Jean-Robert de Cavel (September 12, 1961 – December 23, 2022) was a French-American chef active primarily in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
. He was
chef de cuisine
A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads and manages the kitchen and chefs of a restaurant or hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities ...
at
The Maisonette
The Maisonette (1949-2005) was North America's most highly rated restaurant before it closed.
History
The Maisonette was opened by Nathan L. Comisar in 1949 in the basement space beneath La Normandie, also owned by Comisar, in the Fountain Squ ...
from 1993 to 2002,
executive chef
A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads
Lead is a chemical element with symbol Pb and atomic number 82.
Lead or The Lead may also refer to:
Animal handling
* Leash, or lead
* Lead (leg), ...
at Jean-Robert at Pigall's from 2002 to 2009, and later operated Jean-Robert's Table, Le Bar a Boeuf, and French Crust Cafe. He and his wife founded the de Cavel Family SIDS Foundation, which runs Eat.Play.Give: Friends and Family SIDS Brunch, a culinary event that is the country's largest
SIDS
Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden unexplained death of a child of less than one year of age. Diagnosis requires that the death remain unexplained even after a thorough autopsy and detailed death scene investigation. SIDS usual ...
fundraiser.
Early life and education
De Cavel was born in
Roubaix
Roubaix ( or ; nl, Robaais; vls, Roboais) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial commune in the Nord department, which grew rapidly in the 19th century ...
, France, on September 12, 1961. He was educated at Le Feguide culinary school in
Lille
Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the N ...
, France.
Professional career
De Cavel worked in
Zermatt
Zermatt () is a municipality in the district of Visp in the German-speaking section of the canton of Valais in Switzerland. It has a year-round population of about 5,800 and is classified as a town by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO) ...
,
Antibes, and the British West Indies.
He moved to New York City to work for Le Régence at the
Hotel Plaza Athénée. In the 1990s he was considered a rising star, but the opportunities for working as a chef de cuisine in a French restaurant in New York City had become very competitive.
In the early 1990s, Cincinnati's The Maisonette was conducting a nationwide search for a new chef de cuisine, and De Cavel's friend
Daniel Boulud
Daniel Boulud (born 25 March 1955 in Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu) is a French chef and restaurateur with restaurants in New York City, Palm Beach, Miami, Toronto, Montréal, Singapore, the Bahamas, the Berkshires and Dubai. He is best known f ...
encouraged him to apply. At the time de Cavel did not know where Cincinnati was; he described having to pull out a map.
De Cavel moved to Cincinnati in 1993 to become
chef de cuisine
A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads and manages the kitchen and chefs of a restaurant or hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities ...
at
The Maisonette
The Maisonette (1949-2005) was North America's most highly rated restaurant before it closed.
History
The Maisonette was opened by Nathan L. Comisar in 1949 in the basement space beneath La Normandie, also owned by Comisar, in the Fountain Squ ...
, which earned 5 stars from
Mobil during his time there.
His plan was to stay for two or three years, develop his reputation, and moved back to New York or Europe.
He described the city reminding him of Lille, where he had grown up: a center of industry rather than tourism, and very livable.
He "fell in love with the city", and the city with him; he realized that in a metropolitan region of two million, he could become an important influence, opening restaurants rather than simply working in them.
He left Maisonette in 2002 to join a partnership to run his own restaurant,
Jean-Robert at Pigall's Jean-Robert is a French masculine given name. Notable people with the name include:
* Jean-Robert Argand (1768–1822), French gifted amateur mathematician
* Jean-Robert Bellande (born 1970), American nightclub owner, promoter and poker player
* J ...
, which became at the time Ohio's only Mobil four-star restaurant.
With his partners he went on to open JeanRo Bistro, Pho Paris, Greenup Cafe, Twist, and Lavomatic Cafe, all located in the greater Cincinnati area.
In 2009 the partnership fell apart and he was left with no restaurants.
He considered leaving Cincinnati after the partnership ended, but instead stayed and opened Jean-Robert's Table in 2010, French Crust in 2011, Le Bar a Boeuf in 2014, Eat at Jean-Bob's in 2015, Restaurant L, and Frenchie Fresh in 2016.
He was called "arguably the most recognizable chef in town"
and "one of the region's most well-known chefs".
The ''Cincinnati Business Journal'' said he had "shaped Cincinnati's modern dining scene".
De Cavel appeared in ''
Rebel//Rebel'' as a chef and in ''
Three Barbecues: A Blackened Comedy'' (2004) as himself.
Teaching
From 2009 he was chef-in-residence at the
Midwest Culinary Institute.
Recognition and legacy
De Cavel was a four-time semi-finalist for the James Beard Best Chef in the Great Lakes Region in 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2013. He received three James Beard nominations for Best Chef in the Midwest in 2000, 2001, and 2006 and was invited to cook at the foundation's Greenwich Village headquarters six times.
During his tenure, The Maisonette received five stars from Mobil. Jean-Robert at Pigall's received four stars from Mobil and was recognized by
Relais & Châteaux
Relais & Châteaux is an association of individually owned and operated luxury hotels and restaurants. The group currently has about 580 members in 68 countries on five continents. Predominantly represented in Europe, the association is grow ...
. In 2007 he was named a Master Chef by Maîtres Cuisiniers de France.
In early 2022 he was named a Great Living Cincinnatian and a city street in was named for him.
Cavel is widely credited for leading and influencing the redevelopment of fine dining in the
Greater Cincinnati
The Cincinnati metropolitan area and also known as the Cincinnati Tri-State area, or Greater Cincinnati) is a metropolitan area centered on Cincinnati and including surrounding counties in the U.S. states of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. The area ...
region.
According to Cincinnati food writer Keith Pandolfi, "You can’t go into any kitchen in this city and not find someone who worked for him at some point."
Restaurants
De Cavel was associated with the Michelin-starred restaurants
La Bonne Auberge
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...
in Antibes, France,
The Restaurant at Malliouhana in the British West Indies, and was chef de cuisine at
La Régence and
La Gauloise in Manhattan.
In Cincinnati, he was associated with 5-star Mobil restaurant
The Maisonette
The Maisonette (1949-2005) was North America's most highly rated restaurant before it closed.
History
The Maisonette was opened by Nathan L. Comisar in 1949 in the basement space beneath La Normandie, also owned by Comisar, in the Fountain Squ ...
and 4-star Mobil restaurant Jean-Robert at Pigall's as well as multiple others.
Philanthropy
In 2003 de Cavel and his wife Annette founded the de Cavel Family SIDS (
sudden infant death syndrome
Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the sudden unexplained death of a child of less than one year of age. Diagnosis requires that the death remain unexplained even after a thorough autopsy and detailed death scene investigation. SIDS usuall ...
) Foundation following the death of their first child, Tatiana.
Since then it has grown annually to become the largest SIDS fundraiser in the country.
Personal life
De Cavel lived with his wife Annette Pfund de Cavel in
Newport, Kentucky
Newport is a home rule-class city at the confluence of the Ohio and Licking rivers in Campbell County, Kentucky. The population was 15,273 at the 2010 census. Historically, it was one of four county seats of Campbell County. Newport is a majo ...
with their daughter Laeticia.
De Cavel was diagnosed with an aggressive form of
leiomyosarcoma
Leiomyosarcoma is a malignant (cancerous) smooth muscle tumor. A benign tumor originating from the same tissue is termed leiomyoma. While leiomyosarcomas are not thought to arise from leiomyomas, some leiomyoma variants' classification is evolv ...
in May 2018. He died on December 23, 2022, at age 61. A public memorial service was held January 16, 2023, at
Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains
Cathedral Basilica of Saint Peter in Chains is a Catholic Church, Catholic cathedral of the Latin Church in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Archdiocese of Cincinnati. The basilica is a Greek revival structure located at 8th and Plum ...
.
Over 1300 people, including hundreds in chef's whites, many of them former proteges of de Cavel, attended.
References
External links
*
The de Cavel Family SIDS Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:de Cavel, Jean-Robert
1961 births
2022 deaths
American chefs
American male chefs
American restaurateurs
Cuisine of Cincinnati
French emigrants to the United States
People from Roubaix
Deaths from leiomyosarcoma