Jean-Robert de Cavel (September 12, 1961 – December 23, 2022) was a French-American chef active primarily in Cincinnati.^[1] He was chef de cuisine at The Maisonette from 1993 to 2002, executive chef at Jean-Robert at Pigall's from 2002 to 2009, and later operated Jean-Robert's Table, Le Bar a Boeuf, and French Crust Cafe. He and his wife founded the de Cavel Family SIDS Foundation, which runs Eat.Play.Give: Friends and Family SIDS Brunch, a culinary event that is the country's largest SIDS fundraiser.

Quick Facts Born, Died ...

Jean-Robert de Cavel
De Cavel, photographed in 2013 by Ryan Kurtz
Born	(1961-09-12)September 12, 1961 Roubaix, France
Died	December 23, 2022(2022-12-23) (aged 61)
Education	Le Feguide, Lille, France
Spouse	Annette Pfund de Cavel
Culinary career
Cooking style	French
Current restaurant(s) Jean-Robert's Table, French Crust Cafe, Le Bar a Boeuf, Eat at John-Bob's, Restaurant L, Frenchie Fresh
Award(s) won National Order of Merit (France), Maitre Cuisinier de France
Website	www.jrcincy.com

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De Cavel was born in Roubaix, France, on September 12, 1961.^[2] He was educated at Le Feguide culinary school in Lille, France.^[3][4]

De Cavel worked in Zermatt,^[3] Antibes, and the British West Indies.^[5][6] He moved to New York City to work for Le Régence at the Hotel Plaza Athénée.^[7][8] In the 1990s he was considered a rising star, but the opportunities for working as a chef de cuisine in a French restaurant in New York City had become very competitive.^[9]

In the early 1990s, Cincinnati's The Maisonette was conducting a nationwide search for a new chef de cuisine, and De Cavel's friend Daniel Boulud encouraged him to apply.^[10] At the time de Cavel did not know where Cincinnati was; he described having to pull out a map.^[9]

De Cavel moved to Cincinnati in 1993 to become chef de cuisine at The Maisonette, which earned 5 stars from Mobil during his time there.^[11][5][6] His plan was to stay for two or three years, develop his reputation, and moved back to New York or Europe.^[9] He described the city reminding him of Lille, where he had grown up: a center of industry rather than tourism, and very livable.^[9] He "fell in love with the city", and the city with him; he realized that in a metropolitan region of two million, he could become an important influence, opening restaurants rather than simply working in them.^[9]

He left Maisonette in 2002 to join a partnership to run his own restaurant, Jean-Robert at Pigall's, which became at the time Ohio's only Mobil four-star restaurant.^[12]

With his partners he went on to open JeanRo Bistro, Pho Paris, Greenup Cafe, Twist, and Lavomatic Cafe, all located in the greater Cincinnati area.^[3][11][6] In 2009 the partnership fell apart and he was left with no restaurants.^[9]

He considered leaving Cincinnati after the partnership ended, but instead stayed and opened Jean-Robert's Table in 2010, French Crust in 2011, Le Bar a Boeuf in 2014, Eat at Jean-Bob's in 2015, Restaurant L, and Frenchie Fresh in 2016.^{[3][11][13][14]} He was called "arguably the most recognizable chef in town"^[15] and "one of the region's most well-known chefs".^[16] The Cincinnati Business Journal said he had "shaped Cincinnati's modern dining scene".^[17]

De Cavel appeared in Rebel//Rebel as a chef and in Three Barbecues: A Blackened Comedy (2004) as himself.^[18]

De Cavel was associated with the Michelin-starred restaurants La Bonne Auberge in Antibes, France, The Restaurant at Malliouhana in the British West Indies, and was chef de cuisine at La Régence and La Gauloise in Manhattan.^[23] In Cincinnati, he was associated with 5-star Mobil restaurant The Maisonette^[3] and 4-star Mobil restaurant Jean-Robert at Pigall's as well as multiple others.^{[25][4][11][13][26][27]}

In 2003 de Cavel and his wife Annette founded the de Cavel Family SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) Foundation following the death of their first child, Tatiana.^[3] Since then it has grown annually to become the largest SIDS fundraiser in the country.^[28][11]

De Cavel lived with his wife Annette Pfund de Cavel in Newport, Kentucky with their daughter Laeticia.^[3][28][11]

De Cavel was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leiomyosarcoma in May 2018.^[29] He died on December 23, 2022, at age 61.^[30] A public memorial service was held January 16, 2023, at Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains.^[21][22] Over 1300 people, including hundreds in chef's whites, many of them former proteges of de Cavel, attended.^[9]