Pierre Hermé

Pierre Hermé shop sign in Paris

Pierre Hermé (born 20 November 1961 in Colmar Haut-Rhin) is a French pastry chef most famous for his macarons, many of which have unusual flavor combinations. French Vogue magazine dubbed him "The Picasso of Pastry."

Biography

A Pierre Hermé's "Olive Oil and Vanilla" macaron

A selection of Pierre Hermé pastry creations, including macarons, Tarte Infiniment Vanille, and a special edition chocolate cake.

Heir to four generations of Alsatian bakery and pastry-making tradition, Pierre Hermé began his career at the age of 14 as an apprentice in Paris with the acclaimed pâtissier Gaston Lenôtre, who Hermé says is his greatest influence. At age 24, he became the pastry chef at the fine food merchant Fauchon, where he remained for 11 years. In 1997, he was involved with the expansion of Ladurée into a chain of luxury pastry shops. Ladurée is also renowned for their macarons.

In 1998, he started his own brand name Pierre Hermé Paris with a pastry boutique in the Hotel New Otani Tokyo, followed in July 2000 by a Salon de Thé in the Tokyo Disney shopping area Ikspiari. According to Hermé, while with Ladurée his contract prohibited him from opening a place in Paris. His first Paris boutique opened in 2002, at 72 rue Bonaparte in the Saint Germain des Prés, then in 2004 a second one at 185 rue de Vaugirard. In 2005, a flagship store opened in Tokyo's trendy Omotesando district, with a downstairs boutique for Pierre Hermé products as well as an elegant upstairs 20-seat café, "Chocolate Bar". There are now 10 stores in Tokyo, 3 in Hong Kong, 11 in Paris, 3 in London, and an online shop.

He lives in Paris's 17th arrondissement, where his office and creative workshop are close by, just next to Monceau Park. When not in his own shops, he directs two Michelin star awarded restaurants in Le Royal Monceau together with Laurent André, he likes to travel around Paris visiting suppliers of his favorite Parisian foodstuffs, and finding new shops that sell products with flavors new to him.

Pierre Hermé was the youngest person ever to be named France's Pastry Chef of the Year, and is also the only pastry chef to have been decorated as a Chevalier of Arts and Letters. He was awarded "Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur" by Jacques Chirac on 3 May 2007, just before Nicolas Sarkozy's election.

He has written two English-language dessert cookbooks, together with food writer Dorie Greenspan: Desserts by Pierre Hermé and Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé.

Bibliography

• Secrets Gourmands – Larousse, 1993
• La Pâtisserie de Pierre Hermé – Montagud Editores, Spain, 1994
• Co-author, Larousse Gastronomique, 1996
• Le Larousse des Desserts – Larousse, 1997
• Plaisirs Sucrés – Hachette, 1997
• Desserts by Pierre Hermé – Little & Brown, United States, 1998
• Secrets Gourmands – Shibata Shoten, Japan, 1999
• Desserts à la carte – Hachette, 2000
• Secrets Gourmands – Noésis, 2000
• La Pasticceria di Pierre Hermé – Edizioni Finedit, Italy, 2001
• Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé – Little & Brown, United States, 2001
• Le Larousse des Desserts – Larousse, 2002
• Plaisirs Sucrés (new edition) – Hachette, 2002
• Mes Desserts au Chocolat – Agnès Viénot Éditions, 2002
• Mes Desserts Préférés – Agnès Viénot Éditions, 2003
• Die Pâtisserie von Pierre Hermé – Mathaes, Germany, 2004
• Le Larousse du Chocolat – Larousse, 2005
• The Cook's Book – Dorling Kindersley, United Kingdom, 2005
• ph10 – Agnès Viénot Éditions, 2005
• Gourmandises – Agnès Viénot Éditions, 2006
• Comme un chef – Larousse, 2006
• Le Larousse des desserts – Larousse, 2006
• Confidences Sucrées – Agnès Viénot Éditions, 2007
• Macaron – Agnès Viénot Éditions, 2008
• Carrément Chocolat – Agnès Viénot Éditions, 2009

See also

• List of pastry chefs

External links

• Pierre Hermé Paris official website
• online boutique