Last week, legendary chef and author Jacques Pepin came to the District as the last stop on a 16-city book tour to promote his new PBS series and corresponding cookbook, More Fast Food My Way. Chef Pepin arrived in D.C. on Tuesday, October 28 and had a hectic schedule that included cooking demonstrations, television appearances, and finally, a discussion the night of Wednesday, October 29 at the Museum of Natural History moderated by Washington Post Food Editor Joe Yonan.

The discussion, put together by the Smithsonian Associates, touched on a number of subjects from Chef Pepin’s legendary knife skills, his past jobs (including his time as culinary director for Howard Johnson and official chef to three French heads of state), his many shows for PBS (both on his own and with Julia Child), and the Chef’s killer Julia impersonation. He dispensed advice to cooks of all levels and shared anecdotes from a truly phenomenal life at the center of the American food world.

After ending the evening with a few audience questions, Pepin left to a standing ovation and stuck around to sign books for the packed house. DCist was able to steal some time with Pepin prior to the discussion for a short interview about his new book and series and why he thinks “fast food” at home is so important.

Photo by Sanjay Suchak