Jacques Pepin

Jacques Pépin (born December 18, 1935) is an internationally recognized French chef, television personality, and author working in the United States. Born in Bourg-en-Bresse, Lyon in France, Pepin was raised by a father and mother who jointly owned a restaurant, where he later credited the start of his love for food. He later studied in France and came to the U.S. to work at a French restaurant while learning English at night school.
Between the 1950s and 1970s, he worked in restaurants, earned degrees from French schools and an M.A. from Columbia University, and cooked for numerous people, including French President Charles de Gaulle. At the end of the 1980s and the start of the 1990s, he appeared on French and American T.V. and wrote an array of cookbooks that became immediate best sellers.