In fact, I never imagined it would become my career.
For me, pastry was simply something I did during the school holidays with my dad in his restaurant. It wasn’t about perfect piping or complicated techniques. It was about spending time together and making the desserts I loved eating. Maybe that’s why I still create the same way today. I never start with a recipe.
I start with a memory.
Sometimes it’s the taste of a rice pudding from childhood. Sometimes it’s a biscuit, a birthday cake or the smell of a warm brioche. I always begin by asking myself one question: How do I make someone feel the way I felt when I first tasted it?
To me, that’s what pastry should do. It should make people happy. Not because it’s extravagant or covered in decoration, but because it reminds them of something, surprises them, or simply gives them a reason to smile.
I don’t believe pastry has to become extreme to become better. Thoughtful pastry isn’t about removing everything that makes dessert enjoyable. It’s about asking questions. Can this dessert be less sweet without losing indulgence? Can this ingredient taste more like itself? Can a classic become lighter, more balanced and even more delicious?
Every decision should have a purpose. Sugar should be there because it makes the dessert better, not because that’s how the recipe has always been written. Decoration should enhance the experience, not distract from it.
Beauty matters.
But flavour always comes first.
Desserts aren’t made for Instagram. They’re made for the people sitting around the table. As pastry chefs, we become part of some of life’s happiest moments. Birthdays, weddings, Christmas mornings, Sunday lunches, celebrations with friends… our desserts quietly become part of those memories. I think that’s a privilege. And it’s also a responsibility.
We should care just as much about how a dessert makes people feel as we do about how it looks. I hope my desserts don’t just leave people thinking, “That was beautiful.”
I hope they leave thinking,
“That made me smile.”
Because, in the end, I don’t believe pastry is about recipes. If someone leaves my table a little happier than when they arrived, then I’ve done my job.