FRÉDÉRIC’S STORY
“My friend Bernard introduced me to Frédéric’s creations then to the Chef himself. For over 10 years, I enjoyed visiting Frédéric’s Boulangerie-Pâtisserie in Fontainebleau, and tasting his delights. When I asked Frédéric to be part of the Chocolat-e adventure, his answer came right away: yes!”
JEANYVES
CO FOUNDER AT CHOCOLAT-E
Meet an amazing professional who fell -- at 15yo-- in the world of sweetness.
Best Pastry Chef in France (1999 & 2007), Frédéric and his French Team won the Pastry World Cup in 2013.
2022: Frédéric gives Chocolat-e its first award after a year in business!
A handmade career
I come from three generations of cattlemen-butchers. I have a grandmother whose garden is full of apples, pears, raspberries, strawberries and grapes. She gave me my taste for fruit and the taste for seasons, through the cakes she makes for my whole family.
My other grandmother is a seamstress. Fascinated by the Dior and Saint-Laurent fashion shows, I too was interested in haute couture. Unfortunately, in the 1980s French countryside, it was easier to find an internship with our neighboring pastry chef! One Saturday, I went with him to a wedding where he was making the cake: a wedding dress made of sugar, lace on the cone, and sugared almonds as pearls. The bride’s tears made me realize that baking can be as beautiful as sewing, and that we can enjoy it as such. I will take a moment to harass Paul Manu, the artist who creates these marvels, but who refused to take on a trainee like myself. I started by making roses — 500 a week — for Dalloyau or Lenôtre, some of the most high end pastry shops in France. One day, someone from Fauchon came to learn how to handle sugar, his name was Pierre Hermé. I proceeded to ask him if he had a place for me.
I spent 6 years at his side, watching him invent haute pâtisserie, just like the haute couture I dreamed of as a teenager.
My father was also a caterer, so on weekends I went back to his house and made cakes for his clients. After a reception one night, I see a car roll over in front of me on the street. The beautiful Helene, whom I pulled from the wreckage and took to the hospital, became my wife and partner in crime for any crazy projects that I was working on.
Together, we opened our first house in 1994, Fontainebleau (whose renaissance castle was one of the favorite residences of François I and Napoleon). Six months later, customers were lined up every weekend to discover our newest creations.
This was followed by our endeavors in Casablanca (Morocco) in 2010, Tokyo and Kyoto in 2008, and Berlin and Tunis.
My chocolate story
Valrhona, which offers the best chocolates in the world to the most esteemed restaurants and pastry chefs, took me with other respected clients to the Dominican Republic in the early 2000s. I picked fruit there, as I did at my grandmother’s, and discovered the fermentation process: it was a revelation. I became fascinated and, six years later, I opened a store dedicated entirely to chocolate.
For me, chocolate — like wine — is a terroir. The percentage of cocoa was a trick invented by manufacturers, and I often explain to my customers that it is secondary, to the typicality of its terroir.
Chocolatier vs pastry Chef
Pastry is 50% invention, 50% execution. Chocolate is more like 30/70. I love the creative space around it. I have 35 different flavors, like the jasmine ganache I created for Japanese Valentine’s Day.
Chocolate has made me a better pastry chef. Knowing the different flavors has allowed me to invent more original cakes. Our chocolate cake lovers can now say whether they prefer Venezuelan or Haitian flavors more. They know they will only eat it for 2 to 5 months of the year, so it makes the tasting experience all the more precious.
The Chocolat-e adventure
I met Jeanyves Verdu in 2015, during a conference on the geopolitics of cocoa. When he presented his project to me at the end of 2019, I was enthusiastic: creating a range of tasting experiences is pure pleasure. I exchanged ideas with my young collaborators, and rediscovered the excitement I felt when creating my own, in particular my Caribbean-Venezuela cover with a touch of Africa.
Working with Valrhona is a joy. Everyone tastes in their own style, but Valrhona always finds a way to anticipate mine. As for me, I still have to convince Jeanyves (all 8000 kilometers away) that my “dark with milk” — more chocolatey than any of its competitors — is what we need, and that I have found the vanilla that balances its original blend.
We are constantly working on the beans, the origins, the precision — with chemistry, alchemy, inspiration and mystery as our guide.
THE FOUNDERS
Five founders, only one chocolatier. No doubt why this company is not just another chocolate brand.
THE EXTENDED TEAM
We couldn’t make it without them. Buiding Chocolat-e IS a wonderful journey thanks to them!
Saving the good chocolate
In the early 2010s, I returned to the Dominican Republic. As president of the Relais-Desserts -representing the 100 best pastry chefs in the world -I met with the minister himself. I told him the community needed an exceptional industry, schools, and outstretched arms to the next generation of chocolate makers. The local cocoa sector also needed to be preserved from alternate hybrid trees that require insecticide, lots of water, and deforestation.
We created Cacao Forest, and paid two university students on site to save this endangered masterpiece, as many farmers were old and could not keep up with the land. Now, we open schools, take care of the maintenance and the people. We educate farmers on quality of what they produce; most of the time, they have never eaten the chocolate made from their beans!
We took back the land that was no longer yielding, and returned it to those who knew it best. We also created a local chain to sell citrus, mangoes and passion fruits that were rotting between the cocoa trees, while hotels just kilometers away offered imported options!