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 establishments. The acquisition or loss of a ...

red restaurant

Maison Pic Maison Pic is a top five star hotel and restaurant located in Valence, Drôme, France. Established in 1889 by Eugene and Sophie Pic, the restaurant first earned the prestigious 3 Michelin stars in 1939 under their son André Pic (1893–1984). It ...

Valence, Drôme Valence (, ; oc, Valença ) is a commune in southeastern France, the prefecture of the Drôme department and within the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhône, about south of Lyon, along the railway line ...

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

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 and is considered to be the father of modern French cuisine. He founded the restaurant La Pyramide in Vienne near Lyon. Early life He was born in Louhans, ...

and

Alexandre Dumaine Alexandre may refer to: * Alexandre (given name) * Alexandre (surname) * Alexandre (film) See also * Alexander * Xano (disambiguation) Xano is the name of: * Xano, a Portuguese hypocoristic of the name "Alexandre (disambiguation) Alexandre may re ...

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

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, 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

, 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 ''menu dégustation''. Some restaurants and chefs specialize in tasting menus, while in other case ...

, becoming one of the first chefs in the

nouvelle cuisine ''Nouvelle 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 an increased e ...

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 Alain 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 People from Valence, Drôme Head chefs of Michelin starred restaurants Pic family