Fun Facts about Jean-Pierre Knaggs, Owner of Bijou Cafe: 1. He spent 10 days on a private yacht with Sean Connery and his wife in the Caribbean and Sean had to borrow some of JP’s clothes.   2.  He’s been bitten by a monkey, a baboon, and numerous dogs with no problem but spent 4 days in a hospital from a run-in with a stingray. 3. One of his favorite comfort foods is chili he learned to make while working in Texas as a chef to a very wealthy JR Ewing- type oil magnate.  4. He can operate a John Deere backhoe as well as a Cuisinart. 5. He learned to fly at age 18 and soloed a Cherokee 140 around the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. Interestingly, he’s been in airplanes, helicopters, hot air balloons, blimp airships, and gliders and yet has a fear of heights attached to the ground like the Empire State building. 6. In high school he worshipped David Ogilvie and wanted to be in advertising. For sheer adventure, he also wanted to be a bush pilot in Alaska. 7. One of his favorite ingredients is Biltong, a type of jerky made in South Africa, which is very hard to replicate here, and the only way to get it is to smuggle it in the country because the customs agents will seize it at the airport. 8. If he had not been sent as a young child to boarding school where the food was terrible he might never have become a chef. 9. His inspiration in business life came from Roy J Carver who did not know the meaning of the word “fear”.  10. He absolutely hates Cilantro. 

Bijou Cafe