Eric Ripert
Eric Ripert is the chef and co-owner of the acclaimed New York restaurant Le Bernardin. Born in Antibes, France, Ripert moved to Andorra, a small country just over the Spanish border as a young child. His family instilled their own passion for food in the young Ripert, and at the age of 15 he left home to attend culinary school in Perpignan.
In the NYC 2006 Michelin Guide, Ripert’s Le Bernardin was one of four New York City restaurants to be awarded the maximum three Michelin stars for excellence in cuisine. Le Bernardin received four stars from The New York Times six consecutive times, making it the only restaurant to maintain an exquisite status for that length of time and never dropping a star. Ripert has since firmly established himself as one of New York’s and the world’s great chefs.
Chef Ripert has made several guest appearances on cooking-based television shows, including guest judge and assistant chef roles on Bravo TV’s Top Chef. He has appeared in many episodes of A Cook’s Tour, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, and Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown. In September 2009, Avec Eric, Ripert’s first TV show, debuted on PBS and ran for two seasons, earning two Daytime Emmy Awards. In 2021 and 2023 he published Vegetable Simple and Seafood Simple, which both became instant best sellers on the New York Times best seller list. In 2014, he released My Best: Eric Ripert . In 2016, he published his memoir: 32 Yolks: From My Mother’s Table to Working the Line , which also was a New York Times bestseller.
This fall, Ripert debuts his ninth book, Mindful Cooking. It draws on Ripert’s roots, meditation practice and time spent over the years in Tibetan and Korean monasteries, but comes to life through very tangible, everyday rituals—pausing before cooking to set intention, approaching ingredients with respect, cooking without distraction, and reframing mistakes as part of the process rather than something to react to.
He is also the Vice Chairman of the board of City Harvest, working to bring together New York’s top chefs and restaurateurs to raise funds and increase the quality and quantity of food donations to New York’s neediest. When not in the kitchen, Ripert enjoys good scotch and peace and quiet.