✨ 🎂 Happy 90th birthday to Jacques Pepin, the Emmy-winning French chef, artist, culinary educator, winner of more than 20 James Beard awards, and author of more than 30 cookbooks and memoirs (take a deep breath here 😉 ) who once turned down a request from President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy to be their official White House chef after filling the same role for French President Charles de Gaulle because he wanted to immerse himself in American food and culture — which Pepin did by taking a culinary director job at Howard Johnson’s, then the largest chain in the country. 🍰 ✨ ⭐️ That career pivot and the techniques he picked up while cooking hundreds of pounds of pastrami at HoJo’s were among the things Pepin and I discussed for the 2004 newspaper story you see here. It was written when I was on staff at the Ventura County Star and had the distinct honor of meeting Pepin for an in-person, one-on-one interview during the publicity tour for his then-new book, “Fast Food My Way,” and its companion TV series on PBS. 🗣️”A simple tomato salad with fresh basil and red onion is a fast-food recipe as I define (it),” Pepin explained as he invited me to sample — and guess the identity of — a pickled treat prepared by Bruno Lopez, the French-born executive chef at the hotel where Pepin was staying. When I repeatedly tried but failed to place the ingredient, Pepin took pity on me: “They are little peaches, picked even before the pit forms inside,” he exclaimed. “They just amaze me.”  ⬅️ Swipe left and zoom in to read the rest of my interview with #JacquesPepin, in which he also talks about his longtime friend Julia Child. . 🎉 For information about Pepin’s NEWEST book and the series of 90/90 dinners organized as fundraisers for the non-profit @jacquespepinfoundation , see the comments section below. ⬇️ . . #HappyBirthdayJacquesPepin #livinglegend #HappyBirthday @juliachildfoundation #805foodie