Jean Luis Palladin Jean Luis Palladin was born in Condom, France, in 1946. When Palladin, was merely 28 years old, he was awarded two Michelin stars for his restaurant Tables Des Cordeliers, and for a short period of time he was the youngest chef to be awarded this honor. Wanting to try a new challenge and take on a new market, Palladin travelled to America, to spread his cuisine to a new nation. He opened Jean-Louis at Watergate, in the notorious Watergate Hotel in the nation’s capital. Palladin was very disappointed with the quality of ingredients that were available to him, so he began to seek out small farmers and began to look into the seafood at that was abundant in the Chesapeake area. He sought out the best chefs and suppliers to insure that his food was some of the most top quality in the area. Though after his death, the Jean-Louis in Watergate is now non-existent but his mark on chefs and was a huge impact on the farm-to-table movement. He changed the way people in Washington ate and cooked food. Palladin was the first big French chef to leave France to come to the United States to cook, something was completely unheard of at the time. His food was unlike any other in Washington at the time, but what really left a lasting mark. Palladin supported local farmers and fisherman, he went against the times that said American products were inferior. He brought into the world of cooking, that local ingredients are crucial to the process, and create great products. He dedicated a lot of his career to training other young chefs that would often be overlooked. Sadly, in 2001, he died of lung cancer at 55. He has left a lasting influence on chefs today, he had new techniques and cooking that was so amazing that people traveled from far away to taste his cuisine. People at his time did not understand that there were local ingredients that were not used in the past.