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Anne-Sophie Pic was born into a long line of chefs. She grew up in Valence (France), watching her father daily at work in his restaurant. Her first career choice was in commerce which took her overseas, notably to Tokyo and New York. After a stint in luxury goods, she interned in the Champagne region where she discovered a passion for blending wines. This drew her back to the family restaurant where she was to train under her father. Tragically, he died suddenly and she was forced to learn on the job, using only her intuition and natural ability. “All I had to guide me in the kitchen was my sense of smell and my palate », she says.
Since then, she has gone on to great heights, through her love of technique, her boundless creativity and her gift for enhancing local produce. «My cooking is all about the balance of strong aromatics and delicate presentation, » she says. Her refined yet cutting edge approach has won her multiple accolades, including the rare honour of obtaining three Michelin stars consistently since 2007. In addition, she has been named Chef of the Year 2007, Best Female Chef in the World 2011 – the Veuve Cliquot award in the World’s 50 Restaurants list, Knight of the Legion of Honour in 2011…
Having successfully maintained the family business in Valence – the 5 star Maison Pic Hotel and 3 Michelin starred restaurant, Ms Pic has expanded into new ventures such as the Michelin-starred La Dame de Pic in Paris (opened in 2011) and London’s La Dame de Pic ( which launched in 2017 in the Four Seasons Ten Trinity Square) as well as the two-Michelin Hotel Beau-Rivage in Switzerland. To pass on her culinary knowledge to a wider audience, she also set up the Scook cooking school in Valence in 2008 and has published her personal recipes under the same title.
