Jacques Pic (October 31, 1932 – September 19, 1992) was a French chef best known for being head chef at his three

Michelin star The ''Michelin Guides'' ( ; ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The ''Guide'' awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few restaurants in certain geographic ...

red restaurant Maison Pic in

Valence, Drôme Valence (, ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in southeastern France, the prefecture of the Drôme Departments of France, department and within the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhô ...

, France. He was the son of chef Andre Pic, and the father of chefs

Alain Alain may refer to: People * Alain (given name), common given name, including list of persons and fictional characters with the name * Alain (surname) * "Alain", a pseudonym for cartoonist Daniel Brustlein * Alain, a standard author abbreviation u ...

and

Anne-Sophie Pic Anne-Sophie Pic (, born 12 July 1969) is a French chef best known for regaining three Michelin stars for her restaurant, Maison Pic, in southeast France. She is the fourth female chef to win three Michelin stars, and was named the Best Female ...

Early life

Jacques was the son of Andre Pic, a chef who worked at his family's restaurant Des Pins in the hills above

. The restaurant was moved into the town to become Maison Pic when Jacques was two years old, and won three

s by the time he was seven. Jacques saw the impact the work was having on his father's health and decided that he did not want to become a chef, and instead aimed to become a car mechanic. The restaurant lost its third star in 1946, but after it lost its second star in 1950 and seeing that his father had no successor to take over from him, Jacques decided to train as a chef in order to take over at the restaurant and earn back those stars for his father and his family.

Career

As his father Andre was held in high esteem, Jacques applied to work in the kitchens of

Fernand Point Fernand Point (, 25 February 1897 – 4 March 1955) was a French chef and restaurateur who is considered the father of modern French cuisine. He founded the restaurant La Pyramide in Vienne near Lyon. Early life Point was born in Louhans, ...

and Alexandre Dumaine, who were considered his father's equals in the kitchen. Both chefs turned down Jacques' application. He instead travelled to

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, Switzerland, and to a variety of towns and cities in France, picking up culinary skills on the way. During his French national service, he was sent to Algeria. Upon returning to Maison Pic, he introduced an eight course

tasting menu A tasting menu is a collection of several dishes in small portions, served by a restaurant as a single meal. The French name for a tasting menu is . Some restaurants and chefs specialize in tasting menus, while in other cases, it is a special o ...

, becoming one of the first chefs in the

nouvelle cuisine Nouvelle cuisine (; 'new cuisine') is an approach to cooking and food presentation in French cuisine. In contrast to ''cuisine classique'', an older form of ''haute cuisine'', nouvelle cuisine is characterized by lighter, more delicate dishes and ...

movement to expand upon the traditional three course meal. In 1959, he won back the second Michelin star for the restaurant and restored the third in 1973. His father died in 1983, seeing those stars returned to the restaurant and kept. On 19 September 1992, Jacques Pic died from a heart attack at the age of 59 whilst working at the stove at Maison Pic. His son

succeeded him as head chef. his daughter

is head chef of the family's restaurant.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pic, Jacques 1932 births 1992 deaths French chefs French male chefs People from Valence, Drôme Head chefs of Michelin-starred restaurants Pic family