Mark Hennessey is executive chef at Le Marais NY. He began cooking when he reached the age where he needed more food than his poor mother could prepare. After graduating the Culinary Institute of America in New York, through which he served an externship at the Scottsdale Princess Hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona, he went on to become sous chef of Stingray on the Upper West Side. Following a four-year run at Les Routiers, he became executive chef at the kosher restaurant Levana, paving the way for his (so far) eleven years at Le Marais, the city's only kosher French brasserie, renowned for its excellent cuisine and in-house retail butcher shop.

Jose de Meirelles is executive chef and co-owner of Le Marais NY and Clubhouse Cafe. He has loved cooking since he was a small boy growing up in Porto, Portugal. Although he attended business school and became a banker, food and cooking remained a dominant passion, and in 1987 he graduated the French Culinary Institute in New York. After stints at the famed La Réserve, Maxim's, and Park Bistro, José decided to bring his classical style of cooking to the kosher community. He opened Le Marais NY in 1995 with Philippe Lajaunie in the Times Square area.

“Le Marais epitomizes the New York story. Where else could a non-Jewish Portuguese immigrant open a French bistro, hire an Irish Italian Catholic as its executive chef, and create one of the finest and most successful kosher restaurants in the United States? Le Marais was one of the first new generation of excellent kosher restaurants. In Le Marais, Jose Meirelles and Mark Hennessey tell the story of Le Marais and share their recipes with the readers. Le Marais is a unique experiment. It offers some of the best French and/or kosher food in one of the cities of restaurants. Le Marais chefs share their best recipes with their readers in Le Marais so that they can prepare and enjoy the same food at home. Le Marais is the book for food lovers.” - TWBR team www.thewashingtonbookreview.com