Pierre Franey (January 13, 1921 – October 15, 1996) was a
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
chef, best known for his televised cooking shows and his "60 Minute Gourmet" column in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''.
Early years
Franey grew up in northern Burgundy, France. As a young man, he was in the United States at the outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, cooking in the French Pavilion at the
1939 New York World's Fair
The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Pur ...
, and remained in New York rather than returning to
Occupied France
The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...
. He turned down an offer to become the cook for
Douglas MacArthur. Franey served as a machine gunner in the U.S. Army.
''Le Pavillon''
After the war,
Henri Soulé, who ran the French Pavilion's kitchen, re-opened
Le Pavillon in New York City, and Franey became executive chef in 1952. Franey, along with
Jacques Pépin, then an aspiring young cook on the staff of Le Pavillon, was hired in 1960 by the hotel and restaurant entrepreneur Howard Johnson, Sr., (a regular client at Le Pavillon) to revamp some of the
Howard Johnson's
Howard Johnson's, or Howard Johnson by Wyndham, is an American hotel chain and former restaurant chain. Founded by Howard Deering Johnson in 1925 as a restaurant, it was the largest restaurant chain in the U.S. throughout the 1960s and 1970s, ...
restaurant chain's recipes. The nine to five, week-day job allowed Pierre to spend more time with his family and collaborate with ''New York Times'' food writer
Craig Claiborne
Craig Claiborne (September 4, 1920 January 22, 2000) was an American restaurant critic, food journalist and book author. A long-time food editor and restaurant critic for '' The New York Times'', he was also the author of numerous cookbooks a ...
on weekends, often in East Hampton, NY, creating recipes for ''The New York Times'' as well as assisting with restaurant reviews.
''60-Minute Gourmet'' and ''The New York Times''
Over a twenty-year collaboration, Claiborne and Franey wrote weekly food articles, restaurant reviews and ''Sunday Magazine'' recipes for ''The Times'' and co-authored ten books. In 1975, Pierre moved on from Howard Johnson's to begin his own syndicated byline, “The 60 Minute Gourmet," for the new “Living" (now Dining) section of ''The New York Times''. His widely read column, which appeared in over 360 newspapers worldwide, led to a second column entitled “Kitchen Equipment," which also appeared in the ''Times''
' Living section.
Franey and Claiborne made international headlines in 1975 when Claiborne won a Public Television fundraiser sponsored by American Express for dinner for two with an unlimited budget at any restaurant in the world.
Choosing a "small but ruinously expensive" restaurant in Paris called Chez Denis,
the two ate and drank their way through thirty-one courses. The check for the single, four-hour meal totaled over $4,000 including taxes and tip, creating considerable controversy in the press.
Television shows
In 1989, Franey launched his national television career on public television with a cooking series titled ''Cuisine Rapide''. Quickly becoming a hit, the series led to a companion book of the same title, followed by additional shows including ''Cooking in America'' and ''Cooking in France'', which won the
James Beard Foundation Award
The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media awar ...
for the best cooking show in 1995, and finally ''Cooking in Europe''.
Bibliography
In 1994, along with colleagues from ''The New York Times'', Richard Flaste and Bryan Miller, Franey wrote his memoir ''A Chef's Tale'', interweaving his personal story with his passion for food, memorable meals, and favorite recipes. Franey authored or co-authored an additional 15 cookbooks including ''The 'New' New York Times Cookbook'' and ''The 60-Minute Gourmet''. His final book, ''Pierre Franey Cooks With His Friends'', was co-written in 1996 with his eldest daughter, Claudia Franey Jensen, as a companion to his public television series ''Cooking in Europe''. The book was nominated for a James Beard Award that year.
*''A Chef's Tale (Memoir)''
*''60-Minute Gourmet''
*''More 60-Minute Gourmet''
*''Cooking with the 60-Minute Gourmet''
*''The New New York Times Cookbook''
*''Classic French Cooking - Foods of the World''
*''Veal Cookery - Craig Claiborne and Pierre Franey''
*''The Seafood Cookbook - From Classic to Contemporary''
*''Pierre Franey's Kitchen''
*''Cooking with Craig Claiborne and Pierre Franey''
*''Pierre Franey's Low-Calorie Gourmet''
*''Craig Claiborne's Gourmet Diet''
*''Cuisine Rapide''
*''Pierre Franey's Cooking in America''
*''Pierre Franey's Cooking in France''
*''Pierre Franey Cooks with his Friends''
Awards and honors
Decorated several times by the French government, including the National Merite of France, Franey held an honorary doctorate from
Johnson & Wales University
Johnson & Wales University (JWU) is a private university with its main campus in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded as a business school in 1914 by Gertrude I. Johnson and Mary T. Wales, JWU enrolled 7,357 students across its campuses in the fall ...
, served on the boards of the
Culinary Institute of America
Culinary arts are the cuisine arts of food preparation, cooking and presentation of food, usually in the form of meals. People working in this field – especially in establishments such as restaurants – are commonly called chefs ...
and Johnson & Wales University, and was a past president of The Vatel Club, a French food industry organization founded in 1913 in New York. He was honored by the
March of Dimes
March of Dimes is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies. The organization was founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938, as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, to comb ...
in 1985 with a
Hirschfeld caricature drawing for his extensive fundraising work for that organization.
Last years and legacy
Franey died in 1996 shortly after suffering a stroke while giving a shipboard cooking demonstration aboard the
Cunard
Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Ber ...
ocean liner
An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships).
C ...
, ''
Queen Elizabeth 2
''Queen Elizabeth 2'' (''QE2'') is a retired British ocean liner converted into a floating hotel. Originally built for the Cunard Line, the ship, named as the second ship named ''Queen Elizabeth'', was operated by Cunard as both a transatlanti ...
''. He is buried in
Green River Cemetery
Green River Cemetery is a cemetery in the hamlet of Springs, New York within the Town of East Hampton.
The cemetery was originally intended for the blue collar local families (called Bonackers) of the Springs neighborhood who supported the ocea ...
in
Springs, New York
Springs is a census-designated place (CDP) roughly corresponding to the hamlet by the same name in the Town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the 2010 United States Census, th ...
,
East Hampton, on
Long Island. He was survived by his wife, Betty, and three children, Claudia, Diane, and Jacques. Scholarships are bequeathed in his honor at
Johnson & Wales University
Johnson & Wales University (JWU) is a private university with its main campus in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded as a business school in 1914 by Gertrude I. Johnson and Mary T. Wales, JWU enrolled 7,357 students across its campuses in the fall ...
in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...
, and
The Culinary Institute of America in
Hyde Park, New York
Hyde Park is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States, bordering the Hudson River north of Poughkeepsie. Within the town are the hamlets of Hyde Park (CDP), New York, Hyde Park, East Park, Staatsburg, and Haviland, New York, Haviland. ...
.
References
External links
*
Goodbye mag profile*[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1320&dat=19810723&id=jrQRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2ekDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6809,4231586=Pierre Franey article appearing in the 23-JUL-1981 Gainesville Sun, via the NYT News Service, giving insight to Franey's writing style and sharing his insight on an important Chef's tool that's little known outside of professional kitchens]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Franey, Pierre
1921 births
1996 deaths
American food writers
The New York Times writers
French chefs
French emigrants to the United States
People from Yonne
People from Springs, New York
20th-century American non-fiction writers
Culinary Institute of America people
Burials at Green River Cemetery