Jacques Pépin
In the world of celebrity chefs, Jacques Pépin is a legend among legends. At 82, his career has spanned nearly seven decades. He literally wrote the book on the fundamentals of French cuisine — La Technique is still used as a textbook in culinary school — and he’s hosted nearly a dozen acclaimed television programs, including the beloved “Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home” with Julia Child.
“If chefs were boxers, Jacques Pépin would be Muhammad Ali,” says Joe Gaglio, owner of Madison’s Gotham Bagels. “He means a lot to a lot of us chefs here in town — almost all of us went to culinary school and learned the French method. He’s an iconoclastic chef for us.”
Gaglio is bringing Pépin to Madison Oct. 5-6 for a trio of events aimed at celebrating Madison’s culinary community, its talented chefs and the agricultural bounty of the region — and doing so “in the French style, with Jacques Pépin,” Gaglio says.
The itinerary kicks off Friday night with a cocktail reception and five-course, French-inspired wine dinner at Sardine. Pépin will give a presentation before dinner, and an ensemble team of local chefs including Tory Miller, Elizabeth Dahl, John Gadau, Phillip Hurley, Dan Fox, Dan Bonanno, Shinji Muramoto (and more to be confirmed) will do the cooking. “It’s going to be a party — not a formal, stuffy wine dinner,” says Gaglio, who’s envisioning a 1950s French countryside theme. The next morning, Pépin will walk the Dane County Farmers’ Market with Gaglio and a small group of guests before heading over to L’Etoile for a brunch and memorabilia signing. Tickets are available on Eventbrite, and guests can go to one, two or all three sessions.
In addition to boosting Madison’s food scene, Gaglio is using the events to raise awareness about mental health and suicide within the service industry, and plans to donate a portion of proceeds to local suicide prevention organizations. The cause is timely, as Gaglio was finalizing Pépin’s contract around the time that beloved chef and TV personality Anthony Bourdain died by suicide. But Gaglio says the issues have long been prevalent among people working in restaurants.
“We give up time with our families, we work long hours, we’re under pressure to produce. Margins are low, pay is low, but we do it for the love of the food and the love of the people,” he says. “There’s alcohol floating around, and it’s not the most stable [environment]. So we’re kind of high risk, I guess.”
Gaglio says things in the industry have improved since he started cooking in New York City in the 1980s — there are better labor laws protecting workers, and there’s more awareness and less stigma surrounding mental health care.
“If anything good can come from [Bourdain’s] passing, maybe he can save somebody else’s life,” Gaglio says. “It can make people aware that we can provide support — and that’s what we want to do.”
