In Paris, female pastry chefs from palaces to delight our palates

For a long time, pastry chefs made the rain and shine in the capital's largest hotels. The Alsatian Christophe Felder was one of the first craftsmen to receive media attention in the 1990s, before Christophe Michalak made his mark at the Plaza Athénée with his red creations in homage to the house. More recently, Cédric Grolet has been moving the crowds, at tea time as well as in the boutique imagined with the Meurice where he made a name for himself. Now, a good number of palaces have their "shop", from the Ritz to the Bristol: a more accessible way to discover their work, at prices that are less overwhelming than at the table.

However, it is not only men. Nina Métayer was the talk of the town at the Raphaël Hotel in 2014. Then the press turned the spotlight on Jessica Préalpato, in charge of sweets at Alain Ducasse's former three-star Michelin restaurant at the Plaza Athénée. Both have been crowned "World's Best Pastry Chef" by The World's 50 Best Restaurants. After them, a new generation of pastry chefs has been deploying their know-how in the greatest Parisian hotels since the post-Covid period. Portraits.

Coline Doussin, pastry chef at the Saint-James

She had promised to follow chef Grégory Garimbay no matter what. Promise kept, despite a tempting proposal from a certain... Alain Ducasse. Since 2024, she has been working at the Saint-James, Relais & Châteaux in the heart of Paris, whose Bellefeuille restaurant is starred in the Michelin guide. Coline Doussin has imagined a dessert based on smoked chocolate with pine needles: chocolate needles, cottage cheese infused with green needles, pine nut praline and pine nut-cocoa crumble. Barely 25 years old and already having a remarkable career: with her baccalaureate in hand, this excellent student preferred Ferrandi to a more traditional path, before stints at the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme, with Anne-Sophie Pic, Stéphanie Le Quellec and Sylvestre Wahid. In the Pomelo newsletter, she summed up her style: "A frank pastry that doesn't scatter".

Anne Coruble, pastry chef of Peninsula Paris

Medicine or pastry? Anne Coruble hesitated for a long time before finally opting for the second option, she who already liked to bake cakes on weekends in Normandy, marked by her mother's tarte tatin. At the end of 2023, she received the Best Pastry Chef 2024 award from La Liste for her work at the Peninsula Paris, where she has been working since 2022. "Daring" desserts  , writes Le Monde: she seeks to "show that there can be continuity between a dish and a dessert", and imposes herself to "never redo" what she has already done. His creation, called "roasted coffee bean", combines coffee, argan oil, nutmeg and date sorbet with remarkable brilliance. Elsewhere, she even manages to combine chocolate, capers and pickles!

Naraé Kim, pastry chef of the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme

Rice ravioli glazed with mango and passion fruit, black figs from Bordeaux in kadaïf, Williams pear & nashi (Japanese pear) duo au naturel... Here are some desserts from Korean Naraé Kim, who has spent time in Vietnam and the United States (as well as with Yannick Alléno, in Paris and Courchevel) before becoming, in 2021, pastry chef at the famous Parisian hotel. Seasons, Asia and naturalness: this is how she could be summed up her creative vision, distinguished by Gault & Millau in 2024 with the title of Pastry Chef of the Year, before becoming a jury in 2025 for the Grand Final of the Coupe du Monde de la Pâtisserie.

Élisabeth Hot, pastry chef of the Plaza Athénée

Villa René Lalique, Royal Monceau, Pierre Hermé... Élisabeth Hot lined up prestigious houses before taking over, in 2021, the head of the sweet brigade of the Plaza Athénée (30 people), alongside Angelo Musa (Meilleur Ouvrier de France and World Pastry Champion in 2003). In the show 66 minutes (M6) in 2022, we learned that a revisited floating island had seduced its hierarchy: minute dessert presented in a rounded copper dish, custard hidden under airy whites, poached caramel dashes and caramelized dried fruit. Law school is far behind her, for the woman who decided to give up a legal career for pastry at the age of 24.

Hélène Kerloeguen, pastry chef of the Prince de Galles

At 19.20, the modern bistro of the Prince of Wales, you can only see him: the half-moon dessert cart, all glass and dark wood, lined up baba with cognac and blueberries topped with a princely whipped cream, a millefeuille "by the meter" escorted by a silver gravy boat. These sweet jewels bear the signature of Hélène Kerloeguen, at the head of the sweet brigade since 2022. She knows luxury by heart, from Paris to the Côte d'Azur: Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, Le Bristol, Plaza Athénée, Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc. Insiders know that the Prince of Wales' afternoon tea, served from Friday to Sunday, is worth the detour: tartlets (mandarin-tarragon; chocolate-hazelnut-green cardamom), chestnut-passion fruit flan, puff pastry brioche with candied fruit... A poem for the four o'clock.