Pierre Franey (1921–1996) was born in Saint Vinnemer, a village in the Burgundy region of France. At the age of thirteen, Franey was sent to Paris to apprentice in a restaurant on the Place de la République. He worked his way through the French apprentice system and by 1938 he was the assistant saucier at Drouant, one of the top restaurants in Paris. He achieved such success at his work that he was selected to become the poisson commis (assistant fish cook) at the Le Restaurant du Pavillon de Français at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. One of the most popular restaurants at the Fair, it received considerable visibility. By the time the Fair closed in October 1940, Europe was at war, and France was occupied by German armed forces.
