Instead of taking a job offered to him at The White House by John Kennedy and his wife Jacqueline, Jacques instead mastered American cuisine at the restaurant chain Howard Johnson. It was there that the classically trained learned American eating habits, flipped burgers, and attempted to introduce French cuisine to the masses via Beef Burgundy (via WTTW). He also cooked clam strips and chowder for the chain's patrons.
Jacques also learned the American way of mass-producing favorite foods and tailored his cooking to serve hundreds a day. It was a valuable lesson in American gastronomy and one he took seriously. He worked alongside Pierre Franey, whom Johnson had also pilfered from Le Pavillion. Jacques would go on to become head chef of the main Howard Johnson's commissary in Queens Village, where he worked for ten years (via Westword).
Jacques and Julia bonded over their love of food, gossip, and shared their recipes, each taking away invaluable lessons from the other.
