A native of Québec City, Madame Lepage has been active in haute cuisine since she was 16 years old. She learned her craft on the job, having perfected it in such reputed restaurants as Maison Serge Bruyère, Bastille Chez Bahüaud, and Melrose. For 12 years, she oversaw the kitchens of Manoir Montmorency. Since June of 2005, Marie-Chantal has been the Executive-Chef of the 4 diamond and 5 star Château Bonne Entente.
One of Québec's few women chefs and the only one in the Québec City area, Madame Lepage has won many awards, including the gold prize at the International Warm Cuisine Contest (March 1998, Saskatchewan). She also placed third among Canadian contestants at the U.S. Deer Meat Contest.
Madame Lepage represented Québec at the International Cuisine Festival that was held in Japan at Tokyo's largest hotel, the Okura. For almost a month, Madame Lepage introduced the Japanese to the richness and flavour of fine Québec cooking. This enriching experience gave inestimable visibility to Québec City. In the framework of their 2001 conference, the International Association of Ports and Harbours invited her to prepare a Québec style gastronomic meal for a reception welcoming 1000 delegates. In March 2001, she flew to Chicago's Kendall College of culinary arts to teach fine Québec cuisine and to participate in a benefit supper for poor children at the Drake Hotel. In February 2002, she returned to the United States, this time to San Francisco, with the aim of familiarizing people with the quality of Québec products as well as its gastronomy. She also demonstrated her know-how at the chic restaurants, Grand Café and Citizen Cake. On the same occasion, the American Association of Women Chefs invited her to give culinary demonstrations.
After having appeared on many American television shows in Detroit, Chicago, New York and San Francisco, she agreed to be part of the show called Gaston, Josée et compagnie, appearing in thirty episodes for the TVA network, which were aired in the summer of 2002. Finally, in July 2003, she went to Lebanon to promote Canadian and Québec regional products at the Intercontinental Vendôme Hotel in Beirut.
Her great qualities as a chef and organizer of prestigious events have won Madame Lepage many honours and trophies. The Société of Chefs, Cuisiniers et Pâtissiers du Québec elected her regional chef of the year in January 2000 and then national chef of the year for the province of Québec in May 2000. What's more, she is the first woman to have won this honour in the 40-year history of this organization. In 2005, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture conferred on her an award honoring her as a woman involved in the agro-foods industry.