For the second consecutive year, the MICHELIN Guide, in partnership with Valrhona, wanted to highlight the profession of pastry chef. Selected by our inspectors, the Passion Dessert 2020 promotion highlights highly talented pastry chefs of all generations.
Our era sees an incredible number of talents in baking. Today, the star pastry chefs are followed by thousands of subscribers on social networks. To the delight of gourmets, the pastry chef has accomplished a brilliant metamorphosis: now, his profession is a dream. His name appears on restaurant cards. Dessert has become an essential landmark in the experience of haute cuisine and the French meal – especially since it is the end point …
The modern pastry chef, like the chef, has made a decisive return to nature and taste. Locavorism and seasonality oblige, producers are among its interlocutors. Like the new kitchen of the 1970s, today’s pastry drives out (bad) sugar, calories and fat. This quest for meaning is accompanied by a return to taste. The pastry chef “cooks” his desserts, seasoning them and working to balance the flavors, like the best chefs. Saffron, chili or specific peppers, such as citrus scent sansho, are part of his pantry.
Produced in partnership with Valrhona, the Passion Dessert 2020 promotion aims to highlight these pastry chefs who combine technical excellence and awareness of their environment on a daily basis. A local and seasonal fruit will always be tastier, the products used in cooking are not independent of the producers who produce them, nor of the consumers. In 2020, haute cuisine must be ethical, taking into account its social, economic and human impacts; the MICHELIN Guide and Valrhona share the conviction that pastry has an important role to play in this development.
The Passion Dessert 2020 promotion:
François Josse, Taillevent (Paris)
Virginie Apparé, La Table de la Butte (Plouider)
Aurelien Rivoire, Alléno Paris at the Pavillon Ledoyen (Paris)
Alexandre Blay, Skiff Club (La-Teste-de-Buch)
Adrien Salavert, Le Gabriel (Paris)
Eric Raynal, The Garden of Benjamin (Lorgues)
Pascal Basso, Le Colombier (Bartenheim-la-Chaussée)
Sylvain Mathy, La Villa Archange (Le Cannet)
Julien Ochando, La Palme d’Or (Cannes)
The Passion Dessert 2019 promotion:
Eric Verbauwhede, Pic (Valence)
Jérémie Bousseau, Anne de Bretagne (La Plaine-sur-Mer)
Julien Dugourd, La Chèvre d’Or (Èze)
Sébastien Vauxion, Le Montgomerie (Courchevel 1850)
Ludovic Soufflet, Meurin (Busnes)
Patrice Ibarboure, Table of the Ibarboure Brothers (Bidart)
Jessica Prealpato, Alain Ducasse at Plaza Athénée (Paris)
Julien Alvarez, Épicure (Paris)
Jordane Stiee, La Grand-Vigne (Martillac)
François Perret, La Table de l’Espadon (Paris)
Cédric Grolet, Le Meurice Alain Ducasse (Paris)
Michaël Bartocetti, George V (Paris)
Yoann Normand, Le Parc Les Crayères (Reims)
Rodolphe Tronc, Mother Brazier (Lyon)
Nicolas Multon, Villa René Lalique (Wingen-sur-Moder)
Jonathan Wahid, Fanny Rey and Jonathan Wahid (Saint-Rémy-de-Provence)
Lucile Darosey, Loiseau des Ducs (Dijon)
Loic Colliau, Christophe Bacquié (Le Castellet)
Anthony Fresnay, René and Maxime Meilleur (Saint-Martin-de-Belleville)
Jessy Rhinn-Auvray, La Fourchette des Ducs (Obernai)
Toshyiya takatsuka, Kei (Paris)
Brandon Dehan, L’Oustau de Baumanière (Les Baux-de-Provence)