Pierre Hermé (born November 20, 1961, Colmar Haut-Rhin[1]) is a French pastry chef most famous for his macarons, often with unusual flavor combinations. French Vogue magazine dubbed him "The Picasso of Pastry."[1]
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Pierre Hermé macarons are airy cookies of egg-white and almond flour, sandwiching a cream filling. Perhaps his most famous is the Ispahan, made with rose, lychee, and raspberry; he likened it as their "Chanel suit" -- the one they sell the most.[1]
Hermé's chocolates are also renowned. His chocolate cake made it on The Observer's "50 best things to eat in the world" list. To quote: "When Pierre Hermé first let me try his heart-shaped Chuao cake, made with blackcurrants and a chuao couverture from Pralus, I totally forgot where I was. It was a firework of aromas, temperatures and textures. The freshness of the fruit flirted with the roundness of the chocolate. Hermé is a genius – one of my chocolate gods. The cake is seasonal and available on demand, and now made with Valrhona, but it is still my favourite in the world."[2]
His cooking philosophy: He prefers discreet pastry decors and "uses sugar like salt, in other words, as a seasoning to heighten other shades of flavor."[3] He often makes daring use of savory ingredients in his desserts: traces of balsamic vinegar, Parmesan or olives in his cakes and layered dessert creams; he has even used grilled corn in a cake.[3] Like some fashion designers, he creates themed seasonal collections. For example, his 1999 Autumn/Winter Collection was entitled “Café, Chocolate, Caramel”; in 2002, “Blanc Cousu Main”; in 2003, "Kawaï".[4]
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 for with the expansion of Ladurée into a chain of luxury pastry shops.[1] Ladurée also is renowned for their macarons.
In 1998, he started his own brand name Pierre Hermé Paris with a pastry boutique in Tokyo's New Otani Hotel, 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.[4] 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 cafe, "Chocolate Bar".[5] There are now seven stores in Tokyo, six in Paris, one 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 likes to travel around Paris visiting suppliers of his favorite Parisian foodstuffs, and finding new shops that sell products with flavors new to him.[6]
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.[7] He was awarded "Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur" by Jacques Chirac on May 3, 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.