Jean-Louis Dumonet
Executive Chef - Roaring Gap Club
Roaring Gap, NC
Trained at two different Three Star (* * *) Michelin restaurants after graduating at the top of his class at L'Ecole Hotelière Jean Drouant in Paris (1980), France's #1 restaurant cooking and management school, Dumonet has been professionally cooking for over 20 years at some of the finest establishments in the world.
Born in Poitiers Jean-Louis was brought up by his Maternal Grandmother for his first 5 years. A great Cook, she was his first Culinary Inspiration. Then raised in Paris, he grew up in a family of restaurateurs. His parents, Pet and Jean Dumonet, owned and operated two adjacent bistros in Paris, Josephine and La Rotisserie, until recently. Dumonet's youngest brother Jean-Christian is in charge of them now.
Jean-Louis started cooking at age 14 and completed his formal training at l'Ecole Hotelière Jean Drouant in Paris (1980). While there, he met his Scottish wife, Karen.
Dumonet trained and practiced his art in various parts of the world. He pursued a rigorous schedule of internships at impressive establishments including the Guide Michelin three-star Le Vivarois, Le Pré Catalan, Maxim's, and Josephine in Paris; Patisserie Gérard Marotte, Hostellerie Georges in Merlimont, and Les Dauphins in St. Raphael (in Provence) around France; so that he could learn the foods and cuisine of that famous gastronomic culture first hand.
For his one-year compulsory military service, Jean-Louis was assigned to cook for the Prime Minister of France at the Hôtel Matignon, the Prime Minister’s official residence. Then he continued to build his experience at the three-star Le Vivarois in Paris, at the Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland, and as chef de cuisine at Josephine.
In 1983 Dumonet received the much-coveted opportunity to work as chef for Louis Outhier at his three-star L'Oasis in La Napoule. Here he met, and worked alongside, new friend Jean-Georges Vongerichten (today of JoJo, Vong, Mercer Kitchen, Jean-Georges and 66, in New York). Dumonet found L'Oasis invigorating with its demand for mastery of classic French cuisine and simultaneous experimentation with Asian influences, noting that French chefs were some of the first to incorporate Asian ideas and ingredients into their cooking. During this period Dumonet was also representative chef for Outhier at his restaurant operations in Bangkok and London.
For four years (1987-91), Dumonet operated his and his wife’s own restaurant, “Restaurant Jean-Louis Dumonet”, in Chateauroux, France, enjoying the freedom to explore and define his ideas. By 1988 the Restaurant was featured in all French Guide Books praising the culinary talents of the 27 year-old Chef. That same year, he and Karen were also invited to join the “Jeunes Restaurateurs de France”. By 1991, he had already distinguished himself as one of France's rising culinary talents, before he decided to take on New York and two partners.
Trois Jean Bistro was born in July 1992. “Breathtakingly good" (The New York Times), "authentic" (Elle; William Grimes) and “extraordinary" (Zagat) were words typically used to describe Jean-Louis Dumonet's French cuisine at Trois Jean Bistro, his restaurant that was regularly acclaimed as "New York City's best bistro."
Jean-Louis is a member of the James Beard Foundation and has cooked at the James Beard House. He was a professional guest at the Oldways Food Preservation & Exchange Trust educational seminar in Morocco in 1994; created the "Bordeaux wine menus" for the annual bistro dinners for the Commanderie de Bordeaux; and was nominated in the original group of the Best Beaujolais Bistros in the World.
* In 1994 he was awarded the prestigious title of “Maître Cuisinier de France”, French Master Chef, the youngest of only 48 in the U S when he joined. (There are only 350 French Master Chefs worldwide.) From 1995 to 2006, he was Secretary of the American Chapter of the Association des Maîtres Cuisiniers de France. In 2006 Dumonet was named President of the American and Canadian Chapter of the organization.
Upon the sale of Trois Jean in April 2000, he went to help Jean-Louis Palladin at “Palladin”, at the Time Hotel. Palladin was Executive Chef at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, and needed someone trustworthy in the Big Apple. Unfortunately, “Palladin” closed after the celebratory New Year’s Eve dinner of 2000 to 2001 due to its’ namesake’s illness.
No talented chef could be more "hands-on" than Dumonet. As he was re-locating “his” staff, he went truffle hunting in Provence along with world-renowned gastronomic Journalist Patricia Wells, and a smattering of French Chefs (Laurent Manrique, Sylvain Portay, Flora Mikula among others.) Upon his return, he spent 5 months at “Rhône”, a wine bar in the meat packing district, in order to create its’ simple and traditional menu.
Jean-Louis started his employment at The Carlyle on September 4th, 2001. Elegant and extremely refined, The Carlyle was looking for a new sense of direction for its Kitchen, and Dumonet fit the niche. Having owned his own business, he had always been personally devoted to all supervisory aspects of “his” kitchen. He excelled in tweaking the menus without drastically changing the general atmosphere of the establishment. His native bistro cuisine is re-actualized in contemporary terms as hearty and definitely haute, not too complicated, letting the ingredients speak for themselves. With his talented touch, exciting flavor and texture nuances are being rediscovered. He was honored and trusted in the renaming of the main dining room at The Carlyle. In the Spring of 2003, the restaurant opened under the name “dumonet at The Carlyle”. Since then, it has been highly acclaimed by all the food press, with the New York Times awarding "dumonet at the Carlyle" 2 stars in its Wednesday Review.
Jean-Louis Dumonet started working at Saks Fifth Avenue as its Executive Chef in its flagship store in New York City in April 2005. He later became the F&B Corporate Director as well. Other than overseeing its 8th Floor Restaurant, he opened 2 new restaurants within the Fifth Avenue store in New York in January 2006. Besides the New York store, he also traveled across the United States, opening new and revamping existing restaurants within the Saks Fifth Avenue portfolio. This included the opening of restaurant SnAKS in the Beverly Hills store.
From January 1st, 2008, to October 30th 2017,Jean-Louis has been the Executive Chef at the oldest private social club in the US (1836), the Union Club.
He then opened his own restaurant with his wife Karen, “Dumonet”, an elevated French-American bistro in the heart of Carroll Gardens, featuring specialty cocktails, local beers, and the best of American & French wines.
In 2010 he was honored by the French Minister of Agriculture and awarded l’Ordre du Merite Agricole, (National Order of Agricultural Merit,) which is an order of merit established in France on 7 July 1883 by Minister of Agriculture Jules Méline to reward exemplary services to agriculture. Its ribbon is Moiré pattern green (holders are said to "avoir le poireau", or "have a leek", in reference to its color) with a red-orange stripe down each side - the stripes symbolize the prestigious institution of the ordre national de la Légion d’honneur.
In 2012, he became one of the 4 co-founders of “Le Taste of France”. Le Taste of France celebrates French Cuisine Culture, and Lifestyle in United States.
In 2013, he was on the board of directors of the 2nd Taste of France that take place at Briand Park
In 2014 Sitram Inox, a French company of kitchen appliance asked JLD to become the “ambassador” of the brand.
In 2014, Poitou Charentes asked JLD to be part of the team that will welcome the Hermione in NYC.
In 2015 Le Taste of France became the Best of France and was held at Times Square with more than 500,000 people present. Jean-Louis was part of the board of directors and was part of the committee that welcomed the president of France, Mr. Francois Hollande. Mr. Hollande thanked JL Dumonet for his participation and for being a true ambassador of the French cuisine and culture.
On September 24 2018, chef Dumonet was asked by the Elysees Palace (French Republic President residence) to do a private dinner for the president Emmanuel Macron and UN general secretary Antonio Guterres.
On March 11 2019, during the 65th congress of the Master Chefs of France, JLD was awarded by the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, the medal of vermeil from the city of Paris.