pastry kitchen diaries

Jean Georges Shanghai (May 2012)

In preparation for my move to Paris to attend ESCF-Ferrandi’s Intensive Professional Program in French Pastry, I did a short 2-month internship at the pastry kitchen of Jean Georges. On my previous visits to this famed restaurant as a customer, I’ve passed by its open kitchen a few times and admired the little busy bees buzzing around…but now, I’m on the inside, where the magic happens! Read more here.

 

Un Dimanche à Paris (Feb 2013)

As a part of the Intensive Program in Professional Pastry at Ferrandi, I completed an internship at Un Dimanche à Paris, a chic boutique known for its beautiful exhibition kitchen and delicious pastries. The 5 months I spent here was one of the best times I’ve ever had, though I can’t say it was all rosy either – I was, after all, at the bottom of the kitchen totem pole. Read more here.

 

Fauchon (Sep 2013)

After 5 months as an intern at Un Dimanche à Paris, I moved up the kitchen hierarchy and became a full time pâtissier at Fauchon, an institution that has been graced with a string of extraordinary pastry chefs like Pierre Hermé, Christophe Adam, Christophe Michalak, Sebastien Gaudard, etc. Getting a job here happened rather serendipitously, and I ended up spending a truly rewarding 6 months here. Read more here.

 

Carette (Feb 2014)

Following my days at Fauchon, I spent the next five months of my pastry career at Carette, a classic Parisian pâtisserie/salon de thé that has been sitting on Place du Trocadéro since 1927. Carette pastries are more traditional in comparison to those from UDAP and Fauchon, and it’s a style that I very much appreciated re-learning as I haven’t done much of this since leaving pastry school. Read more here.

 

關於巴黎、關於甜點、關於工作、關於生活 – PART 1 (Weibo excerpts 2012-2015, in Chinese only)

花了點時間整理出2012年8月至2015年9月，在巴黎那三年多的微博 (id: sugared_n_spiced)。從原本打算小住，到因爲瘋狂愛上甜點所以年複一年地留下，這些精選出的小小里程碑和碎碎念記錄了有關我對于巴黎、甜點、工作、和生活的感想。回頭去看，都是一步一腳印。

 

Back to the Grind / 回到廚房 (Aug 2017)

It’s been 6 months since I got back to working full time in a professional pastry kitchen. People were surprised about this decision, because it seemed like I was already living the ideal life – teaching pastry classes and writing combined my interests and allowed for maximum flexibility to travel. Why would I quit this to go back to intense physical work, and getting paid only a fraction of what I was earning working for myself? Read more here.

很多人對我再次回到廚房工作感到驚訝。之前教教課、寫寫文章，每天做著自己喜歡的事情，隨時都能來場說走就走的旅行。這樣隨心所欲的狀態如此理想，爲何要重回廚房做一份體力活、而且薪水只有之前幾分之一的工作？因爲這個狀態對當時的我來說，太舒適安逸了。點擊閱讀。

 

Quentin Bailly (Oct 2019)

Since quitting my post at The Peninsula Shanghai last year, I haven’t had any occasion to step back into the professional kitchen until a few days ago. World Pastry Champion Quentin Bailly was in Taipei, and I had the pleasure, along with a few other pastry chefs, of assisting him with his demo preparation. This brought back fond memories of hustling in Parisian kitchens, and reminded me of just how much I’ve missed this. Read more here.

去年離開上海半島酒店的職位後，好一陣子沒進專業廚房了。上周因為世界甜點冠軍 Quentin Bailly 在苗林行開講習會，我前往幫忙做課程準備，才發現自己有多想念廚房工作。與 Chef Bailly 以及其他甜點師們共處的這幾日，勾起了好多在巴黎廚房的，身體和心靈層面上的回憶。點擊閱讀。