Francois!: The Fascinating Life & Times of an Extraordinary Restauranteur

This is no run-of-the-mill biography about a chef and his wonderful cuisine. Rather, it is a sometimes dramatic, often hilarious, occasionally reflective and always fascinating record of an incident-packed journey through a lifetime in the restaurant trade.
A friendly, colourful, gregarious and determined character, Jean Francois Pierre Primpied was born in the village of Bourg de Thizy in the South-west of France. As an eight-year-old child he played accordion on the same bill as international singing star Petula Clarke. In his teens, he was apprenticed to what has been described as the world’s best restaurant. As a passenger, he cheated death by a whisker in a horrific head-on car crash - aged just sixteen.
To develop his English language skills, Francois moved to Hull in East Yorkshire where he met Sue his wife-to-be on a dance floor. Unfashionable though the city was, he loved the people and work so much, he made his home in the area - and developed a cult following in the hotels, restaurants and cafés where he worked – variously as employee, manager director or owner.
During his career, Francois met and befriended, not just internationally known personalities and A-list stars and was held in high esteem by ordinary folk wherever he lived and worked. He treated everyone with the same respect. They loved his food, his character - and his brand of fun. As much as on stage as a child, he was the ultimate showman front of house in any restaurant. In the kitchen, he was a hard taskmaster – but always fair, respectful and committed to developing individuals in his team.
His life story charts the friendships that helped pull a needle of hope through the sometimes tightly woven fabric of opportunity - to eventually stitch together a golden but elusive pattern of success. His life’s journey is a treasure-trove of anecdotes involving the rich and the famous - as well the kindly folk in East Yorkshire.
His love of cooking and the business of serving good food was inspired in early childhood by his grandmother who owned a village café and restaurant. Later, when approaching teen years, this interest was developed under close supervision in his mother’s family kitchen.
At the tender age of thirteen years, Jean-Francois left school and soon entered a coveted apprenticeship in France’s top Michelin three-star restaurant ‘Les Freres Trois Gros.’ As part of developing his language skills, he moved to Hull, England and then, but for three years working in Northern France, spent most of his working life creating fine food and managing hotel and restaurant establishments in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
He once drove the late French singing star Sacha Distel forty miles for a midnight meal of steak and chips. By chance, he shared a five-hour train journey with Bill Wyman the Rolling Stones guitarist and then bumped into stars like Mick Jagger and actor John Thaw on holiday in Provence.
A friend of all three professional clubs in Hull, his French credentials were used by Hull FC to clinch key transfers - and his sense of humour may well have affected the result of an England v France international match!
Perhaps, his funniest moment was an unexpected ad-hoc comedy routine in his Guines restaurant with Carmen Silvera - better known as Edith in the long-running British TV show ‘Allo Allo.’ In the same room, he played the accordion and regularly served the then British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett as she and her entourage made their way back home after summer caravan holidays abroad.
In a professional life rooted in the art of preparing and serving great food, Francois learned the meaning of hard work and realised an ambition to manage a top hotel. He also experienced the joys and stresses of running his own restaurant business.
Above all, he entertained and was entertained by the public who were his customers and who he also saw as his friends.
This is his story.