Joannès "Jo" Rivière is a

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

chef A chef is a professional Cook (profession), cook and tradesperson who is proficient in all aspects of outline of food preparation, food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term (), the di ...

, restaurateur and

cookbook A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (food), course (appetize ...

author specializing in

Cambodian cuisine Cambodian cuisine is the national cuisine of Cambodia. It reflects the varied culinary traditions of different ethnic groups in Cambodia, central of which is Khmer cuisine (, ), the nearly-two-thousand-year-old culinary tradition of the Khmer pe ...

. He has been regarded as the leading Western authority on Cambodian food.

Biography

Rivière was born and grew up in

Roanne Roanne (; ; ) is a commune in the Loire department, central France. It is located northwest of Lyon on the river Loire. It has an important Museum, the ''Musée des Beaux-arts et d'Archéologie Joseph-Déchelette'' (French), with many Egypt ...

, France. He recalls his Christmas family dinners being a mix of

and Southeast Asian dishes, such as

larp A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically portray their characters.(Tychsen et al. 2006:255) "LARPs can be viewed as forming a distinct category of RPG because of two unique featur ...

, which was introduced by his uncle who had worked as a pilot in

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

in the 1970s. Rivière learned cooking while working in his family restaurant. After graduating from a culinary school in France, Rivière worked as a

pastry chef A pastry chef or pâtissier (; feminine pâtissière, ) is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods. They are employed in large hotels, bistros, restaurants, bakeries, b ...

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island in the state of Massachusetts in the United States, about south of the Cape Cod peninsula. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck Island, Tuckernuck and Muskeget Island, Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and Co ...

and

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

for two years. Having to do

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...

, Rivière opted for civic service instead and moved to Cambodia in August 2003 to work as a volunteer culinary teacher and restaurant manager for the

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

Sala Baï Hotel and Restaurant School Sala Baï Hotel and Restaurant School () is a vocational training school established in 2002 by the French non-governmental organization Agir Pour le Cambodge. It is one of the oldest running hospitality training schools in the country. Sala Baï H ...

Siem Reap Siem Reap (, ) is the second-largest city of Cambodia, as well as the capital and largest city of Siem Reap Province in northwestern Cambodia. Siem Reap possesses French-colonial and Chinese-style architecture in the Old French Quarter ...

. To raise funds for the school, he wrote a Cambodian cookbook ''La cuisine du Cambodge avec les aprentis de Sala Bai'', which was published in 2005 and sold more than 8,000 copies in France. Rivière confessed initially not being impressed by the

but becoming interested in it when doing the book. In 2005, he started working at the ''Hotel de la Paix's Meric'' as an executive

sous-chef A sous-chef is a chef who is second in command of a kitchen, ranking directly below the head chef in the Kitchen Brigade system developed by Auguste Escoffier. In large kitchens, sous-chefs are typically left in charge of managing members of th ...

. In 2008, Periplus Publishing Group released an English-language version of his Cambodian cookbook titled "Cambodian Cooking: A humanitarian project in collaboration with Act for Cambodia". In 2010, when Rivière was planning to return to France he met David Thompson who had eaten at the hotel Rivière was working at. Impressed by his use of lesser-known local ingredients Thompson encouraged Rivière to stay in Cambodia and open a restaurant of his own.

Cuisine Wat Damnak

In 2011, together with his partner Carole Salmon, Rivière opened Cuisine Wat Damnak, taking its name from the nearby

Wat Damnak Wat Domnak is a famous Buddhist pagoda and one of the teaching monasteries in the city of Siem Reap, Cambodia. Etymology The name of Wat Domnak commemorates the fact that this pagoda was a former residence (''Damnak'', in Khmer, ព្រះដ ...

pagoda, serving Cambodian cuisine with a focus on lesser-known dishes. The restaurant changes its menu every two weeks to include the ingredients locally available at the moment. In 2015, Cuisine Wat Damnak was included in the 50th position of

Asia's 50 Best Restaurants The World's 50 Best Restaurants is a list produced by the UK media company William Reed, which originally appeared in the British magazine ''Restaurant'' in 2002. The list and awards are no longer directly related to ''Restaurant'', though th ...

, becoming the first Cambodian restaurant to make the list. In the 2016 list Cuisine Wat Damnak rose to the 43rd position. In 2018, Rivière became business partners with Cambodian hospitality specialist Nguon Vengchhay and opened Cuisine Wat Damnak at the No 29 Street 228 of

Doun Penh Section Doun Penh or Daun Penh (, , lit. "Grandmother Penh") is a major district (''khan'') in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Many major businesses in Phnom Penh like Sorya Shopping Center and Mokod Pich Jewelry Enterprise are located here. The district has an ...

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Cambodia, most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since 1865 and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its political, economic, industr ...

in March 2021. The restaurant in Siem Reap was closed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, but reopened on 1 October 2022. In 2022, Cuisine Wat Damnak restaurants in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap were included in the No. 2 spot of the online travel magazine's

Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure Co. (formerly Wyndham Destinations, Inc., and Wyndham Worldwide Corporation) is an American timeshare company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. It develops, sells, and manages timeshare properties under several vacation owners ...

"Asia’s Best Awards 2022 – Best Of Cambodia" category "Best Restaurants in Cambodia".

Books

* Joannès Rivière, Dominique De Bourgknecht, David Lallemand (2005). La Cuisine du Cambodge avec les apprentis de Sala Baï. Philippe Picquier Publishing * Joannès Rivière, Dominique De Bourgknecht, David Lallemand (2008). Cambodian Cooking: A humanitarian project in collaboration with Act for Cambodia.

Periplus Editions Tuttle Publishing, originally the Charles E. Tuttle Company, is a book publishing company that includes Tuttle, Periplus Editions, and Journey Editions.

. .

References

External links

Day 2: Joannes Riviere
12 June 2019. FoodForum * Tan, Rachel (23 April 2019)
5 Questions with Joannès Rivière on New Cambodian Cuisine

Michelin Guide 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 star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few restaurants ...

* Rosemary Kimani (2017)
What Makes Cambodian Food Rich and Unique With Chef Joannès Rivière
Authentic Food Quest
Joannes Riviere Cuisine Wat Damnak
17 May 2013. Good Food Revolution {{DEFAULTSORT:Rivière, Joannès French chefs Living people Cambodian cuisine French cookbook writers 1979 births