Jean-Luc Petitrenaud, gastronomic journalist, is dead

The gastronomic journalist Jean-Luc Petitrenaud, who notably presented the television programs “Carte poste gourmande” and “Les Escapades de Petitrenaud”, died Friday January 10 in Paris at the age of 74, his children announced Agence France-Presse (AFP).

This familiar figure from the small screen has died “surrounded by loved ones”declared Louise and Antonin Petitrenaud, who “thank the people who loved him so much during these years”.

The death of Jean-Luc Petitrenaud comes three weeks after that of Maïté, another pillar of television cooking, at the age of 86.

With silver hair, small glasses and elegant suits, Jean-Luc Petitrenaud presented the program “Carte poste gourmande” on the public TV channel France 5 from 2000 to 2006, then “Les escapades de Petitrenaud”, from 2006.

The gastronomic critic decided to leave the presentation in 2017, saying he was tired. “It was a form of weariness, it’s for very personal reasons”he explained in the C8 show “L’Instant De Luxe”, in 2019.

“Three times nothing and paradise opens its doors”

On the radio, he notably presented “Le Bistrot du Dimanche”, on Europe 1, from 1998 to 2014. At the turn of the 1990s-2000s, he also wrote gastronomic reviews in L’Express.

Originally from Clermont-Ferrand, Jean-Luc Petitrenaud had in his youth trained in boilermaking, been a specialized educator and took lessons at Annie Fratellini’s circus school, as a clown. He then devoted himself to cooking, on which he published numerous books.

“Screwed in the kitchen, we looked with complicity at the circle of pots which outlined the contours of supper”he wrote in his book of memories Welcome to my home, in 2016.

“On Sunday evening, we finished the fatty rice which had dressed the roast beef at lunchtime. Ah! this crispy rice, dazzled with butter, which sings in the mouth! »he continued, greeting “the imagination of the housewives of that time”, like that of his grandmother Louise: “Three times nothing and paradise opens its doors. »