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How did you get into the industry?

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I got into the industry very early as my parents owned a butchery in Toulouse (France). I started to help them very young, at the age of 10. This is how I began to love working with food.

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What’s the best/ worst part of your job?

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The best part of the job is that you give happiness to people and this is priceless.

The worst part is the long hours, but it’s just a detail when you live what you do.

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Chef Jean's favourite food and beverage pairing?

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One of my favourite food and wine pairings (to stay in Southwest France, my home town) ) is undoubtedly a nice BBQ vine branch duck breast with a Graves or a Pomerol. The blood and firm tannins make a very nice pairing in the mouth.

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Share with us a story from behind the scenes.

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I encounter many fascinating people during my private chef functions, and I have so many stories to tell. During one of my last dinners, I was challenged to custom a special dinner for a food and wine pairing. My customers were so happy that they invited me to join them to try some exceptional wines like a delicious brandy from 1885.

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What’s one of the craziest things you’ve seen behind the scenes?

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Are you sure you want to know? OK, one day I had a booking for a table of six women. They took my most expensive fine dining menus and had a great night. Actually, it was a group of luxury prostitute friends who just wanted to have a good time. They were super cool and very down to earth. Super classy and nice with the staff!

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Another great experience was to have served a Malaysian tenor! We had the privilege to hear him singing acapella in a small room. The walls were literally shaking when he sang!

There are some more stories I cannot tell because it involves VIPs, and I promised confidentiality.

This is the privilege to be a private chef, living extraordinary moments with extraordinary people.

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The perfect day off would be…

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The perfect day off would be a nice bubbly brunch to start the day, followed by sports and activities with my family and a good Netflix to finish the day.

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A day in the life of Chef Jean is…

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Waking up early. Doing some paperwork, bringing the kids to school, preparing the food orders, driving to do the deliveries, groceries, teaching some virtual cooking classes, taking care of the social networks, planning the activities for the next week, and finally, sleeping late.

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What do you do for fun?

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Karaoke. Of course, I sing very bad but with passion!