Pépin, the second of three sons, was born in 1935 in Bourg-en-Bresse, near Lyon, France. After World War II, his parents, Jeannette and Jean-Victor Pépin, owned the restaurant Le Pélican, where Pépin worked as a child, and later became known for his love for food. At the age of thirteen, he started his apprenticeship at Le Grand Hôtel de l’Europe in Bourg-en-Bresse. At 16, he went on to work in Paris, training under Lucien Diat at the Plaza Athénée. From 1956 to 1958, during his military service, Pépin was recognized for his culinary training and skill and was ordered to work in the Office of the Treasury, where he met his long-time cooking partner, Jean-Claude Szurdak, and eventually became the personal chef to three French heads of state, including Charles de Gaulle.