Let me tell you a little bit about myself…

 

Currently I’m the Senior Executive Pastry Chef of both Four Seasons Hotels in Dubai, Jumeirah beach and DIFC.
Having joined the team in 2021 from St. Petersburg, where I was the Executive Pastry Chef at Four Seasons Hotel Lion Palace St. Petersburg.

Coming from a family of boulangers and patissiers, it was perhaps inevitable that my twin brother and I should follow in the same footsteps.

The seeds of pastry making were planted in me since the age of two.

I learned the craft and rigor of baking at the feet of my parents in their quaint bakery in Epinal, France.

My mother and father still bake croissants and baguettes there every morning.

My career started at 15 years old by shadowing Philippe Torti at Pâtisserie du Musée at Epinal, where I worked as an apprentice while studying simultaneously.

After 5 years and 3 diplomas, it was time to leave the nest.

First stop Nancy, working at Patisserie Yves Musquar for my first experience in the working world.

It was not too long before an amazing opportunity presented itself and I took it without any hesitation.

They were looking for a commis in Lyon at Patisserie Sebastien Bouillet, so I went to do a try out and was rewarded by being offered a job there.

Here I got to experience huge production loads whilst remaining an artisanal pastry shop.

It was also where I did my first pastry competition, which I won and became the youngest winner of the Festival National de Croquembouches.

2 and a half years later I moved on to Paris, to work at The Plaza Athene as a Chef de Partie under one of the greats, Christophe Michalak (World Pastry Champion 2005).

Hotel business was a whole new experience, one that I enjoyed and really milked for every ounce of learning.

During my time in Paris, I enlisted in another competition, the Trophée Pascal Caffet and won the Prix Spécial Présentation Bonbons.

I like to think destiny intervened, when 2 years later I moved to the south of France, in Cannes to work as the Sous-Chef for Jerome de Oliveira (World Pastry Champion 2009).

Because a month into my new job an intern arrived who would later become my wife.

Here I was lucky to experience a young company in the middle of its blooming!

We had a big production kitchen, managed a great team, received interns from many international schools and opened up new boutiques.

A couple of years passed and I felt as though I had learned and traveled all around France and it was time to experience the international world.