Jean-Luc Petitrenaud, gastronomic journalist, died on January 10, 2025. Very young, he learned from his grandmother the culture of “eating well”.
At 74, the gastronomic journalist, Jean-Luc Petitrenaud, has just lost his life in Paris, his children announced to AFP. He passed away surrounded by his loved ones. Radio, television, he is a well-known face in the French audiovisual landscape. However, Jean-Luc Petitrenaud, originally from Clermont-Ferrand, had first obtained a CAP in boilermaker and welder, then worked as an educator. At the same time, he took lessons at the Fratellini Circus School, where he was nicknamed the Mime Clown Luc.
Having developed his acting and theatricality, Jean-Luc Petitrenaud presented various programs from 1984 on the regional channel Radio Puy-de-Dôme, ancestor of France Bleu Pays d’Auvergne. This is how he began his gastronomic columns. He then became a gastronomic critic notably for Radio France and Radio Suisse Romande before taking charge of the show Gourmet postcardfrom 2000 to 2006, broadcast on France 5. In this program, the host visited the kitchens of chefs throughout France. He also went to wine growers, market gardeners, cheese makers… The show Petitrenaud’s Getaways took over and the journalist was able to continue traveling the country to meet producers. On the radio, he lasted for a long time The Sunday bistro on Europe 1.
In 2017, Jean-Luc Petitrenaud returned the antenna, explaining that he was tired and needed to relax. The show ended the following year. The journalist has also published around twenty books, including The four seasons of Emile and Marcelleinspired by the lives of his parents.
A family vocation
Jean-Luc Petitrenaud developed this taste for good cooking at a very young age with his grandmother who lived in Allier, on the edge of the forest. When he visited her, she prepared his favorite dish: potato pie, one of the region’s specialties. This is how he forged his culture of “eating well” and his love of local dishes.
Married to an editor, he had a daughter and a son. The succession is also assured. Louise, born in 1990, has, in fact, followed in her father’s footsteps. She co-hosted in 2021 with Cyril Lignac My cake is the most famous in France and today writes a culinary column on RTL. “I didn’t go to journalism school…or cookery. I fell into cooking when I was very little. My palate developed thanks to my parents,” she said in the columns of TV Star in May 2022.