Jean-Philippe Susilovic (born November 26 1975), often referred to simply as Jean-Philippe or JP, is a Belgian television personality and restaurant director. He is best known for his appearances as the ''

maître d'hôtel The ''maître d'hôtel'' (; ), head waiter, host, waiter captain, or ''maître d ( , ) manages the public part, or "front of the house", of a formal restaurant. The responsibilities of a ''maître d'hôtel'' generally include supervising the wa ...

'' on the American version of Gordon Ramsay's cooking reality show ''

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the ea ...

'', which he appeared on the show's first seven seasons, later on season 11 and 12, and was also the ''maître d'hôtel'' for the first series of the original British version of the show.

Early life

Susilovic was born in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

on 26 November 1975. He is of Herzegovinian Croat descent.

Career

Susilovic met Ramsay when he was 17 and Ramsay was 25. He has been described by one executive chef as the ideal person to be the ''maître d'hôtel'' for ''Hell's Kitchen''. He is said to be and represent the "quintessential" ''maître d'hôtel''. Susilovic joined Ramsay in 1995, working in Ramsay's restaurant Aubergine. His experience in Michelin-starred restaurants broadened when he moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

to work in restaurants such as New York's La Panetiere, Danube, and Daniel. In October 2001, he moved to the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

to work with Ramsay as the manager of Verre at the Hilton

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

Creek. In 2010, he returned to serve as the ''maître d'hôtel'' at Ramsay's re-opened Pétrus. He was the ''maître d'hôtel'' for five years at Pétrus in the Berkeley, and moved over with the restaurant to the new location. Susilovic left the American ''Hell's Kitchen'' show following the seventh season due to his commitment as restaurant director at Ramsay's London restaurant Pétrus. Susilovic returned to the show for seasons 11 and 12 but again left before filming began on season 13. He is a recurrent and popular part of the cast.

Personal life

In 2005, Susilovic fell and broke his back while trying to gain access to his own apartment. Along with his native French, Susilovic speaks English and Dutch. Currently Susilovic owns and runs a restaurant in

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

called Kiss The Chef, with his wife Daorung Kaenphutsa (a.k.a. Chef Juen).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Susilovic, Jean-Philippe 1975 births Belgian people of Croatian descent Belgian expatriates in the United Arab Emirates Belgian expatriates in the United Kingdom Belgian expatriates in the United States Belgian television personalities British restaurateurs Hell's Kitchen (American TV series) Living people Restaurateurs