Photo credit: Ben Twingley/Pensacola News Journal

In case you missed it, Carlos Gieseken had a great profile of Jean Pierre N'Dione that ran in the Pensacola News Journal over the weekend.

Known to everyone as Jean Pierre, he’s the part-owner and manager of Five Sisters restaurant in the Belmont-Devilliers neighborhood. He is also a member of the Studer Community Institute’s board of directors.

Jean Pierre grew up in the West African nation of Senegal and later Toulouse, France, before moving to Pensacola in 1998. Some locals may remember Jean Pierre from his days working at Giuseppe’s Italian Family Restaurant and Jamie’s, a French restaurant, which have both closed.

In 2001, Collier Merrill recruited Jean Pierre to work at the Fish House and Atlas Oyster Bar.

"You could tell right away he was just a good person with people," said Merrill, a co-owner of the Great Southern Restaurant group. "He knew how to treat people the right way.”

Merrill is absolutely right. Even when Jean Pierre worked at Giuseppe’s, his customer service stood out. He’s one of the most gracious you’ll ever meet.

Kudos to Merrill for taking a chance on Jean Pierre. It has certainly paid off for him as well as the community. In 2010, Merrill named Jean Pierre the manager of the Fish House. Since then, he has become a U.S. citizen, a UWF graduate and now a part-owner of Five Sisters.

It’s a wonderful success story. The PNJ’s Gieseken did a great job of capturing it.