Jacques Pépin is world renowned as the host of his acclaimed and popular cooking programs on public television, and as a prolific author, respected instructor, and gifted artist. Recently, Pépin was awarded the highest honor by the French Government and holds the title of CHEVALIER DE L'ORDRE NATIONAL DE LA LEGION D'HONNEUR. Pépin is the host of many popular public television programs, including his latest series Jacques Pépin: More Fast Food My Way, premiering in October, 2008. Featuring recipes for fast, healthy meals, this will be the twelfth series hosted by Pépin and produced by KQED Public Media in San Francisco. His memoir, The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen, was published by Houghton Mifflin in 2003 and in paperback in May, 2004. Pépins most recent book, published by Stewart Tabori & Chang in April 2007, is a visual biography, Chez Jacques: Traditions and Rituals of a Cook. He is also a proud grandfather of his daughter Claudines first child, Shorey.
Pépin was born in Bourg-en-Bresse, near Lyon. His first exposure to cooking was as a child in his parents' restaurant, Le Pelican. At age thirteen, he began his formal apprenticeship at the distinguished Grand Hotel de LEurope in his hometown. He subsequently worked in Paris, training under Lucien Diat at the Plaza Athénée. From 1956 to 1958, Pépin was the personal chef to three French heads of state, including Charles de Gaulle.
Moving to the United States in 1959, Pépin worked first at New York's historic Le Pavillon restaurant, then served for ten years as director of research and new development for the Howard Johnson Company, a position that taught him about mass production, marketing, food chemistry, and American food tastes. He studied at Columbia University during this period, ultimately earning an M.A. degree in 18th-century French literature in 1972. In 1997, on the 50th anniversary of the creation of the School of General Studies at Columbia, Pépin was honored with four other distinguished alumni of the School, each representing a different decade in its history.
Pépin shared the spotlight with Julia Child in an earlier PBS-TV series that still is shown occasionally on public television stations. This twenty-two show series, Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home, was the winner of The James Beard Foundations Award for Best National Cooking Show2001, and the duo received a 2001 Daytime Emmy Award from The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. There is a companion cookbook to the series he did with Child and also to two earlier public television series he co-hosted with his daughter, Jacques Pépins Kitchen: Encore with Claudine (1998) and Jacques Pépins Kitchen: Cooking with Claudine (1998).
A former columnist for The New York Times, Pépin writes a quarterly column for Food & Wine. He also participates regularly in that magazines prestigious Food & Wine Classic in Aspen and at other culinary festivals and fund-raising events worldwide. In addition, he is a popular guest on such commercial TV programs as The Late Show with David Letterman, The Today Show, and Good Morning America.
Pépin is the recipient of three of the French governments highest honors: he is a Chevalier de LOrdre National de la Legion d Honneur, Chevalier de LOrdre des Arts et des Lettres (1997) and a Chevalier de LOrdre du Mérite Agricole (1992). The Dean of Special Programs at The French Culinary Institute (New York), he also is an adjunct faculty member at Boston University. He is a founder of The American Institute of Wine and Food, a member of the International Association of Cooking Professionals, and is on the board of trustees of James Beard Foundation. He and his wife, Gloria, live in Madison, Connecticut.