Beginnings and early renown
The legacy began in 1891 with Sophie Pic and her café in Le Pin, above Saint-Péray. Sophie, a wonderful cook, lovingly prepared a cuisine du terroir, using the region’s best and freshest products. It was here that the Pic family’s great culinary tradition grew and developed over the years.

Near the end of the nineteenth-century, the Auberge du Pin gained renown. A coaching inn, a meeting place for hunters and a stopping point for travellers, gastronomes came in great number to savor Sophie Pic’s dishes, her perfect chicken fricassées, gratins, sausage and sautéed rabbit….

Fame
Around 1929, André Pic took over from his mother Sophie. An excellent cook, he drew to the Auberge du Pin a regional clientele who, during those early days of automobiles, had no qualms about travelling in order to sample André’s spit-roasted hare, poularde en vessie (chicken poached in a pork bladder), sausage Richelieu, lobster in cream sauce, or crayfish from the nearby Duzon river.

In 1934 the Michelin guide ensured Restaurant Pic’s fame by awarding it its highest honor: three stars. In order to meet the demands of his burgeoning reputation and to provide gourmets with easier access to the restaurant, André Pic moved to 285 Avenue Victor Hugo in Valence. The proliferation of the automobile, an increased interest in travel and holidaying, and a new passion for the pleasures of fine dining all helped establish Restaurant Pic’s fame both in France and abroad.

Consecration
The restaurant achieved its full maturity under Jacques Pic, a man of great charisma and a renowned cook highly respected by his peers.  Keeper of the culinary secrets passed on to him by his father, he had a particular affinity for sauces and fish. Jacques Pic made his mark with such specialties as filet of sea bass with caviar, bass and salmon braid, and many other dishes which earned him a reputation as one of the great chefs of the last thirty years. With his three Michelin stars, Jacques Pic contributed to the restaurant’s international reputation.

1997: Anne-Sophie Pic carries on the family’s culinary legacy
Because she had been surrounded by the delights of flavors and aromas from her earliest years, Anne-Sophie Pic decided to explore another field for a while. After completing her baccalaureate, she left Valence for Paris, New York and Toyko where, after management studies, she discovered the business world. During that time, she met David Sinapian who would become her husband and the father of their son Nathan. At 23, Anne-Sophie returned to Valence and announced to her father that she intended to make a career of cooking - a desire that Jacques Pic had anticipated for a long time. He foresaw an apprenticeship in a hotel school for his daughter but his sudden death at age 59 derailed the family plans.

Anne-Sophie had lost not only her father but the mentor who was to have guided her on her culinary path. During those heavy days, in 1995, Maison Pic also lost its third Michelin star. Encouraged by her husband and mother Suzanne, Anne-Sophie Pic decided in 1997 to enter the restaurant kitchens and pursue her training herself. The first years were not easy, but the young woman's talent and commitment payed off. "I worked in every kitchen station to learn the trade. I became a kind of boss apprentice. Experience can't be handed down, but I believe a lot in destiny."

As the years passed, she began to put her individual touch on the cooking, distilling the flavors passed down by her renowned forebears. A surprising, streamlined cuisine with sophisticated influences emerged, still imbued with the aromas and diversity of the local terroir. "Nevertheless, it took almost ten years for me to achieve the technical prowess by which I could move beyond my father's and grandfather's renowned classics," she admits with a gentle smile.

Also in 1997, David Sinapian took over the administration of Maison Pic, which now has 80 employees. The hotel has been renovated in a warm contemporary style, becoming an elegant four-star Relais & Châteaux property where each room is different from the next. Along with her sous-chef Olivier Samin, her pastry chef Philippe Rigollot and her entire kitchen team, Anne-Sophie Pic sets out with passion and inspiration to delight the fifty gourmets who arrive each day to discover her creations. On the menu: Normandy scallops with basmati and juniper foam; monkfish with caramelized onion and candied quince; suckling veal and spiced plum chutney; potato mousseline with lovage; spice-marinated tuna ravioli with tomato, avocado and fennel jelly and arugula sorbet. Anne-Sophie Pic's cooking expresses her desire to give pleasure and convey feeling.

In 2007, Anne-Sophie Pic became the only woman in France to hold three Michelin stars. Instead of resting on her laurels, she is already in search of new culinary achievements and adventures. In March 2008, she inaugurated - not far from her restaurant in the center of Valance - a cooking school called Scook (a combination of school and cook). It promises to become a mecca for passionate amateurs aged 7 to 77, where Anne-Sophie will share her knowledge.