After his studies at Berkeley and a year working to save money, Jim took off on a trip around the world. Starting in Japan and working his way west, he arrived in France on a sunny day in 1975. After witnessing the French fondness for fine food and wine, and after tasting a Bresse chicken poached in cream, he decided to dedicate himself to gastronomy. Persistence and cajoling finally paid off when he got his first “serious” job at Vivarois, at the time a three-star restaurant and one of Paris’s most respected. After half a year, another job ensued, this time in Burgundy at what is now Georges Blanc, a three-star restaurant known for its interpretations of local cuisine.

Three years later, Jim returned to the United States where he had an opportunity to become partners in a new French restaurant, Le Petit Robert, in New York City. While never a grand financial success, Le Petit Robert gleaned important mentions and reviews in The New York Times, Gourmet, and New York Magazine, to name only a few. Jay Jacobs, in Gourmet, said that the restaurant “…may be the most creative in New York.”

After four years of dispensing truffles and foie gras to his elated clientele, the restaurant finally closed.

In 1984, James began teaching at The French Culinary Institute where he eventually wrote the advanced curriculum. He also taught at Peter Kump’s Cooking School, now the Institute of Culinary Education.

During this period, Jim was invited by a publisher to propose a book about cooking. It was then that Jim decided to write Sauces, which won the Cookbook of the Year Award from the James Beard foundation. After writing and photographing 15 more books about wine and food and gleaning five more James Beard Awards and two IACP awards, Jim, now a bit of an éminence grise, took time off to work on his new company, Brooklyn Perfume Company which has a line of seven idiosyncratic perfumes.

James’s books have been translated into 13 languages. To learn more about Jim’s books, click on jimcooks.com.

Books by James Peterson

Sauces, Van Nostrand Rheinhold, 1991 (now in its fourth, full-color edition)

Splendid Soups, Bantam, 1993 (now in its second edition)

Fish & Shellfish, Morrow, 1995

Vegetables, Morrow, 1998 (now in its second, full-color edition)

Essentials of Cooking, Artisan, 1999

Simply Salmon, Stewart, Taboori & Chang, 2001

Glorious French Food, Wiley, 2002

Sweet Wines, Stewart, Taboori & Chang, 2002

The Duck Cookbook, Stewart, Taboori & Chang, 2003

Simply Shrimp, Stewart, Taboori & Chang, 2007