This week on I speak with chef Rollie Wesen. He's the executive Director of the Jacques Pépin foundation, as well as an assistant professor at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. Rollie is married to Claudine Pepin, Jaques daughter. In talking with Jacques, they thought it would be a great idea to start a foundation while he was still alive, and create something that would have a lasting, positive affect on the world.
Jacques decided that he wanted the foundation to focus on one singular mission. To support community kitchens that offer free life skills and culinary training to adults with high barriers to employment. Those barriers could be previous incarceration, homelessness, substance abuse issues, low skill or lack of work history.
On this episode, we talk about how the foundation came to be, and have a more in-depth conversation about their mission, and what the future holds for the foundation. Rollie also shares some fun stories like the photographing of Jaques’s cookbooks. And being a professor at Johnson & Wales University, we spoke about the state of culinary education today.
Rollie Wesen and The Jacques Pépin Foundation
The Jacques Pépin Foundation Website (https://jp.foundation/)
The Jacques Pépin Foundation's Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/jacquespepinfoundation/) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/jacquespepinfoundation/)
Rollie's Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/rolliewesen/)
Jacques's cookbook New Complete Techniques (https://amzn.to/46NfwF9)
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