The Apprentice (Jacques Pepin)

In this captivating memoir, republished in a beautiful new edition with French flaps and a foreword by Anthony Bourdain to celebrate his 80th birthday, Jacques Pépin tells the story of his rise from a frightened apprentice in Old World French kitchens to a superstar who taught millions of Americans how to cook. We see young Jacques first as a homesick six-year-old boy in war-ravaged France. Working his way up the ladder in the feudal system of France’s most famous restaurants, he becomes Charles de Gaulle’s personal chef.

When he comes to the America, he falls in with the leaders of the country’s food revolution: Julia Child, Craig Claiborne, and James Beard. Jacques proves himself to be a master of reinvention, turning down a job as John F. Kennedy’s chef to develop recipes for Howard Johnson’s and, after a near-fatal car accident, switching careers to become a charismatic TV celebrity. The book includes forty of Jacques’s all-time favorite recipes and dozens of photographs from his private collection.