Jean-Luc Petitrenaud: A Delicious Life

 
Jean-Luc Petitrenaud: A Delicious Life

I’m so sad to write that iconic food journalist Jean-Luc Petitrenaud has gone to that great comptoir in the sky. The dazzling, fascinating food journalist’s career took off in the 1990s when he became a columnist for Radio France and Radio Suisse Romande.

From 2000 to 2006, Petitrenaud presented Carte Postale Gourmande every Sunday on France 5 TV. A transmission that revealed the Clermont-Ferrand native visiting chefs’ kitchens across France, but not only! The anchor also went to meet market gardeners, winegrowers, cheesemakers and butcher, bakers, candlestick makers. In addition to his TV and radio career, the father of Louise and Antonin published numerous novels including Bienvenue Chez Moi in 2016 and Les Quatre Saisons d’Émile et Marcelle in 2018.

His bestie Christian Constant is devastated at the loss. “I sincerely think that it is a huge loss for French gastronomy. Jean-Luc did not like the term ‘food critic’ – he preferred that of ‘food journalist.’ He never wanted to criticize cooks or artisans, but rather to support, highlight and promote them.” CC adds: “Jean-Luc helped raise a whole generation of chefs of which I am a part, from the most modest to the most renowned. In 1990 together with French sugar industry professionals he invented the Journée du Goût, which has become a major event in the cookery calendar today (now part of the Hopscotch Group). A dedicated culinary traveler, he wrote with beautiful style, using his extensive and admirable vocabulary, transporting us not only to five-star palaces, but also to small bistros and comptoirs in the depths of the provinces. He was my best buddy – I’ll always miss him.”

Christian Constant with Jean-Luc Petitrenaud. Photo courtesy of Margaret Kemp

With his silver hair, small glasses and elegant suits, Petitrenaud strutted his chic dandy look across France. From the North to Marseille, via Saint-Malo, Paris and La Rochelle, the globetrotter made numerous culinary journeys with French chefs, from the most Michelin-starred to the least renowned. A fan of dithyrambic logorrhea (writing in an exalted or enthusiastic vein) on a given pâté or meat cooking, sometimes with an air of an unleashed Louis de Funès, Petitrenaud put on unmissable shows – he’d taken clown classes at Annie Fratellini’s circus school!

Memorial for Jean-Luc Petitrenaud at L’Eglise Saint-Pierre-du-Gros-Caillou, 7th. Photo credit: Gilles Pudlowski

From 2006, this gastronomic columnist fronted Les Escapades de Petitrenaud, leaving the production in 2017, saying he was tired. “It’s a form of weariness, it’s for very personal reasons,” he confessed in 2019 on the C8 show L’Instant De Luxe.

Monsieur Petitrenaud also hosted radio shows, including Papilles en Eveil on France Inter (1998) and Le Bistrot du Dimanche from 1998-2014 on Europe 1. At the turn of the 90s-2000s, he also wrote restaurant reviews for L’Express.

Foodie journo François-Régis Gaudry paid tribute to his colleague on Instagram, posting a photo of Petitrenaud and his daughter, Louise, expressing his sadness: “This disappearance leaves a great void in the world of gastronomy.” And Gaudry salutes “the inimitable wit” of Petitrenaud, whom he rubbed shoulders with when he started on Europe 1.

Jean-Luc Petitrenaud leaves behind his wife Sylvie Desormière and their two children, Louise and Antonin. Louise, born in 1990, has followed her father’s footsteps into the world of gastronomy, working as a culinary columnist on programmes such as Télématin on France 2 or M6’s Mon Gâteau Est Le Meilleur de France alongside Cyril Lignac. Antonin (born 1980) turned to sports management.

The outpouring of tributes from the culinary community reflects the profound impact Petitrenaud had on French gastronomy. Colleagues and fans alike celebrated not just his professional achievements but his warmth and generosity of spirit. The culinary world remembers him as an ambassador for French food culture, whose influence resonated across generations. Super chef Guy Savoy remembers, “He had a contagious charm and his love of France and all the artisans of the food industry was so impressive.”

“Writing about the death of a friend right after his disappearance is a delicate act,” admits Gilles Pudlowski. “When it comes to Jean-Luc Petitrenaud, there are numerous memories, delicious, abundant. We were born 20 days apart (Bernard Loiseau followed us shortly after). Suffice to say that he was my astral twin. We walked the same paths together, shared the same love of gastronomy, comptoirs, inns, restaurants, hotels and bistrots, I miss him already. RIP to a grand monsieur, gone but not forgotten.”

RIP, Jean-Luc Petitrenaud (December 1950-January 2025)

Lead photo credit : Jean-Luc Petitrenaud/ Facebook

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Born in Hampton, Middlesex, UK, Margaret Kemp is a lifestyle journalist, based between London, Paris and the world. Intensive cookery courses at The Cordon Bleu, London, a wedding gift from a very astute ex-husband, gave her the base that would take her travelling (leaving the astute one behind) in search of rare food and wine experiences, such as the vineyards of Thailand, 'gator hunting in South Florida, learning to make eye-watering spicy food in Kerala;pasta making in a tiny Tuscany trattoria. She has contributed to The Guardian, The Financial Times Weekend and FT. How To Spend It.com, The Spectator, Condé Nast Traveller, Food & Travel, and Luxos Magazine. She also advises as consultant to luxury hotels and restaurants. Over the years, Kemp has amassed a faithful following on BonjourParis. If she were a dish she'd be Alain Passard's Millefeuille “Caprice d'Enfant”, as a painting: Manet’s Dejeuner sur l’herbe !