Revered Chef Jacques Pépin Is Turning 90. The Way He's Celebrating Shows Us the Joy Found In Eating Together

Chef Jacques Pépin's life and career are colossal.

The legendary chef has left his signature mark—that of a French-born culinary genius with the casual warmth of a home cook—in the hearts and minds of people worldwide. He's been a personal chef to heads of state, including Charles de Gaulle, received 16 James Beard Awards, and authored over 30 cookbooks. On the screen, Pépin landed his first TV cooking show in 1982 and hosted 13 series for PBS, often co-starring with his dear friend, Julia Child. He's penned columns for lauded publications, including Food & Wine and The New York Times, and received numerous honorary doctorate degrees.

Certainly, countless people appreciate Pépin's contributions. In celebration of his 90th birthday this year, chefs and culinary experts around the nation are hosting "90/90" dinners to honor the culinary great and his philanthropy work with the Jacques Pépin Foundation, which has provided more than $1 million in grants to support community kitchens across the country. Ninety dinners will acknowledge Pépin's lifetime of food education and joie de vivre. The chef tells us it's been incredible to see people want to gather near and far to celebrate his birthday, foundation, and act of breaking bread together.

"I'm very gratified. I would not be doing this without so many people and my daughter and my son-in-law," he tells The Sunday Paper. "I've been very lucky to have great people around me."

Ever humble, Pépin is quick to credit those around him, calling his fellow chefs "very generous." But generosity pours out of him. For the past 30 years, he's put his efforts toward teaching, creating joyful social media videos, educating at Boston University's Culinary Arts Program, and offering life-changing kitchen wisdom through his foundation.

On a recent afternoon from his home in Connecticut, Pépin sat with us over Zoom to reflect and look ahead. He shared his thoughts on turning ninety, the importance of gathering over food, and the beauty of appreciating the simple things—in the kitchen and life. 

A CONVERSATION WITH CHEF JACQUES PÉPIN

Of course, cooking has been essential in your career, but why do you feel it's important for living a meaningful life?

It's everything. There is nothing that brings people together like sharing food—and even more so if you cook the food together. When Claudine, my daughter, was three and four, she cooked with me. And then, when my granddaughter was three and four, she had a stool next to me in the kitchen, and she would cook with me. At the time, I would say to her, 'Okay, give me the salad. Is it clean? I need some parsley, so let's go to the garden.' Then we came back, and we cooked together. It is everything.

Then, when you take the time to sit at the table and you start talking about one thing or another, it all comes together. There is nothing that brings us together more. Even in politics, if I had 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats coming to my house to eat, we would sit and eat something together first. This way, it would always be more civilized.

Perhaps someone wants to start cooking, but they feel intimidated. What would you say to them?

If you want to start cooking at home, first buy a couple of good products. Keep it simple. If you want to make a sandwich, buy the best fresh baguette and the greatest butter. And, of course, a baguette and butter together? Wow, that's great, just like that! Then, you can do more from there. But start simple and cook a little bit at a time, and you will see how easy it is to build from there.

You'll be turning 90 this year. How do you take care of yourself? What's essential?

I drink a lot of wine! But really, it is great to be part of a community that appreciates you and loves you. And my foundation has been really gratifying. Around 10 years ago, my son-in-law said to me, 'You've been teaching all your life. We have hundreds and hundreds of tapes of you teaching. Would you like to teach more now?' I started thinking about people who have been a bit disenfranchised with life, maybe people who have just come out of jail or [who have faced] drug addiction, or who are coming back from serving. Maybe those people would like to learn in the kitchen. So, we started working with community kitchens all over the country, teaching people, and it's been quite gratifying. I can train someone in the kitchen in six weeks, starting with simple tasks such as peeling potatoes, cleaning salad, and poaching eggs. And if they like it, they'll likely stay, and if they stay, probably a few years later, they're a chef, and they've kind of redone their life. So, doing this has been important and gratifying.  

When I was a kid, it was during the war in France. At that time, we had no television, we had no radio, we had no telephone. Life was much simpler. My mother was a cook, and my father was a cabinet maker. So, my choice was to become a cabinet maker or cook—and that's how I started. Frankly, all my life, I have been happy to cook to please people and to make people happy. It's a nice way of spending your life.

We're so curious: What do you, a revered chef, love to eat every day?

For me, it's certainly bread and butter. Yes! And usually very simple food, from a roast chicken to a good tomato salad. When I was a younger chef, we tended to add more to the plate.. Now, I tend to take away from the plate to be left with something more essential, without much embellishment. If I have a great ripe tomato from the garden, You put some coarse salt on top with a bit of olive oil—and you don't need much more than that. 

Born in 1935 in Bourg-en-Bresse, France, Jacques Pépin is a French chef, author, culinary educator, television personality, and artist. He created the Jacques Pépin Foundation in 2016, with his daughter, Claudine Pépin and his son-in-law, Rollie Wesen. Learn more about Chef Pépin and his 90/90 Dinner Series here.