AN INSPIRATIONAL CHEF
BY LEAH SPELLMAN CRAIG
Dietrich
At Lycée Technique Hôtelier
in Strasbourg, Dietrich learned
how to cook the “old German
way,” he says, remembering the
harsh and sometimes physical
discipline and strict teaching
style. Though difficult, it
shaped his character. “I always
tell my students that attitude
is everything. If you have the
right attitude, doors will be
opened for you. If you have the
wrong attitude, they will close.”
“My father always said it
was better to work for others
than to work on your own,”
Dietrich says.
At JWU, Dietrich was a
beloved instructor, but he
was also the one learning.
He spent countless hours
researching international
cuisines for several courses
he developed for the school’s
four-year program.
If you meet Jean-Jacques
Dietrich, 73, you may find
it hard to believe that he was
once considered the most
intimidating professor at
Johnson & Wales University
(JWU), Providence, R.I.
Dietrich, a French master chef
and the first culinary instructor
at the school to become a full-
time professor, laughs at the
fact, but admits he made rules
clear for students the first day
of each class.
While in New York cooking
for A-list celebrities and
dignitaries, Dietrich worked
80-hour weeks and was
active in numerous culinary
organizations. “I had three
children, but I never saw them
grow up,” he says. “It's very
hard to find balance, because
you have to be married to this
business. Now I enjoy spending
time with my grandchildren.”
He served as the American
president of the Académie
Culinaire de France for 32
years, is a member of ACF
Rhode Island Chapter, the
Honorable Order of the Golden
Toque, the Société Culinaire
Philanthropique and several
“I aspire to inspire
until I expire!”
But Dietrich never imagined
himself in the classroom.
“When I went to school in
France, I never thought that
one day I would teach,” he
says. “That was never on my
horizon, it was never a goal.
But I loved teaching.”
That discipline and focus on
precision carried him through
the kitchens of large hotels in
France, England, Germany
and Canada. But military
service was required, and soon
he was back in France. After
brief stints at sea and at the
Ministry of the Navy in Paris,
he was cooking for generals
at NATO in Fontainebleau. “I
was lucky to have been able to
spend my military service [of
nearly two years] doing what I
did,” he says.
A native of Rocroi in Ardennes,
France, Dietrich was “born
into the business.” His parents
owned a small restaurant—his
mother was the chef, his father,
the butcher—and a hotel in
later years. So when it came
time to decide on a career path
at age 15, becoming a chef was
a natural choice.
In February 1963, he came
to the U.S., and for the next
30 years, he called New York
home. He worked in and ran
the kitchens at legendary
hotels and clubs, including
The Plaza, Regency Hotel,
Hotel Delmonico, The
University Club of New York
and New York Athletic Club.
But one thing he never did
was open his own restaurant.
He began teaching at
New York City Technical
College on Mondays, his
slow night, and eventually
earned his associate degree
from the school and later,
his bachelor’s degree from
Hunter College, New York.
In 1993, he took a job at
JWU, where he also earned
his master's in education.
Dietrich refers to the 13
years he spent teaching with
JWU— 10 full time and three
traveling to various JWU
campuses—as the best years
of his life, as he was able
to spend more time with his
family and wife Rosa.
other organizations, and has
received numerous awards,
including the JWU Escoffier
Award in 1995 and recognition
from the French government.
Dietrich's message to today's
culinarians is simple, “Like
Escoffier said 150 years ago,
keep food simple and elegant.”
In November 2010, more than
55 years later, he returned to
the school in France where his
whirlwind of a career started
to share his life experiences
with students. He continues to
live by this mantra, “I aspire
to inspire until I expire.'”
