Eric Ripert Biography

French chef and television personality Eric Ripert was born in 1965 in Antibes. Long before Ripert rose to become one of the world’s premier experts in modern French cuisine, he learned to cook while a very young child, led and inspired by his grandmother. In the early 1980’s, Eric moved to Paris to study more seriously under Joel Robuchon, rising to become Assistant Chef de Partie at the world renowned La Tour d’Argent.

By 1991, Ripert had moved to New York City to work for a number of famous chefs, including David Bouley, before moving to Le Bernardin, where he rose to become executive chef and made the restaurant renowned for its seafood dishes. Eric Ripert stunned the culinary world when at the young age of twenty-nine, he earned a four-star rating from the New York Times and then three Michelin stars for Le Bernardin. Ripert became part-owner of the restaurant, and has remained with it ever since.

Today, Eric Ripert can be seen on a number of culinary television shows, including Bravo’s Top Chef in the role of guest judge and assistant chef. He has also appeared as a guest star on Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown and No Reservations, and his own series – Avec Eric – on the PBS network. The show features Ripert traveling around the world for culinary inspiration. Ripert also appeared as himself on the HBO series Treme in the first season, returning again for multiple episodes in the second season.

Most recently, Eric Ripert launched first the Westend Bistro in Washington, D.C., and then the restaurant 10 Arts in Philadelphia. Both offer a more casual version of his French bistro fare and are housed in the Ritz-Carlton hotels. Aside from his restaurants, Eric also serves as president of the Jean-Louis Palladin Foundation, which seeks to provide culinary education and understanding, and as chair of New York City’s City Harvest’s Food Council, which seeks to assist in raising funds for food donations. Eric Ripert has also published six books on the culinary arts; the most recent one, 32 Yolks: From MY Mother’s Table to Working the Line, arrived in 2016.