Jacky Robert (born 13 September 1950) is an American chef who helped to create fusion cuisine in the 1980s. [1] He is the cofounder, with Martha Castano, of the non-profit OnBoardForKids.Org [2]
Born in Granville, Manche, France, Robert began to cook at age 15. After apprenticing at Les Gourmets in Granville, he moved to Paris, where he then worked at Prunier Traktir and at three star Michelin rated Maxim's Paris, rue Royale, working with Wolfgang Puck. Robert staged at Moulin de Mougins, Roger Vergé's three star Michelin restaurant and at the Hotel Negresco in Nice, France with Jacques Maximin. Robert worked at Olympia Turm in Munich, Germany, Chez Valentino in Geneva, Switzerland, and Auberge de Riquewhir, Paris. Robert then worked at The Dome of the Four Seasons, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Le Cordon Bleu in Dania, Florida, Chillingsworth in Brewster, Massachusetts, and in 1976, helped open Maison Robert, with restaurant owner and uncle, Lucien Robert, in Boston's Old City Hall.
After moving to San Francisco, California, Robert worked as executive chef of Ernie's until 1985. He was inducted into the Maîtres Cuisiniers de France (Master Chefs of French) [3] thanks to mentor Rene Verdon, White House executive chef during the presidency of John F. Kennedy. In 1985, he became chef-owner of Amelio's and became the recipient of the 1989 Wine Spectator Grand Award. During his time in San Francisco, Robert was the president of the Club Culinaire Français de Californie (French Culinary Club of California). Alongside Alice Waters, Jeremiah Tower and Mark Miller, Robert was featured in the PBS series "The Great Chefs of San Francisco." Robert appeared in additional PBS broadcasts with Emmy award-winning chef Martin Yan.
In 1996, Robert returned to Maison Robert, in Boston, this time as executive-chef. In 2001, he accepted the position of executive-chef at Lydia Shire's Locke-Ober Restaurant in Boston. In 2003, Robert moved to Cape Cod as culinary director at the Chatham Bars Inn. Since 2004, Robert has been chef/co-owner of Petit Robert Bistro, which has five locations in the greater Boston area. He is responsible for their "culinary vision" and day-to-day operation. [3] He runs Ma Maison in Beacon Hill, Boston. [4]
Alain Pierre Sailhac was a French internationally recognized chef working in New York City, where he held the position of executive vice president and dean emeritus at The International Culinary Center, founded as the French Culinary Institute. Sailhac earned the first-ever four-star rating from The New York Times while at Le Cygne in 1977. He went on to be a chef at Le Cirque, the 21 Club, and the Plaza Hotel.
Jacques Pépin is a French chef, author, culinary educator, television personality, and artist. After having been the personal chef of French President Charles de Gaulle, he moved to the US in 1959 and after working in New York's top French restaurants, refused the same job with President John F. Kennedy in the White House and instead took a culinary development job with Howard Johnson's. During his career, he has served in numerous prestigious restaurants, first, in Paris, and then in America. He has appeared on American television and has written for The New York Times, Food & Wine and other publications. He has authored more than 30 cookbooks, some of which have become best sellers. Pépin was a longtime friend of the American chef Julia Child, and their 1999 PBS series Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home won a Daytime Emmy Award. He also holds a BA and a MA from Columbia University in French literature.
Joël Robuchon was a French chef and restaurateur. He was named "Chef of the Century" by the guide Gault Millau in 1989, and awarded the Meilleur Ouvrier de France in cuisine in 1976. He published several cookbooks, two of which have been translated into English, chaired the committee for the Larousse Gastronomique, and hosted culinary television shows in France. He operated more than a dozen restaurants across Bangkok, Bordeaux, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, London, Macau, Madrid, Monaco, Montreal, Paris, Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo, and New York City. His restaurants have been acclaimed, and in 2016 he held 31 Michelin Guide stars among them, the most any restaurateur has ever held. He is considered to be one of the greatest chefs of all time.
Rick Bayless is an American chef and restaurateur who specializes in traditional Mexican cuisine with modern interpretations. He is widely known for his PBS series Mexico: One Plate at a Time. Among his various accolades are a Michelin star, the title of Top Chef Masters, and seven James Beard Awards.
Prosper Montagné was one of the most renowned French chefs of the Belle Époque and author of many books and articles on food, cooking, and gastronomy, notably Larousse Gastronomique (1938), an encyclopedic dictionary of the French culinary arts. While Montagné was once as famous as his friend Auguste Escoffier, and was one of the most influential French chefs of the early twentieth century, his fame has faded somewhat. In the 1920s, Montagné, Escoffier, and Philéas Gilbert—their close friend and collaborator, and an acclaimed chef and writer in his own right—were the French chefs and culinary writers esteemed above others by many French journalists and writers. After Montagné's death, the chef and author Alfred Guérot's description of the troika as the "celebrated contemporary culinary trinity: Auguste Escoffier, the father; Philéas Gilbert, the son; Prosper Montagné, the spirit" reflects the reverence in which all three were held by the French culinary community.
Alain Passard is a French chef and owner of the three Michelin star restaurant L'Arpège in Paris.
Laurent Manrique is a French restaurateur and Michelin-starred chef. He currently owns establishments in San Francisco and Mexico.
Guy Patrice Savoy is a French chef who is the head chef and owner of the eponymous Guy Savoy restaurant in Paris, France, and its sister restaurant in Las Vegas, U.S., both of which have earned multiple Michelin stars. He owns three other restaurants in Paris.
Gary Danko is an American chef. He combines French, Mediterranean, and American styles into his cooking. He is best known for his eponymous restaurant in San Francisco, California.
Roland Passot is a French chef and restaurateur. His most well-known restaurant, La Folie, was open in San Francisco from 1988 to 2020. He is also owner of the more casual Left Bank Basseries and LB Steak restaurants. Passot was named one of "the eight wonders of Bay Area dining" by San Francisco Chronicle lead critic Michael Bauer.
André Soltner is an internationally recognized French chef and author based in the United States. He is considered one of America's first superstar chefs.
David Kinch is an American chef and restaurateur. He owned and operated Manresa, a restaurant in Los Gatos, California, which was awarded three Michelin stars in 2016. Kinch's California cuisine has strong French, Catalan and Japanese influences. Kinch opened a second restaurant in Los Gatos, called The Bywater, on January 12, 2016.
Christopher Kostow is the executive chef at The Restaurant at Meadowood in Napa Valley, California. Under chef-owner Kostow, The restaurant was awarded three stars by the Michelin Guide consecutively from 2011 to 2019. In 2013, Chef Kostow was awarded the James Beard Foundation Award for "Best Chef: West".
Jean-François Piège is a French chef, two stars at the Guide Michelin.
Jean-Robert de Cavel was a French-American chef active primarily in Cincinnati. He was chef de cuisine at The Maisonette from 1993 to 2002, executive chef 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 fundraiser.
Dominique Crenn is a French chef. As of 2016, she was the only female chef in the United States to attain three Michelin stars, for her restaurant Atelier Crenn, in San Francisco. Crenn has been featured in several Food Network and other television shows.
Les Toques Blanches Lyonnaises is an organization that was founded in 1936 by 7 renowned chefs from the Lyon area, including the founder and first president of the organization, Marius Vettard. The organization's goals are to unite cooks and pastry chefs to preserve and maintain the culinary history and traditions of Lyon, including the mâchon, the Mères Lyonnaises, bouchons, and Lyon's Michelin-Starred restaurants. It also aims to promote Lyonnais gastronomy and regional products.
Érick Jacquin is a French chef, naturalized Brazilian, who works in Latin America. He became better known after joining the talent show MasterChef, broadcast in Brazil by networks Band and Discovery Home & Health. The chef also presents the program "Pesadelo na Cozinha", broadcast by Band, which aims to help restaurants on the verge of bankruptcy to rise. Since 2019, he started publishing videos on his YouTube channel, where he presents the preparation of recipes in the kitchen of his restaurant Président, with the participation of his employees. On October 8, 2020, he scheduled a debut on the band of the Minha Renda program, always on Thursdays, at 10:45 pm.
Tony Esnault is a French chef and restaurateur at Knife Pleat, a Michelin-starred French restaurant in Costa Mesa, California.
Maison Robert was a French restaurant in the Old City Hall section of Boston from 1972 until it closed in 2004. Kerry Byrne of the Boston Herald described it as "the city’s center of sophisticated dining and power lunches … was widely considered one of the nation’s best restaurants and created a stir in Boston’s culinary, social and political circles."