Eric Ripert

Infobox Chef
name = Eric Ripert


caption =
birthdate = birth year and age|1965
birthplace = Antibes, France
deathdate =
deathplace =
style = Seafood, French
education = Culinary school in Perpignan, France
restaurants = Le Bernardin (New York City), The Releigh (Miami), Westend Bistro (Washington, DC)
television =

Eric Ripert (rih-pair') (born 1965 in Antibes) is a French chef working in New York City. He was raised in France and learned to cook at a young age from his grandmother. When he was young, his family moved to Andorra, just over the Spanish border. He later returned to France and attended culinary school in Perpignan. In 1982 he moved to Paris where he worked for two years at La Tour d'Argent, a famous restaurant more than 400 years old. Ripert next worked at Jamin and was soon promoted to Assistant Chef de Partie. In 1985 Ripert left to fulfill his military service, after which he returned to Jamin as Chef Poissonier.

In 1989, Ripert moved to the United States and was hired as a sous chef in the Watergate Hotel's Jean Louis restaurant. He stayed for two years before moving to New York City in 1991 to work for David Bouley. He stayed for just a few months before being offered a job at Le Bernardin. In 1994, Ripert became Le Bernardin's executive chef after Gilbert Le Coze died unexpectedly of a heart attack. The following year, Ripert earned a four-star rating from the "New York Times", and in 1996 he became a part-owner. In the Michelin Guide NYC 2006, Ripert's Le Bernardin was one of four New York City restaurants to be awarded the maximum 3 Michelin stars for excellence in cuisine.

Ripert is the Chair of City Harvest’s Food Council, and President of the Jean-Louis Palladin Foundation. He has been a guest chef at the French Embassies in Mexico and Venezuela and for the New York City Ballet.

Ripert lent his name, talents, and several members of his team including Le Bernardin's then-sous chef Richard Brower to the Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman, in the form of two restaurants: Blue and Periwinkle. The former received an AAA Five Diamond Award, the only restaurant in the Caribbean to receive this rating. Both restaurants make creative and extensive use of local food products - particularly the lobster and red snapper, which are strictly sourced from the surrounding waters - as well as sea salt harvested by evaporation. Blue features a three course prix-fixe menu by tradition, as well as a six course taster menu and à la carte selection. They were the first restaurants to bear Ripert's name and he reportedly brings a team to the restaurants once a month to ensure quality.

Westend Bistro by Eric Ripert at the Ritz-Carlton on 22nd & M Streets in Washington, D.C., opened on November 8, 2007. The concept features casual French and American bistro fare in DC's West End neighborhood. Ripert will also be opening his newest venture in the Ritz Carlton Philadelphia spring 2008. The name of the restaurant, 10 Arts, comes from the hotel's address along Philadelphia's vibrant Avenue of the Arts.

Eric Ripert has made several guest appearances on cooking based television shows including guest judge and assistant chef roles on on the third and fourth seasons of Bravo's "Top Chef". Most recently he has launched a series of brief online cooking videos called "Get Toasted" on his website AVECERIC.com which focuses on easy and quick meals that can be prepared and cooked in minutes with a toaster oven. In the series he uses a somewhat high end brick-oven based toaster oven produced by Cuisinart.

Books

* "Le Bernardin Cookbook" (co-authored with Maguy Le Coze) (1998), ISBN 0-385-48841-6
* "A Return to Cooking" (co-authored with Michael Ruhlman) (2002), ISBN 1-57965-187-9
* "On the Line: The Stations, the Heat, the Cooks, the Costs, the Chaos, and the Triumphs" (co-authored with Christine Muhlke) (November, 2008), ISBN 1-57965-369-3

Awards

* "Best Restaurant in America" (1997) by GQ
* "Best Food in New York City" (2000-2007) by Zagat
* "Outstanding Restaurant of the Year" (1998) by the James Beard Foundation
* "Top Chef in New York City" (1998) by the James Beard Foundation
* "Outstanding Service Award" (1999) by the James Beard Foundation
* "Outstanding Chef of the Year" (2003) by the James Beard Foundation

Philanthropy

* Ripert is the Chair of City Harvest’s Food Council. In this capacity he works to bring together New York’s top chefs, restaurateurs and others in the food community to assist City Harvest in its mission to raise funds and to increase the quantity and quality of food donations. "City Harvest, a non-profit organization founded in 1982, is the world's first and New York City's only food rescue program. City Harvest exists to end hunger in communities throughout New York City, through food rescue and distribution, education, and other practical, innovative solutions."
* President of the Jean-Louis Palladin Foundation, which serves to recognize and honor Chef Jean-Louis Palladin's outstanding culinary contributions. "Part of its mission will be to develop programs to increase the understanding and appreciation of high quality ingredients among young chefs and food professionals."
* For the past three years, Ripert has hosted the Tibetan Aid Project's [http://www.tibetanaidproject.org/default.php?su=ttny2008 Taste & Tribute New York] benefit dinner and auction at his acclaimed Manhattan restaurant, Le Bernardin. "Funds raised at the annual "Taste & Tribute" benefit dinners help support a monumental effort to restore Tibetan-language texts to libraries all over the Himalayan region. So far, this project has led to the distribution of nearly two million traditional Buddhist texts—one of the largest free book distributions in history. These treasured texts are presented at the annual [http://www.tibetanaidproject.org/default.php?su=worldpeaceceremony World Peace Ceremony] in Bodh Gaya, India, and benefit Tibetans in exile communities and in Tibet itself."

External links

* [http://aveceric.com Personal Blog]
* [http://www.le-bernardin.com/chef.html Biography at Le Bernardin]
* [http://www.cuisinenet.com/glossary/chfripe.html Biography at CuisineNet]
* [http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/special/bernardin/eric.html Biography at Global Gourmet]
* [http://topsecretrecipes.ivillage.com/food/2007/08/eric_ripert_warm_peekytoemaryl.html iVillage's "Secret Sauce": Eric Ripert's Warm Peekytoe-Maryland Lump "Crab Cake"]
* [http://topsecretrecipes.ivillage.com/food/2007/09/eric_ripert_trout.html iVillage's "Secret Sauce": Eric Ripert's Grilled Trout with Sauce Vierge and Potato and Leek"]
* [http://www.westendbistrodc.com/ Westend Bistro, Washington, DC]