Jean-Georges Vongerichten

{{For|Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Manhattan restaurant|Jean-Georges}}

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{{Infobox chef

| name = Jean-Georges Vongerichten

| image = Jean-Georges Vongerichten.jpg

| caption = Jean-Georges Vongerichten

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1957|03|16|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Illkirch-Graffenstaden, France

| death_date =

| death_place =

| style = Contemporary French cuisine, Thai-inspired French fusion cuisine, American nouvelle cuisine

| education = Culinary school in Perpignan, France

| ratings =

| restaurants = {{plainlist|

New York City and area: Jean-Georges, Nougatine at Jean-Georges, Terrace at Jean-Georges, ABC Cocina, ABC Kitchen, ABCV, *JoJo, Perry St, Simply Chicken, The Inn at Pound Ridge, The Mark, The Mercer Kitchen, The Fulton
Chicago: Pump Room
Las Vegas: Prime Steakhouse, Jean-Georges Steakhouse
Miami Beach: Matador Room, Market at EDITION, Tropicale
Paradise Island: DUNE by Jean-Georges, Café Martinique
Shanghai: Jean-Georges, Nougatine at Jean-Georges, Mercato, Chi-Q
Paris: Market
Saint Barthélemy: Sand Bar, On the Rocks
Tokyo: JG Tokyo
Jakarta: Vong Kitchen
Los Cabos: SEARED, Suviche
Dubai: Jean-Georges Dining Room, Jean-Georges Kitchen
Vancouver: Market by Jean-Georges
Doha: Market by Jean-Georges
Dublin: Jean-Georges at The Leinster

}}

| prevrests ={{plainlist|

Jean-Georges Beverly Hills
Mercer Kitchen

}}

| television =

| awards =

| website = {{URL|https://www.jean-georges.com}}

| spouse = Marja Dominique Allen

}}

File:Michael Wildes, Jean Georges.jpg, Jean Georges, 2014]]

File:Jean-Georges Vongerichten at his flagship restaurant.jpg, 2007.]]

Jean-Georges Vongerichten ({{IPA|de|ʒãːˈʒɔrʒ fɔnɡəˈrɪçtn̩|lang}}; {{IPA|fr|ʒɑ̃ʒɔʁʒ vɔŋɡəʁiʃtɛn|lang}}; born March 16, 1957) is a French-American chef.{{Cite web |last=seo |date=2014-03-05 |title=Celebrity Chef Jean Georges Approved for Citizenship With The Help of Immigration Attorney Michael Wildes |url=https://www.wildeslaw.com/news-events/in-the-news/celebrity-chef-jean-georges-approved-for-citizenship-with-the-help-of-immigration-attorney-michael-wildes/ |access-date=2024-11-17 |website=Best Immigration Lawyer, Attorneys in NYC, New York |language=en-US}}[http://cityfile.com/profiles/jean-georges-vongerichten "Profile: Jean-Georges Vongerichten"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111031222320/http://cityfile.com/profiles/jean-georges-vongerichten |date=October 31, 2011 }}, CityFile New YorkSigal, Jane [http://foodandwine.netscape.com/articles/invoke.cfm?label=jean-georges-phone-home "Jean-Georges, Phone Home"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080325145927/http://foodandwine.netscape.com/articles/invoke.cfm?label=jean-georges-phone-home |date=March 25, 2008 }} Food & Wine magazine, July 2005. Vongerichten owns restaurants in Miami Beach, Las Vegas, London, Paris, Shanghai, Philadelphia, and Tokyo, as well as New York's Jean-Georges restaurant and Tangará Jean Georges in São Paulo's Palácio Tangará, by Oetker Collection.Morrow, Fiona [https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080909.wvancouverRestaurant0909/BNStory/lifeFoodWine/home "Vancouver restaurant scene lands a star"] The Globe and Mail, September 9, 2004 He is head chef of Eden Rock, St Barths. Vongerichten is the author of five cookbooks, two with Mark Bittman.

Early life and career

Born and raised on the outskirts of Strasbourg in Alsace, France,{{Cite news|author=Fabricant, Florence|date=1997-03-05|title=In Vongerichten's New Venture, the Kitchen Is on Display|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/05/garden/in-vongerichten-s-new-venture-the-kitchen-is-on-display.html|access-date=2021-03-29|issn=0362-4331}} Vongerichten had a family life centered around the kitchen, where each day his mother and grandmother prepared lunch for the almost 50 employees of their business. His love of food cemented his choice of career at the age of 16, when his parents brought him to the three-star Michelin-rated Auberge de l'Ill for a birthday dinner.Bittman, Mark. [http://www.howtocookeverything.tv/htce/MeetTheChefs/detail/chefId-6.html "Meet the Chefs"] How to Cook Everything book series, John Wiley & Sons Inc. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517134138/http://www.howtocookeverything.tv/htce/MeetTheChefs/detail/chefId-6.html |date=May 17, 2008 }}

Vongerichten began his training soon after in a work-study program at the Auberge de l'Ill as an apprentice to Chef Paul Haeberlin. He went on to work with France's top chefs, including Paul Bocuse and Louis Outhier at L'Oasis in the south of France.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

Often working with Outhier, Vongerichten opened ten restaurants around the world from 1980 to 1985, including the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok, the Meridien Hotel in Singapore, and the Mandarin Hotel in Hong Kong.

Relocation to America

Vongerichten arrived in the United States in 1985 under the auspices of consulting chef Louis Outhier, opening the Le Marquis de Lafayette restaurant in Boston. A year later he arrived in New York to take over as executive chef at Lafayette in the Drake Swissôtel, earning four stars from The New York Times at the age of 29. There he met financiers Bob Giraldi and Phil Suarez.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tikeIbvq4P0C |title=Appetite City: A Culinary History of New York |author= Grimes, William |page=302 |publisher=Macmillan |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-86547-692-9}} Vongerichten, Giraldi and Suarez opened a bistro, JoJo, in 1991. JoJo was named Best New Restaurant of the Year, and earned three stars from The New York Times.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/12/arts/restaurants-067709.html|title=Restaurants|author=Reichl, Ruth|date=1996-04-12|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-01-15|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}

Lawsuit

In September 2008, Vongerichten agreed to settle a lawsuit for $2.2 million filed by staff who claimed tips from several of his restaurants had been redirected to managers.{{cite web |url=http://www.meeja.com.au/index.php?display_article_id=229 |title=Waiters successfully sue celeb chef for tips |publisher=meeja.com.au |date=September 17, 2008 |access-date=September 17, 2008}}

Influence

In 2005, New York magazine wrote that in the past two decades, no single chef has had more influence on the way New Yorkers dine out—or on the way other chefs cook and other restaurants look. "He invented America’s answer to nouvelle cuisine," says Mario Batali. "When I first came to New York, his book Simple Cuisine was the holy grail for young chefs, and JoJo was the hottest ticket in town."{{cite news |work= New York |author= McInerney, Jay |url=http://nymag.com/nymetro/food/features/12074/ |date=June 18, 2005 |title=Jean-Georges Is Seeing Stars}}

Vongerichten claims to have invented molten chocolate cake in New York City in 1987, but the French chef and chocolatier Jacques Torres has disputed that, arguing that such a dish already existed in France.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

Personal life

Vongerichten resides in New York City with his wife, Marja, a Korean-American/African-American actress and model (née Marja Dominique Allen; born 1976).[http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/06/29/2010062900280.html "Celebrity Chef's Wife Returns to Ancestral Home"], The Chosun Ilbo newspaper, South Korea, June 29, 2010 The couple has a daughter.

Vongerichten also has two adult children, Cedric (who is the executive chef of Perry Street) and Louise (who recently opened a restaurant called Chefs Club in NY), from his first marriage. His daughter Louise is married to Hamdi Ulukaya. Vongerichten has three grandchildren. He spends weekends at a house in Waccabuc, New York[https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB123750192328089367?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB123750192328089367.html "Jean-Georges Goes Country"]. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 2, 2014.

Community activism

Vongerichten serves on the Food Council at City Harvest, and runs his own foundation called Food Dreams.{{Cite news|url=http://www.foodrepublic.com/2014/01/27/nyc-geoffrey-zakarian-is-the-new-chairman-of-city-harvest-food-council/|title=NYC: Geoffrey Zakarian Is The New Chairman Of City Harvest Food Council - Food Republic|date=2014-01-27|work=Food Republic|access-date=2018-07-30|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.jean-georges.com/about/philanthropy|title=Philanthropy {{!}} Jean-Georges Restaurants|last=Studios|first=IdeaWork|website=www.jean-georges.com|language=en|access-date=2018-07-30}}

Books

Home Cooking with Jean-Georges (co-authored with Genevieve Ko) (November 2011), {{ISBN|978-0-307-71795-5}}
Asian Flavorings of Jean-Georges (October 2007), {{ISBN|978-0-7679-1273-0}}
Simple to Spectacular (co-authored with Mark Bittman) (October 2000), {{ISBN|978-0-7679-0360-8}}
Jean-Georges: Cooking At Home with a Four-Star Chef (co-authored with Mark Bittman) (September 1998), {{ISBN|978-0-7679-0155-0}}
Simple Cuisine: The Easy, New Approach to Four-Star Cooking (1991), {{ISBN|978-0-13-195059-7}}

Television

In 2011, Vongerichten and his wife, Marja, debuted a PBS television series, Kimchi Chronicles, a travel and cooking show set in South Korea and New York City.Ong, Bao. (December 8, 2010).[http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/kimchi-chronicles/ Kimchi Chronicles]. The New York Times.