François Perret, Pastry chef of Ritz: "A pastry is volume, softness, vaporous"

François Perret, Pastry chef of Ritz: "A pastry is volume, softness, vaporous"

C’est un grand enfant ! François Perret a beau être auréolé du titre de Meilleur Pâtissier de restaurant du monde 2019, arborer avec chic sa veste de chef pâtissier du Ritz, à Paris, où il officie depuis 2015, avoir crevé l’écran dans la série The Chef in a Truck, diffusée sur Netflix, dans laquelle il sillonne Los Angeles dans un food truck, il conserve une allure de long adolescent hyperactif. Il court avec légèreté, les yeux pétillants et le sourire aux lèvres derrière son masque, entre son laboratoire, caché dans le labyrinthe du palace de la place Vendôme et son Comptoir fraîchement inauguré, auquel on accède directement par la rue Cambon, à l’arrière de l’hôtel.François Perret, chef pâtissier du Ritz : François Perret, chef pâtissier du Ritz :

There, in front of the long showcase, in a refined setting, twisted by large black and white drawings like playing cards, he takes the time to discuss and be photographed with his admirers and admirers of all ages."I love going into contact with people," he specifies by swirling around chocolate and croissants that he revisited in an elongated version to facilitate tasting in the street, while retaining their 100 % crisp and gourmet side.Every Saturday, I take two hours to meet the customers seated at the counter, the Vendôme bar and the Proust lounge, the Ritz.This allows me to see what they feel.The word and the expression that most often come back in their mouths, once their pastry is completed?"Pleasure" and "Diving in childhood".

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On video, "The chef in a truck", the trailer

François Perret, chef pâtissier du Ritz :

What comfort the leader in the playful and regressive spirit he cultivates with art.Perfect examples of his player temperament: his madeleine - which Pierre Hermé described as masterpieces - and his marbled, trompe -l'oeil which hide frothy desserts.These quirky jewels aim, according to the forties, to "play down the rigor of his profession".And yet, before they even enjoy them we know that they are the fruits of mastered, precise, demanding and very thoughtful gestures.

"It is above all a question of taste.It should not be sacrificed in favor of aesthetics.Textures also have a central role.A pastry is volume, softness, vaporous, therefore fragility.That's what's nice.Creating contrasts is important, but without integrating too many solid elements, often used to facilitate service or transport.For me, you must immediately feel this sweet opulence when cutting.The knife must sink clearly without meeting resistance.And there, you can admire the pastry, which it hides.This is the first real contact with her, the start of the experience.»»»»We find everywhere in the work of François Perret this appetizing sensuality.From its unpublished pastry drinks, imagined around the flavors of its iconic desserts, to its milk ritz, a rice with milk (other of its nostalgic blushies) with caramel, slipped between a Breton shortbread and a chocolate shell, passing by itsMilk brioche.

In private, he calls the latter the "big hug"."I have a passion for lost bread and the floating island and I wanted to marry the two," he explains to describe the birth of this recipe, whose video raised more than 105.000 views on Instagram where it is followed by 295.000 subscribers.I groped until I got a slightly spongy paste evoking that of rum baba, perfect with the lightness of white in snow sublimated by toasted almonds and caramel.»»»»

A creation which, according to the chef, is appreciated at any time."When I work on a composition," he continues, "I think, of course, when she is eating.Thus, the dessert comes to conclude a meal, so we are waiting for freshness.Fruits, vegetables, sometimes unexpected like fennel, are therefore very suitable.As for sugar, I can't do without it.However, I am looking for "just sugar".I therefore often use it like salt, as a seasoning.I have a penchant for brown sugar that brings taste and crunchy.At the Ritz, the sugar is often added at the time of the service, in front of the customer.»»»»

This vision of pastry, both technical and voluptuous, undoubtedly explains the queue that stretches every day in front of its counter.A recognition that François Perret did not expect in his beginnings."When I started my learning in 1996, I did not feel any craze of my loved ones.It was at the beginning of the 2000s that Pierre Hermé then Christophe Michalak changed the look at our work.Crazy energy has taken over the middle.And I must admit that making a job that pleases me particularly happy. »»»» Et également très créatif.

Ritz Paris Le Comptoir, 38, rue Cambon, 75001 Paris.

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