--- title: Lou Papé Rents French Grandmothers as Chefs description: Lou Papé, a new French food service, is now renting out culinarily-experienced retirees as personal chefs. canonical: https://time.com/4036326/rent-a-french-grandma-personal-chef/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-16T18:00:57.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:24:47.176Z og:title: Now You Can Rent a French Grandma As Your Own Personal Chef og:description: This ain't your mama's cooking – it's your grandma's og:url: https://time.com/4036326/rent-a-french-grandma-personal-chef/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b66de30ee0794f1/698863e4e20a87ee2aa8d424/grandma-cooking.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4659 og:image:height: 2621 og:image:alt: Grandma Cooking og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Now You Can Rent a French Grandma As Your Own Personal Chef twitter:description: This ain't your mama's cooking – it's your grandma's twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b66de30ee0794f1/698863e4e20a87ee2aa8d424/grandma-cooking.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Now You Can Rent a French Grandma As Your Own Personal Chef > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=193aa9b4-7326-40ce-95be-7557be4a1456&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Sep 16, 2015 6:00 PM UTC  1920s 1930s SENIOR WOMAN... 1920s 1930s SENIOR WOMAN... H. Armstrong Roberts—ClassicStoc/Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Sep 16, 2015 6:00 PM UTC Who doesn’t love a home-cooked meal courtesy of grandma? Lou Papé, a new French food service, is renting out retirees with professional culinary experience as personal chefs. The service connects senior citizen chefs with people home-cooked food. The company’s [website](http://www.loupape.com/) provides a short bio of each skilled senior along with a specialized menu of what he or she will serve customers if selected. The chosen chef then comes to your home, prepares a meal for you and your guests and cleans up afterwards. Prices are between 12 and 42 euros per person for meals that range from four-course feasts to an array of desserts, [Food & Wine reports](http://www.foodandwine.com/fwx/food/you-can-rent-grandma-when-you-are-craving-home-cooking). The service was founded by Alizé Delbes, who [came up with the idea](http://www.foodandwine.com/fwx/food/you-can-rent-grandma-when-you-are-craving-home-cooking) after moving away from her family to live in Paris. Delbes felt nostalgic for her grandmother’s cooking, which inspired her to create an alternative. For the chefs, Lou Papé is more than just a job. In an interview with [Munchies](http://munchies.vice.com/articles/this-website-will-source-grandmothers-to-come-cook-in-your-home), chef [Béatrice](http://www.loupape.com/portfolio/beatrice/) explained that she focuses on the teaching aspect of the service. “No, that’s what I like, passing on knowledge and giving lots of advice,” she said. “It’s true that my philosophy is more about setting up a workshop for the client, rather than just making food for people. It would be a shame not to share this moment.” \[Time-brightcove videoid=3930196626001\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4036326/rent-a-french-grandma-personal-chef/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4036326/rent-a-french-grandma-personal-chef/"},"headline":"Now You Can Rent a French Grandma As Your Own Personal Chef","datePublished":"2015-09-16T18:00:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:24:47.176Z","description":"This ain't your mama's cooking – it's your grandma's","url":"https://time.com/4036326/rent-a-french-grandma-personal-chef/","keywords":["Newsfeed","France","Food","chef"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b66de30ee0794f1/698863e4e20a87ee2aa8d424/grandma-cooking.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4b66de30ee0794f1/698863e4e20a87ee2aa8d424/grandma-cooking.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Grandma Cooking","caption":"Grandma Cooking","creditText":"H. 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