Background

Pierre Franey was born on January 13, 1921 in Tonnerre, Bourgogne, France. Franey grew up in northern Burgundy, France. As a young man, he was in the United States at the outbreak of World War II, cooking in the French Pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair.

Career

Pierre worked as a cook in the French Pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Franey was reluctant to return to France after the fair, since World War II had begun in Europe. He remained with the restaurant, which later reopened as Le Pavilion in Manhattan. In 1942 Franey joined the U.S. Army and served as a machine gunner. After the war, Henri Soulé, who ran the French Pavilion's kitchen, re-opened Le Pavillon in New York City, and Franey became executive chef in 1952. Franey, along with Jacques Pépin, then an aspiring young cook on the staff of Le Pavillon, was hired in 1960 by the hotel and restaurant entrepreneur Howard Johnson, Sr., (a regular client at Le Pavillon) to revamp some of the Howard Johnson's restaurant chain’s recipes. Franey also served as president of the Vatel Club from 1955 until 1960. He began work as a culinary arts writer with his friend Craig Claiborne, who had been a food critic for the New York Times. The pair began by compiling a food newsletter and also teamed to produce books such as Classic French Cooking, The Master Cooking Course, and Cooking with Craig Claiborne and Pierre Franey. In 1976 the duo began writing a column for the New York Times called “The 60-Minute Gourmet”. Franey also coauthored books with fellow food writers such as Bryan Miller and Richard Flaste. Among Franey’s other works are Pierre Franey’s Low Calorie Gourmet and an autobiography, A Chef’s Tale. In his later career, Franey appeared on programs for public television and he lectured and conducted cooking demonstrations for groups. His final book, “Pierre Franey Cooks With His Friends," was co-written in 1996 with his eldest daughter, Claudia Franey Jensen. Franey died in 1996 shortly after suffering a stroke while giving a shipboard cooking demonstration aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth II. He is buried in Green River Cemetery in Springs, New York in East Hampton, New York on Long Island.

Achievements

• In 1989, Franey launched his national television career on public television with a cooking series entitled “Cuisine Rapide.” Quickly becoming a hit, the series led to a companion book of the same title, followed by additional shows including “Cooking in America” and “Cooking in France,” which won the James Beard Foundation Award for the best cooking show in 1995, and finally “Cooking in Europe.” Decorated several times by the French government, including the National Merite of France, Franey held an honorary doctorate from Johnson & Wales University, served on the boards of the Culinary Institute of America and Johnson & Wales University, and was a past president of The Vatel Club, a French food industry organization founded in 1913 in New York. He was honored by the March of Dimes in 1985 with a Hirschfeld caricature drawing for his extensive fundraising work for that organization.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The New York Times More 60-Minute Gourmet
  • Pierre Franey Cooks with His Friends
  • Cuisine Rapide
  • Pierre Franey's Low-Calorie Gourmet
  • Pierre Franey's Cooking In France by Pierre Franey (1994-09-06)
  • A Chef's Tale: A Memoir of Food, France and America by Pierre Franey (1994-03-22)
  • Pierre Franey's Cooking in America/Companion Book to the Public Television Series
  • The Seafood Cookbook: Classic to Contemporary

Connections

Pierre's wife was Betty Franey and three children: Claudia, Diane and Jacques.

Spouse:

Betty Franey

child:

Claudia Franey Jensen

child:

Diane Franey

child:

Jacques Franey

colleague:

Jacques Pépin

Friend:

Craig Claiborne