By Jessica Tuggle
jtuggle@hometownnewsol.com
VERO BEACH -- Indian River County residents are invited to come to the table and enjoy the first lecture in the Vero Beach Museum of Art's International Lecture series on Feb. 11.
Award-winning Master Chef Jacques Pepin will present "Chef's Table: Exploring the Intersections of Art and Food," at the Vero Beach Museum of Art Leonhardt Auditorium at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Feb. 11.
A light wine reception with an opportunity to meet the speaker will be at 5 p.m. in the Laura and Bill Buck Atrium in the Wahlstrom Sculpture Garden.
The international series features intriguing speakers with a background in arts and humanities, said Joe Ellis, museum marketing coordinator.
"We look for contemporary and prominent people and Chef Pepin was chosen because he is a legendary chef," Mr. Ellis said.
Chef Pepin has been cooking professionally for more than 50 years and painting for 35 years. His lecture will cover his experiences in art and food, how they can be harmonious complements and how they are both forms of self-expression, a press release said.
The chef has published more than 25 cookbooks and hosted 13 highly acclaimed public television shows.
Chef Pepin was born in Bourg-en-Bresse, near Lyon, in France, and began his apprenticeship at the tender age of 13 at the Grand Hotel de L'Europe.
He worked and trained at other locations in France, including Paris, and from 1956 to 1958 he was the personal chef to three French heads of state, including Charles de Gaulle.
He came to the United States in 1959 and worked at New York's historic Le Pavillon restaurant, and then served for 10 years as the director of research and new development for the Howard Johnson Company.
His career has taken him many places in the world, and his accolades are many, Mr. Ellis said.
Tickets for the lecture are $65, $55 for museum members. Attendees may register at the museum, over the telephone or online on the museum's website.
For more information about the exhibits or activities at the Vero Beach Museum of Art, visit www.verobeachmuseum.org.