This is Alec Baldwin, and you're listening to Here's the Thing from I Heart Radio.

French chef Eric Repair is the culinary virtuoso behind one of New York cities,

flagship fine dining establishments, the Temple of Seafood, Le Bernadeu.

Repair has kept the restaurant at its peak for three decades,

consistently earning three Michelin stars.

In addition to the accolades he's earned for Le Bernadeu,

Repair himself has been honored as top chef in New York City,

and outstanding chef in the US by the James Beard Foundation.

He is also the author of numerous cookbooks,

and a New York Times best-selling memoir,

and he hosted the Emmy-winning TV series, Aveque Eric.

All of this on top of his charitable work,

feeding the hungry with city harvest.

Born in the south of France,

chef Repair has a long and storied history with food.

I wanted to know when he first fell in love with gastronomy.

It actually it's linked to eating,

because as a young kid I was always in the kitchen of my grandmother's,

always in the kitchen of my mother,

and I had an Italian grandmother, one from Provance.

They were cooking soul food,

and I loved the vibe in the kitchen and the smell,

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