Camille Lesecq

The happy ending was written already in the floury incipit of Camille Lesecq’s biography, a young pastry-chef grown up among the breezes of Normandy. Because the Parisian pâtisserie of his uncle attracted him during holidays well beyond the counters full of macarons and madeleines in the back-shop where the croissants were rising. A vocation for the sweetest among the métiers de la bouche, cherished inside up to the time of deciding his studies. The bread and pastry making school of Caen, a laissez-passer for the karmic meeting with his mentor Christophe Felder.

It was at his side that in 1999 Camille crossed the threshold of the profession, as pastry-making second commis at the Hotel Crillon. Demi-chef de partie, chef de partie, sous-chef: every 365 days, together with the calendar change, there is an improvement in the organization chart of the Parisian maison. A rigorous school where the hard-earned working of sugar and the patient chocolate sculpturing are the encouragement for the freshness of imagination. Up to when, in 2004, at 28, he is ready for the top position. Chef pâtissier of the three star Hotel le Meurice, conducting an orchestra of 11 instruments that he still conducts with a sure baton (while salty dishes are entrusted to Yannick Alléno). To sum up: from the scents of the confectioner’s to the seductions of top restaurants up to the holism of the most exclusive hôtellerie. Camille Lesecq’s art, pastry-chef of 2010 for Le Chef Magazine, is fed with the most varied suggestions.

Gathered also during his skate evolutions along the boulevards of the city of love: «I love observing the tricks of the small shops I discover when I wander around». A flâneur inspired by the street like the haute couture tailors. The result is a vortex of contaminations and virtuosities, where contrasts never rise above shades. Appearance and reality, taste and plasticity, opposite textures: because the purpose of dessert is the surprise, sweet happy ending like a climb on laurels.