,” Louis says. The team offered catering services in those early years, which helped spread the word about their business and develop relationships with guests over time.
And beyond guests, the Chefs at The Gourmand Group have made it a point to develop relationships with other Merchants in the Findlay Market community as well. When they were building up their business, they knew they wanted to give back to the community, but they weren’t sure exactly how. “So we decided that we were going to become a customer to the Market,” Louis says. “On average, every year, we spend about $125,000 with vendors in the market.” They source vegetables from Roth Produce and Madison’s, meat from Mackie Meats, seafood from Barlion’s, spices and Asian pantry staples from Saigon Market, among many others.
While freshness and creativity is a driver of their menu, Louis, Victor and Ralph have learned to keep the staples stocked. “If we don’t have certain things in that case every day, we hear about it,” Louis says. “But we’re also cognizant of having the same things day in and day out. We have people eat with us every day.” The team welcomes suggestions from their guests, often engaging in conversations about special or nostalgic dishes to see how the chefs can put their own spin on it. “That keeps people interested and they know they can talk to us and ask us things,” Victor says. Guests will make a recommendation, then be delighted to see that very dish in the case three days later.
“In my experience [working in restaurants], you don’t ever get to see customers,” Victor says. “You don’t get to see their reactions.” But with a corner stall just inside the Race Street doors, The Gourmand Group has a special opportunity to catch customers’ eyes. It’s hard not to be captivated by their case. It’s always clean, full, and beautifully displayed. “We’re lucky,” Victor says. “We get two bites of the apple, really.”
Published November 2025