What were your favorite foods growing up?
I liked chocolate bars.

During your youth, did you prefer dessert over dinner?
My father always made dinner for the family, and I liked his cooking.

What is your least favorite food?
I don't like processed food. I like everything more natural.

What is your beverage of choice?
I drink a lot of great coffee.

What was the most spectacular dessert you have ever had?
I have eaten so many desserts, that it's hard to describe something memorable. Something simple with incredible taste would be my favorite. A delicious flavor and super simple can be best.

What do you eat when you are home?
I always have a quiche in the freezer for emergencies. Otherwise, my fridge is pretty empty. I have milk for cereal in the morning and fresh fruit.

What is your best pastry tip for a home enthusiast?
Always measure what you're making. No shortcuts in pastry. It's a science.

Where and when did your career in culinary arts begin?
It began in the South of France, at my parent's shop, au Nid des Friandises.

When did you decide you wanted to be a pastry
chef?
I am the grandson and son of a pastry chef; I was exposed to it early.

If you didn't become a pastry chef, what would you be?
I would perhaps be a car or bike mechanic.

Who/what has shaped your cooking the most over the years?
I was most influenced by my father, and now, I am influenced by fellow members of Relais Desserts. We meet 2 times a year, and I am inspired by the collective creativity of the group.

What influences your cooking style and particularly the signature desserts at Payard?
Flavor and texture are very important to me. I try to incorporate new ingredients from my travels into new collections of new cakes. I produce a new collection four times a year.

Which foreign country inspires your style most? Why?
I like Japan and Korea for inspiration. I have shops in both of those countries, so I have a good excuse to visit them yearly.

What are your favorite culinary weapons in the kitchen?
Weapons? Sounds so violent! I like the KitchenAid mixer and a good scale.

What is your favorite secret ingredient?
Fleur de sel. It brings out the flavor in sweet things.

Why did you write Chocolate Epiphany?
Chocolate is one of my favorite ingredients, and I wanted to be able to share simple recipes with home cooks who are also chocolate lovers.

If I'm trying to watch my weight and I still want to order something sweet, what am I ordering to satisfy my craving?
We have a very good chocolate soy mousse, which doesn't have much sugar and it has protein from the tofu. It's a tasty dessert, and vegan!

When you are not eating at your own restaurant... you are eating at?
A Japanese restaurant, a good steakhouse, or sometimes a Vegetarian restaurant to see different things.

What are some recent dining and culinary trends you have been observing?
I have been observing a return to comfort food, but done in a reinvented way.

What was the most challenging confection you had to make? Why?
I once did a wedding with over a dozen wedding cakes. It wasn't the cakes themselves; it was a challenge to execute all of these cakes at the same time.

What was your worst restaurant disaster?
We once had a cake fiasco for a wedding cake, which luckily we had enough time to fix before it was too late.

What is the one rule or value you try to instill in all of your staff?
To work consistently and to do their best every day; and to think that everyday, like they are in a theatre and have to perform. The audience is not in front of them necessarily, but will eventually eat what they are creating.